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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 18, 2022 4 Ribbon, Public Works Infrastructure Projects, 2022 PMP, City Finances Overview and 2022 City Property Taxes. Communications Coordinator Arel said that Council may want to consider assigning topics to Councilmembers so staff can work with that particular Councilmember in preparation for the next work session. Another consideration is how, or if, Council will take questions: should questions be submitted in advance, taken live at the end of the presentation, or one-on-one after the presentation concludes. The budget for the State of the City is approximately$1,000. Council reviewed the draft slides, made changes and additions, and assigned topics to Councilmembers. It was also decided to have tables with placards for staff and City Council for break out discussions after the presentation, which would allow participants to ask questions one- on-one. C. Tree Plan Discussion Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen explained that to date, the City has collected $115,440 in Tree Replacement funds. One location that has come up in previous discussions is Highway 96. In 2006, the City of Arden Hills partnered with Ramsey County to add landscaping to the highway, the landscaping plan can be seen in Attachment A. The plan included 173 boulevard trees, but it doesn't show the 40 trees that were existing just east of the project limits that staff identified through aerial photos from 2006. That brings the total trees in 2006 to 213, today there exists 139 trees. Therefore, over the last 16 years, there has been a loss of 74 trees or about 35%. Recently, Public Works staff inspected the existing condition of the remaining trees along Highway 96. There were seven trees identified to monitor and 26 to remove. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen reported that after speaking with Rainbow Tree Care, they have an eight-inch limit and won't inject trees that are smaller. Smaller diameter tree can have a ground root treatment, the cost would be about $35 per tree. There are currently about 50 Ash trees (including EAB identified trees) along Highway 96 that would qualify for this treatment. The other approach Council could choose would be to remove all trees identified with EAB and begin growing a new tree in its place. Other locations considered for planting new trees are Perry Dog Park (possibly 4 trees), the Thom Court median turnaround and Oak Avenue median turnaround. In a future project, staff would look at locations to apply our"buddy tree" program where we would plant trees near other trees that are declining in health. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen noted that he would like to get a variety of tree species to avoid disease from infecting a large number of trees. A three-inch caliper tree ranges from $500-$800 to install. Council could choose to order larger trees but the cost increases with size. Tree bags cost about $25 per bag and could be ordered for each new tree. All the bags the City currently owns are being utilized on existing trees. Councilmember Holden suggested they plant trees in the dog park, and Oak and Thom Drives. Council agreed. Councilmember Holden didn't know if they should put money into treating trees when they will have to cut them down eventually.