Meeting Minutes
Presiding officer: Ron Usem
Guests
Former club members Guy Marzano (who is with another club now) and Nancy Davis, who is going to return to our club after having been in another club. Welcome back! Our 4 guests from the City of Minnetonka are named below under the Speaker section.
Invocation
Invocation: given by Chris Carr. A nice Robert Frost poem.
Pledge
Everyone.
4-Way Test
Everyone.
International Theme
Unite for Good.
Paul Harris Awards
Sell below. [Mike G., PH +2.]
Announcements
Bob H. - Will keep us updated about blood drives.
Alexa R. - there will be a Jan. 29 event at Ryan Rydell's Jewelry Works, 6-8PM. There will be a District 5950 training event on AI Feb. 17 at Edina Chamber of Commerce.
Beth Y. - is heading up our club's Visioning Committee. See her if you would be interested in joining.
Chris Rosenlund - gave a Paul Harris Fellow award to Mike Glover.
Ron U. - Our Secretary Elect nominee for next year is James Walton. Cathy Carlson is involved in our Star Thrower Committee, promoting our club's activities with youth.
Ann W. - is heading up our club's Bylaws Committee.
New Member Induction
None this week.
Rotary Minute
None this week.
Raffle
$15 in pot; Char Murphy had the winning ticket, but did not draw the right card.
Foundation Award Checks or Thank You's
None this week.
Happy Bucks
Happy Bucks were offered by Mike Silva, Bob Hersman, Lenny Newman, Chris Carr, Ryan Rydell, Phil Handy, Beth Young, Alexa Rundquist, Guy Marzano, Andy Luce, Frank Babka, and Ron Usem. Lots to be thankful for.
Program
OUR SPEAKER PROGRAM: We had a very nice presentation given today by some top people in our City of Minnetonka government: City Manager Mike Funk; Deputy Chief of Police Jason Tait; Crime Analysis Supervisor Garith Scherck; and Chief of Police Scott Boerboom.
Our city has Minnesota's most highly advanced DRF (Drones As First Responders) Program. Drones were purchased from California-based Skydio, and are based in 6 "docks" evenly positioned throughout Minnetonka. They are controlled and monitored from a single Real Time Operations Center at the Minnetonka Community Center complex. For an annual cost of about $300K, this fleet of drones helps police officers and firefighters, and makes their jobs safer and more efficient. The objective is to respond to any situation in Minnetonka within 2 minutes or less.
The drones are employed in addressing 911 calls, crimes, suspect apprehension, suspicious vehicles, vandalism, missing or distressed persons, etc. They are also instrumental in helping firefighters determine how to best attack various fires, both visible and not. The drones are subject to federal and state regulations; they generally fly at altitudes of about 200 ft. above the ground, and often move at speeds of 25-35 mph in various weather conditions. There are also safeguards, like parachutes, that minimize risk to people and property if a drone malfunctions or crashes. There are also rules to protect privacy in various ways, while still making data available to the public.
Drones of all sorts are becoming more and more common in the world, and Minnetonka is using state of the art technology to make law enforcement and firefighting safer and more efficient. During the talk, Garith displayed a drone that he brought with him, and he remotely flew another one, to where it briefly hovered right outside the window in our meeting room!
Adjournment
Submitted by Frank B.
Member Submissions
None this week.
