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HomeMy WebLinkAbout5.a. Citizen Recognition - Mr. Glen Wagner- F CITY OF ROSEMOUNT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR ACTION City Council Meeting Date: November 16, 2004 AGENDA ITEM: Citizen Recognition — Mr. Glen Wagner AGENDA SECTION: Department Head Reports PREPARED BY: CITY OF ROSEMOUNT EXECUTIVE SUMMARY FOR ACTION City Council Meeting Date: November 16, 2004 AGENDA ITEM: Citizen Recognition — Mr. Glen Wagner AGENDA SECTION: Department Head Reports PREPARED BY: Gary Kalstabakken AGE . A 5 A Chief of Police ' APPROVED BY: ATTACHMENTS: None RECOMMENDED ACTION: Presentation of Certificate ACTION: SUMMARY Providing a safe community for Rosemount's residents, business owners and workers is one of the on -going goals of the Council and city staff. This can only be attained by having community residents who are willing to become involved and to be willing to take action when suspicious or criminal activity or any unsafe activities are observed. Council is being asked to recognize a citizen who did become involved and, as a result, prevented a hazardous situation from becoming even more wide spread than it already was. On Labor Day, Monday, September 6, 2004, several children in the Rosemount Woods Manufactured Housing complex touched and played with mercury that had been stolen earlier in the day from one of the buildings at the Brockway Warehouse site. The children were unaware of the hazards associated with mercury. Fortunately, Mr. Glen Wagner observed the children with the mercury and immediately realized that this was a potentially hazardous situation. Mr. Wagner immediately reported the activity to the police department and assisted in identifying children that he had seen with the mercury. His quick actions prevented the situation from becoming even more wide spread than it already was before Mr. Wagner intervened. An extensive cleanup effort followed the mercury exposure at Rosemount Woods. This involved cleaning several outdoor areas, vehicles and homes where the mercury had been spilled by those involved. In addition, health testing was conducted on several persons . exposed to the mercury. The professional staff from the Minnesota Pollution Control A9ency, Minnesota Department of Health and the Dakota County Public Health Department all commented on how important it was to have been able to contain and isolate the contamination as quickly as possible. Mr. Glen Wagner's reporting of this incident was vitally important to the containment efforts. The mercury was in the hands of the youth for approximately two to two and one -half hours. In that time, there were fourteen homes, thirty -eight persons and numerous outside areas that were exposed to the hazardous material. It is clear that the contamination was spreading relatively quickly and would have continued to spread as long as the mercury remained in the hands of the youth. Although we are unable to state with certainty how many other persons were prevented from being directly impacted by the mercury contamination because of Mr. Wagner's willingness to become involved, it is clear that he lessened the impact of this incident because he acted. Mr. Wagner looked beyond himself and his family. He took action to report an incident that he believed was endangering his neighbors, his neighborhood and his community. The citizen's of Rosemount are fortunate to have people like Glen Wagner as neighbors. His actions are a model for others to follow and demonstrate the importance of reporting suspicious, criminal or hazardous circumstances immediately.