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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—MARCH 19, 2012 8 Mr. Anderson thanked the Council for their time and for the comments provided this evening. C. 2012 Work Plan and Project Priorities Discussion City Planner Beekman indicated the Council has made it a practice to hold a joint meeting with the Planning Commission on a yearly basis. This was a good way to hold valuable discussion and provide feedback to Staff on the City's work plan, goals and project priorities for 2012. She reviewed several items up for discussion noting direction from the Council would be appreciated. Chair Larson stated the Planning Commission's role and responsibility was the subject of an email he sent to the Mayor last year. This issue was raised after the Council discussed a Planning Commission item for over two hours. Feedback provided from the Mayor stated the Planning Commission did not need to change their method of review at this time. Chair Larson felt the Planning Commission should encourage the applicant to participate in public hearings. He added that more questions could be asked of the applicant to provide more information to the public. Mayor Grant agreed with these recommendations stating engaging the applicant would provide additional information to the residents. However, he cautioned the Planning Commission from straying off topic.. He encouraged the Planning Commission to stick to the City Code when reviewing all cases. Couneilmember Holden thanked the Planning Commission for all of the hard work completed on behalf of the community. She was impressed with the way the Planning Commission meetings were run. She stated if the public wanted additional information on the planning cases, the packet was available online. Chair Larson stated if an issue was controversial, attendance at a meeting was high and comments were taken and considered from the public. Mayor Grant commented non-controversial items at the Council level were placed on the Consent Agenda for approval. However, this provided the public with no information to the public. He recommended a brief staff presentation be given at the Planning Commission on items to provide the public with basic information on each case. Chair Larson indicated this suggestion would address non-controversial items as well as controversial ones. Commissioner Holewa stated communication with the public was good for the entire approval process. The more comments, both positive and negative, brought to the City the better. Councilmember Holmes asked if a checklist could be reviewed with each item to assure that all issues were addressed before being approved.