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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION –AUGUST 19, 20134 Matt Kramer, President of the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce,stated that the Chamber is working to educate the County and business partners to leverage the legislature to gain support on the bonding for this project. He stated that the redevelopment offered future jobs and tax base growth, among other things. He explained that by bringing partners together upfront on this project, the entire community willbenefit. Mayor Grant asked who willbe handling correspondence for the TRP. Ms. Worthington explained that this willbe conducted by the Chamber of Commerce. The Council thanked the representatives for the information presented this evening. The Council took a five minute recess. C. Bethel University Discussion City Planner Streff explained that Bethel University has submitted a letter of intent to purchase the entire Country Financial property located at 2 Pine Tree Drive. Their objective is to purchase the building, and as leases expire, to fully occupy the structure within 5 to 15 years. During this time, Bethel Universitywillslowly expand their higher education uses, including administrative officers, general and specialized classrooms, meeting rooms and other general educational uses into the space. As part of their due diligence prior to purchasing the site, Bethel University intends to apply for a conditional use permit that willallow the entire site to be converted to educational use. City Planner Streff commented that the Country Financial property is currently a multi-tenant building and is approximately 200,000 square feet in size on two tracts of land that total 40.68 acres. The property is located within the B2 Zoning District, where higher education uses are allowed by a conditional use permit. City Planner Streff indicated that in June of 2013, the Council approved CUP #13-008 to allow a higher educational use within the Country Financial building. The approval granted Bethel University the ability to occupy 26,000 square feet of space in the building, and required Bethel University to seek City approval for any expansion or intensification of the use.He noted that representative’s from Bethel University are present this evening for comments or questions. Staff requested that the Council discuss the consolidation of uses and other buildings used by Bethel University along with the safe connections that could be created between the campuses. Kathleen Nelson, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration at Bethel University, thanked the Council for their time this evening. She reviewed the previous request from Bethel University regarding the Country Financial building. She appreciated the City’s willingness to have another conversation regarding this building and the proposed use by Bethel University. She presented the Council with a handout and then discussed Bethel’s campus master plan. Ms. Nelson stated that the campus’s current limiting factor is size as it is physically constrained on all boundaries. She explained how the continuing adult/professional studies programs are expanding and willneed to move off campus. She noted that the original intent with the Country