Mr.  Tim Hoffman,  the citizen volunteer coordinator of the Ramsey Heart Safe-Ramsey program, is requesting an additional contribution by the City to purchase an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) for the Elmcrest Park building.   It is the mission of the Ramsey Heart Safe-Ramsey program to increase survival rates of SCA (sudden cardiac arrest) by educating the public in quality CPR and proper use of an AED. 

Part of the program's efforts are to ensure proper coverage of public access to defibrillators in the community. It is a goal of Ramsey Heart Safe-Ramsey program to obtain an AED for the newly constructed Community Building at Elmcrest Park.  This is considered an important  location as it is used by the local soccer club (Northern Lights Soccer) and draws a variety of players, coaches, and spectators on a regular basis. Ramsey Heart Safe-Ramsey program has been working with members of the Anoka Ramsey Athletic Association (ARAA) and the NLS board to get as many players, coaches and their families trained in bystander CPR and AED use.

Ramsey HeartSafe has already set aside $500 towards the Elmcrest AED.  However, they need approximately $1100 to complete this purchase and are requesting funds from Lawful Gambling account to be utilized for this purpose.  The donation would be used as an event to mark Ramsey's achievement in becoming a HeartSafe community in July of this year.

The Council may approve, deny, or approve a modified version of this request.

The HeartSafe program was identified as a strategic action item that would be supported by the City.  Limited City staff time and many hours of citizen volunteer time have supported this community effort.

Based upon the current language of the ordinance governing the Lawful gambling Fund, approval of this request would not be consistent.  Council had prevviously requested that this ordinance come back for review and that review is anticipated in May or June of this year at work session.  Current language is below:

7.         Lawful Gambling Fund.
  (a)      The Lawful Gambling Fund shall be used to account for revenues from lawful gambling received by the City in accordance with Code Section 7.61.
 
 (b)      Funding shall consist of the following sources:
     (1)   Lawful gambling proceeds received in accordance with Code Section 7.61; and
     (2)   Outside donations from lawful gambling proceeds; and
     (3)   Interest earnings on the Lawful Gambling Fund from the distribution of pooled interest earnings.
 
  (c)      Expenditures shall consist of the following uses:
     (1)   Expenditures exclusively for recreation, community and athletic facilities, as adopted in the annual Capital Improvement Program, intended primarily for persons under age 21, provided that such facilities and activities do not discriminate on the basis of a gender and that such revenue not be used for operating equipment, supplies, wages or any other non-capital expenditure; and
     (2)   It is intended that the expenditures will occur at no greater than a 50% match to outside donations; and
     (3)   Requests for fund expenditures, and donations toward fund expenditures, received during the prior calendar year will be ranked each year by the Park and Recreation Commission and authorized by the Council Finance Committee prior to May 31 of each year; and
     (4)   Capital purchases of $1,000 toward which donations are received and to which no City expenditures are required may occur after review and approval by the Park and Recreation Commission.
 

4. This fund is eligible for inter-fund loans.

 

The source of the proposed funding is the City's Council Contingency Fund, which has a current balance of $26,000, and is meant to be used for unbudgeted expenditures.   As an alternative, an allocation could be made from the Lawful Gambling Fund  account which is projected to have a balance of $68,553 at the end of 2015, pending amendments to the ordinance to provide for this expenditure.

It is recommended that the City Council approve an allocation of $1100 from the City's Council Contingency Fund to be used to purchase an AED for the Elmcrest park building.

Motion to approve an allocation of $1100 from the City's Council Contingency Fund to be used to purchase an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) for the Elmcrest park building.