7.1. SR 01-22-2019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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From: Kathy Forbes <kathyforbes52@gmail.com> Date: January 2, 2019 at 9:58:54 AM CST To: <john.dietz@elkrivermn.gov>, <garrett.christianson@elkrivermn.gov>, <nate.ovall@elkrivermn.gov>, <jennifer.wagner@elkrivermn.gov>, <matt.westgaard@elkrivermn.gov> Subject: Proposed ResCare Facility on Tipton Circle Dear Mayor Dietz, and Members of the City Council My name is Kathy Forbes and I am a property owner at 1797 Tipton Circle Unit 105 in Elk River. I attended the December 17, 2018 City Council meeting. I appreciate very much that at the conclusion of the meeting, the decision to extend the timeline for a vote to allow the establishment of a ResCare facility on Tipton Circle was extended. I bought my town home and moved to Elk River in August 2017. One of the main reasons I bought here is because it appeared and has proven to be a safe, quiet, and well established residential neighborhood. Being a widowed senior, those attributes are important to me. At the council meeting, I listened to several concerned neighbors who spoke about, and expressed a high level of concern regarding the safety and integrity of our neighborhood being compromised by allowing the facility to open here. I did not speak at the meeting because, as I did agree with their concerns, I wanted to gather some additional information about ResCare. One of the speakers promoting establishment of the facility, who also indicated that he is an employee of the ResCare facility in Robbinsdale, stated that these facilities are located in primarily residential areas. In my research, I found that the facility in Robbinsdale is in, what appears on Google maps, a neighborhood of businesses and rental apartment properties. I did not see any single family homes in the immediate area. Also on Google maps, the facility in Brooklyn Center appears to be in a neighborhood surrounded by businesses in strip malls. The facility in Fridley does appear to be in a residential area. In addition, I reached out to the police departments who serve the ResCare facilities in Brooklyn Center, Fridley and Robbinsdale. I simply asked each department if they could provide me data on the number of calls they have received from these respective ResCare locations since the beginning of 2018. After hearing from the ResCare representatives at the meeting that the integrity of our neighborhood would not be compromised by the facility, I was quite astounded at the results I received from the respective police departments. The number of calls range from 61 calls from the facility in Fridley, to 81 calls from the Brooklyn Center location, to 86 calls from the Robbinsdale facility. I am also attaching the documents I received from these Police departments supporting the data. Is the Elk River Police Department staffed to take on this additional volume? The point I am trying to convey to all of you in this letter, is that with the establishment of this facility in my neighborhood, I would no longer feel safe and actually feel threatened. I am in agreement that there is a need for this type of facility however, as many of my neighbors have expressed, better suited for another area of the city/county. Thank you for your time and consideration, Kathy Forbes 1797 Tipton circle NW Unit 105, Elk River