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Special City Council Meeting <br /> Thursday,May 22, 2014 <br /> Page 13 <br /> Mr. O'Neill advised that the Department would return to the City Council in the <br /> near future with additional information related to purchasing consortium options; <br /> noting that it typically took nine months of build out once contract were issued for <br /> major pieces of apparatus; so the issue would come before the City Council in the <br /> fall of 2014 to allow for that build out time. <br /> At the request of Councilmember Willmus, Mr. O'Neill advised that the approxi- <br /> mate cost of vehicles was $550,000 for an engine, and $45,000 for an MRU; and <br /> as noted by Mayor Roe, those funds were routinely set aside in the annual CIP to <br /> require no additional funding. <br /> Police Chief Rick Mathwig and Sarah Mahmud <br /> Chief Mathwig provided an overview of the department, and supplemental data as <br /> part of his presentation for the four areas of the budget; noting that the entire <br /> budget was completely levy funded, and approximately 85% of the budget was <br /> for personnel-related. <br /> Commercial Patrol Officer <br /> As a major priority for 2015, Mr. Mathwig asked for $198,200 for personnel and <br /> vehicle costs (two commercial officers and vehicles) as an investment in public <br /> safety for residents, merchants, and shoppers in the retail community. Mr. <br /> Mathwig opined that current staff could not keep up with the commercial and re- <br /> tail growth in the City without more patrols and reactive policing in commercial <br /> areas all across town. Mr. Mathwig advised that the current staff was stretched <br /> thin and unable to effectively meeting the needs for neighborhoods. Mr. Mathwig <br /> noted that this additional police presence was needed throughout the community's <br /> commercial districts, including smaller strip malls, not just the more major retail- <br /> ers, in order to respond to rising crime trends throughout the region. <br /> Mr. Mathwig noted that this position had previously been removed from the <br /> Budget and he was asking that it be reinstated, as well as the addition of one new <br /> position in 2015. Mr. Mathwig noted that many of the issues were related to <br /> things going on outside Roseville neighborhoods, and had resulted in a 67% in- <br /> crease in police incidents in commercial areas (e.g. shoplifting, theft, disorderly <br /> conduct) and affected not only the citizens in the community and shoppers, but <br /> the broader community as well. <br /> Mr. Mathwig advised that the Depai tinent's goal is to continue working proac- <br /> tively address the situation by slowing this trend down. Mr. Mathwig advised that <br /> the department had been building relationship with mall merchants, which was <br /> creating a positive situation, not only in Rosedale and Har Mar, but throughout <br /> the community, involving officers walking and talking to mall merchants and <br /> making citizens, shoppers and merchants more at ease before an incident occurs. <br /> Mr. Mathwig reiterated that a significant amount of this disorderly behavior in <br />