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Postal Customer ECR-WSS PRST STD U.S. Postage Paid Twin Cities, MN Permit #1962 I n s i d e Arden Hills, MN . 55112-5734 Land O'Lakes corporate expansion Council approves new utility rates Options for buckthorn and yard waste Northeast Youth and Family Services Hot Dog with a Deputy & other events Recycling participation rate is high From the Mayor While walking into the Council chambers a few weeks ago, I noticed the 2001 proclamation of the city’s 50th anniversary. It gave me a bit of pause as I considered some of the implications of the proclamation. First, In about three years the City of Arden Hills will turn 70 years old. Second, I was on the council in 2001 and signed the proclamation. Those two items started me thinking about everything that has been needed over those years. If someone were to ask, “What challenges are there in run- ning Arden Hills?” How would I respond? Age and design impact our costs We have many distinct neighborhoods separated from each other. The geographic dispersion and rolling hills cause us to have more infrastructure per residence than some cities, and that increases our cost structure. Arden Hills has about 30 miles of city streets, with a good number of them put in during the 1980s that are now coming due for maintenance. We have over 48 miles of sewer lines and 43.5 miles of water lines that need ongoing monitoring and mainte- nance. We have a number of areas in the city that have clay pipe for sewer lines, which was typical in the 1940s and 1950s. These older lines need to be relined with plastic before they are beyond repair. The mainte- nance costs for sewer, water and roads are considerable. General maintenance costs continue Other large infrastructure maintenance needs like parks and trail maintenance, painting of water towers, replacement of playground equipment and replacement of specialized equipment to perform general maintenance continue to add to our overall costs. Project planning and administration Most of our larger infrastructure efforts such as street reconstruction, sewer and water improvements, painting of a water tower and lift station upgrades are con- tracted out. These large projects involve careful capital planning and priority setting by the council. These projects require design and specifications to be developed in order to put the project out for bid. Once bids are received, the Council can award the proj- ect, while City staff oversee the project. In some cases it can take several years to tee up and complete a major project. Our short term capital planning horizon is five years; other capital plans are much longer. Project costs As homeowners, you know that you do not need to replace your roof or driveway very often. However, when needed, the costs can be sizeable. The same is true for large city projects. A large road project can run several million dollars. It can easily cost $700,000 to repaint an average-sized water tower. One of our water towers will be repainted this year. As one might expect, these costs continue to increase. Annual maintenance Perhaps the easiest maintenance tasks to understand are our annual tasks. The list of what needs to be done annually seems endless at times. Perhaps the most obvious examples are mowing, street sweeping, street patching and snow plowing, because they are the most visible. Much of the annual mainte- nance needs specialized equipment (street sweepers, vactor truck, plows, mowers, front end loaders, trailers, paver, etc.), all of which age and eventually need replace- ment. Your Council works to cost effectively maintain our City in good repair, while maintaining a strong financial rating. Due to the City's increasing age and design, our infrastructure costs are increasing and it poses financial, project planning and administrative challenges. These are not insurmountable challenges, but they are ongoing. Have a great summer. David Grant Mayor