05-12-14 Special WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—MAY 12, 2014 7 City Administrator Klaers stated that he would also like the City Council to discuss the issue of City fees — specifically the City Sewer Availability Charge (SAC), the City Water Availability Charge (WAC), the City Sewer and City Water connection charges, and the possibility of the City establishing a Storm Water Availability Charge. Mayor Grant commented that he wants to see a list of costs, mapped out for the Council to review as development of TCAAP occurs. He understood that this document may change, but he believed that this would be a vital tool for the Council to have as redevelopment continues. Councilmember McClung stated that a best guess scenario would be better than the lack of information that the Council has right now. Director of Finance and Administrative Services Iverson reported that she is currently working on such a document for the Council. Councilmember Holden expressed confusion regarding who Mark Ruff represents. Councilmember Holmes agreed that this is confusing because the City has Stacie representing them, while the JDA has Mark. She asked if the County was also using Mark for representation. Stacie Kvilvang, Ehlers & Associates, explained that Mark Ruff works for the JDA, which is comprised of both County and City representatives. Part of the City's analysis is to understand all costs for the project and Mark Ruff is running those numbers on behalf of the JDA. Councilmember Holmes questioned who the City will be assessing for utility improvements. Ms. Kvilvang reported that the City will be assessing the County for these improvements, or if the land is sold for redevelopment, then the developer will be the one who is assessed. She explained that the end landowner would pay 100%of these costs. Councilmember Holmes inquired how the City would cover the expense of the studies. Ms. Kvilvang stated that based on discussions with the City Administrator, it is staff's recommendation that these expenses be covered through the Met Council SAC credit program. City Administrator Klaers gave an overview of the Met Council SAC credit program. He estimated that the City would receive between $4-4.5 million in SAC fees after TCAAP fully develops. He discussed the manner in which the City can use these funds such as park development, parking structures, public art, study expense reimbursement, and for economic incentives. He requested that the Council discuss how to prioritize the use of SAC funds. Councilmember McClung commented that the City could allocate 50% of the AUAR expense to developer costs and 50% to SAC credits. He understood that the City wanted to keep the cost of the TCAAP development low; however, he wanted to make sure the costs were properly allocated to the development.