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CITY OF SOUTH BEND I OFFICE OF THE CLERK
<br /> He continued, We're going to finish up Leeper Park Phase One(1). If you want to drive by and get
<br /> a sneak peek of the Studebaker Fountain, it is up. It's not functioning. We'll celebrate that next
<br /> month, but it is up, and it is something special. And then Pulaski Park will kick off here pretty
<br /> quick as well. I think we have a groundbreaking scheduled in about two(2)weeks.We're going to
<br /> advance work on Pinhook, O'Brien, and continue the neighborhood park work, and even investing
<br /> in new parks and partnerships. We've identified a couple of project sites where we're going to
<br /> expand our efforts. Finally, we're making significant progress on our five (5) year strategic plan.
<br /> We're about halfway through it, and those are the things that really move our impact drivers,social
<br /> equity, ecological impact, stewardship, neighborhood and economic development, public safety,
<br /> those types of things forward. Some of the ones that I'm really excited about involve continuing
<br /> education for the staff and our Park Health Dashboard, which will be previewed to you soon so
<br /> you can see how productive each of the parks are via various metrics. Thank you.
<br /> Steve Cox, Fire Chief for the City of South Bend with offices located at 1222 South Michigan
<br /> Street, stated, Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the Council. Accomplishments here to
<br /> date, obviously, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring up the new Fire Station Number Nine (9) ribbon
<br /> cutting that we held on Monday. Several of you were there. It was an amazing event, and I have
<br /> to say, it was a solution to a community issue.We had multiple people in multiple public meetings
<br /> over the last, probably, six (6) or seven (7) years. We actually had gone out to multiple
<br /> neighborhood organizations,business associations, et cetera. And as you all know,there's a lot of
<br /> hub-bub about the location of that new fire station being located in the park. I feel like we came to
<br /> a fantastic solution. I know we spoke with Council about this when we proposed the funding for
<br /> the new fire station,and we proposed the location of the current station. So,we're incredibly happy
<br /> that station is online now. We have an ambulance station there, which is something that we've
<br /> never had located on the east side of the City,just due to space issues that we've had in our fire
<br /> stations. We had two (2) ambulances stationed at Station Four(4)over on Olive Street previously,
<br /> just because we had the space there for that.This allows us to be able to respond in a more efficient
<br /> manner to emergency medical calls throughout the City. So, it was a win-win. And I also might
<br /> add that we moved our Swiftwater boat truck from the Central Fire Station to the new Station Nine
<br /> (9) because the Memorial Boat Launch is right there, about four (4) blocks away. It used to be
<br /> about a six (6) minute response time from the Central Fire Station when we had the river
<br /> emergency to get a boat in the water and be able to affect a rescue. At this point, it's less than a
<br /> minute for that crew to now get the boat in the water and launch at the Memorial Boat Launch. So,
<br /> it is fantastic. The feedback that we received on Monday from all of the neighbors, and again, the
<br /> neighborhood associations,the River Park Business Association,et cetera was absolutely fantastic.
<br /> I know several of you were there, so you probably received some of that feedback directly.
<br /> He continued, We completed a pilot program for the Community Paramedicine Program and
<br /> budgeted for the current year to make this a permanent program with the potential to expand. In
<br /> next year's budget,we're proposing an additional community paramedic because of the amount of
<br /> success that we've had with this program. Just to remind Council Members, this was a program
<br /> instituted to effect getting individuals into a medical home who are using the 9-1-1 EMS system
<br /> as, in essence, their primary medical provider. When, in fact, other ways in which we might be
<br /> able to direct them to the appropriate care will reduce the stress on our EMS system, but also get
<br /> those people into a medical home that's much more appropriate for their needs. What's interesting
<br /> about this program that we've come to realize,is that our Community Paramedic,Suzie Krill,who's
<br /> been doing this program now for about a year, most of these individuals that she has effected
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