[0:08] all right well good afternoon good [0:10] afternoon everybody and we're so glad [0:12] that you could all make it this is a a [0:14] very Monumental day here in the city of [0:15] Lakeville and we're glad to have so many [0:17] of our partners here I'm Justin Miller [0:19] I'm the city administrator here in [0:20] Lakeville I'm just going to make a few [0:21] introductions before I hand it over to [0:23] to Mayor helier I want to thank um [0:26] specifically a couple people who are [0:27] here the um the city council our city [0:30] council is here council members Joshua [0:32] Lee Dan Walter Michelle vul and John [0:35] burmel are here thank you very [0:37] much as you can see we also have quite a [0:40] few of our Public Safety contingents [0:42] here and led by Chief Brad Paulson of [0:44] the police department and chief Mike [0:46] Meyer and the fire department thank you [0:48] all for being [0:49] here and then I want to thank our um our [0:52] design and construction teams from leoa [0:54] daily and RJM construction thank you all [0:58] [Applause] [1:00] um this is going to be a wonderful [1:01] facility and we're just very supportive [1:03] or thankful for the support that we [1:05] received from our our state legislators [1:07] representative John kosnik and Jeff [1:09] Woody who couldn't be here today they're [1:10] on the floor but Senator Zack Duckworth [1:12] is here and he's going to say some words [1:13] in a minute so uh now I'm going to turn [1:15] it over to to Mayor Luke [1:18] haer all right thanks Justin well I'll [1:21] be really brief I just uh to reiterate a [1:24] lot of what Justin said but I first want [1:26] to extend uh my gratitude to [1:28] representative witty and representative [1:30] kosnik who are not here uh and Senator [1:32] Duckworth who really helped make a lot [1:34] of it happen on the state side to secure [1:36] nearly $8 million two years ago to uh [1:39] really Kickstart this program this is [1:41] something that the fire department and [1:43] police department has thought about for [1:44] a long time to think about what a new uh [1:46] training facility would look like and so [1:48] the council has been thinking about how [1:49] do we make that happen um from a [1:51] financial side of things but um their [1:53] help and then including with [1:55] congresswoman Craig securing money for [1:57] the engineering um really made this [1:59] happen I think from my perspective on [2:01] behalf of the council when this building [2:04] opens um after construction I think it [2:07] really reinforces our commitment as a [2:09] council and to the city about how Public [2:12] Safety is our number one priority I [2:13] think a lot of people say that um and [2:16] not just from a Lakeville standpoint but [2:18] this is a regional facility as everybody [2:20] knows and um the future for Public [2:23] Safety is going to require cities and [2:26] counties working together when we think [2:28] about making sure we have Staffing that [2:30] are correct and we've got all the [2:31] training levels that are needed um Brad [2:34] corrected this but I did hear a stat [2:36] last week that in the next few years um [2:39] 20% of all police will reach retirement [2:42] age which is a serious serious concern [2:44] for us so when we think about how do we [2:46] meet that need for not only Lakefield [2:47] but for the surrounding Community this [2:49] facility is extremely important at the [2:51] same time there's several Department [2:53] fire departments in the area that are [2:55] moving from a paid on call to hybrid or [2:57] full-time and that our Partnerships with [2:59] the prior lakes and others are going to [3:01] really be important to have that uh [3:02] working together as we move into that so [3:04] this facility will help make that happen [3:06] I want to thank the rest of the city [3:07] council for that as I mentioned our [3:09] legislators and our Congressional [3:11] Delegation so uh thanks again I'm [3:13] looking forward to uh being here to [3:15] actually do the demolition you guys [3:16] don't know that but I'll be here with [3:17] the the wrecking ball um this week right [3:21] is that the deal and then we'll get this [3:23] thing and then the more fun will be next [3:24] year when we get to cut the ribbon but [3:26] with that I want to turn it over to [3:27] Senator Zack Duckworth to offer [3:30] a few [3:34] words yeah oh did [3:38] you just had to point out how short I am [3:40] Luke uh I want to come back for the [3:42] wrecking ball fun but really I'll be [3:44] short and sweet because I do have to get [3:46] to Fire Station 1 by 6 o'clock for [3:48] training tonight and I don't want to get [3:49] in trouble um you know it's been a long [3:53] time coming to get this facility here in [3:55] Lakeville I appreciate the hard work by [3:57] everybody the God's honest truth Chief [3:59] is I just got tired of training in this [4:01] cold nasty building and we're finally [4:03] going to do something better uh with it [4:05] for both fire and for police uh [4:08] something interesting about Lakeville is [4:10] being a first responder and being of [4:12] service to the community especially when [4:14] it comes to Public Safety is just a part [4:16] of our DNA here in Lakeville more so [4:19] than any other community I can think of [4:21] in the state of Minnesota uh when I go [4:23] to National Guard training on the [4:25] weekends I run into Lakeville [4:27] police uh when we get mobilized for [4:30] State active duty and we're doing stuff [4:31] in the Twin Cities there's a couple of [4:33] buddies from uh the guard they're there [4:35] St Paul police officers or Lakeville [4:38] police or a sheriff deputies at when I [4:40] go door knocking it's another state [4:42] trooper here in Minnesota or keeping [4:44] guard up at the capital uh I was just at [4:47] my kids open house at their school and [4:50] was running into firefighter after [4:52] firefighter police officer after police [4:54] officer the uh item that went for the [4:57] highest amount for charity giveaway at [4:59] East Elementary was a tour of the [5:01] Lakeville Police [5:03] Department that's the kind of community [5:04] that we have it's just embedded in what [5:06] we do and uh putting together the funds [5:10] for a phenomenal training facility in [5:13] combination with the city in combination [5:15] with representative Craig and her help [5:16] at the federal level is the absolute [5:18] least we can do so from the bottom of my [5:20] heart thank all of you and your families [5:22] and your loved ones for the service you [5:24] provide us here in Lakeville and the [5:26] surrounding communities we want you safe [5:29] we want you well trained we want you [5:30] going home to your families at night so [5:32] thank you so [5:33] [Applause] [5:41] much thanks Zach um you did a great job [5:45] and [5:47] uh now I would like to turn over to [5:49] congresswoman Craig for a few [5:54] remarks okay I've just decided I always [5:56] want to follow Duckworth just so we all [5:59] know here thank you Zach I really [6:00] appreciate that I'm Angie Craig and I [6:03] couldn't be more honored here to be with [6:04] all of you this afternoon what a [6:06] beautiful day and happy St Patrick's Day [6:09] everybody I bought this suit just for [6:12] one day a year so it's so good to see [6:14] all of you here today um I just want to [6:17] say thank you to Mayor helier what a [6:18] great partnership we've been able to [6:20] develop here for the city of Lakeville [6:22] at the federal level Senator duckor [6:24] thank you for all that you do uh both [6:26] personally um your service to our [6:28] community and our nation as well as of [6:30] course your service to the city of [6:32] Lakeville thank you to the city council [6:34] um if we think that members of Congress [6:36] get yelled at uh I know it's it's it's [6:38] even tougher at the grocery store uh [6:41] when you're a member of the city council [6:43] or you're a local mayor so thank you and [6:46] then of course Chief pawson I want to [6:48] thank you and your entire uh department [6:51] for all that you do for our community to [6:53] keep all of us safe uh and Mike Meyer [6:56] thank you thank you for your advocacy [6:57] for the fire department for emergency [7:00] uh services and of course it's been an [7:02] honor to be able to fight for federal [7:03] funding both for the first center which [7:06] I'm honored that we were able to get [7:08] some um and also for uh 15 safer grants [7:12] to move to a full-time fire department [7:15] and I just learned that we actually [7:17] hired 16 so congratulations to you and [7:20] thank you for keeping our community safe [7:23] um we've had some stuff going on in [7:26] Washington in the last week um what I [7:28] want to say uh is that I am disappointed [7:31] and I uh as many of you know uh I am one [7:34] of the most bipartisan members of [7:36] Congress uh in the US Congress I work [7:38] with my Republican colleagues all the [7:40] time in Partnership but I was really [7:42] disappointed to see that uh $7 million [7:44] in federal funding was left out of the [7:47] funding bill that um passed the Senate [7:50] on Friday and so that $7 million that uh [7:54] we'd hope to be able to bring home your [7:56] taxpayer dollars home to help build this [7:58] facility we'll have to go back to the [8:00] mat and work to get that funding all [8:03] over again in the next funding cycle so [8:05] I just want to say thank you so much I [8:08] voted against the bill because uh uh one [8:11] of the reasons because we were not going [8:12] to be able to get the funding for those [8:14] Community projects that all of you work [8:17] so hard uh to [8:19] accomplish so I just want to again say [8:21] thank you for inviting me uh it is great [8:24] to be at a groundbreaking in Minnesota [8:27] in March wearing shorts sleeves and no [8:31] coats it's pretty amazing uh and mayor [8:34] again thank you so much for the amazing [8:36] partnership that we built here with the [8:38] community of Lakeville thank you so much [8:40] thank [8:40] [Applause] [8:48] you so now we get do to the fun part so [8:50] if we could have all the city council um [8:53] Senator Duckworth representative Craig [8:56] um let's see who else let's fill up all [8:59] the show shovels all right so both both [9:00] Chiefs a couple representatives of the [9:02] police and fire department um I believe [9:05] we have some hard hats and and jackets [9:07] over here to make it look even more [9:08] efficient so thank [9:15] you bad luck okay ready here we go three [9:18] two [9:21] one that's heavy [9:25] that's [9:27] awesome you guys coming [10:20] you [10:23] [Music]