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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — DECEMBER 19. 2022 2 hill isn't a designated wetland but drainage does funnel to it. He thought they could try it out for a year to see if kids gravitated to it for sledding, and it would probably be good for very young kids. Councilmember Holden asked it there would be any additional liability for the City. City Administrator Perrault said he wasn't aware of any, but he could ask the city attorney. He thought if there was a tree to be removed they wouldn't be able to open the sliding hill until 2024. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen noted that for the most part he thought there were tall grasses that would need to be mowed. Mayor Grant asked for more description of the hill, and asked how long it would take to get it ready for sledding. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen thought 2 employees with the brush mower could tackle it, but he'd like to assess it again over the summer. He didn't think it would attract older kids, but it would be a safe hill for younger children. He'd also like to look at the distance between the hill and neighboring properties. Councilmember Scott asked if it is designated as an official sledding hill and someone gets hurt, what would that do to the City's liability? Right now, any hill with snow on it becomes a sledding hill, but they're not marked. Mayor Grant said they can look at it in the spring, have more discussion at a future work session and add it to the Council Tracker. Ms. Hinton stated that Kerri Seemann was an expert on plants and native species and she could talk about adding native plants to Hazelnut Park. Councilmember Holden noted that the City hopes to acquire half of the parking lot from the church and Hazelnut Park was eventually going to be made ADA accessible so there would be changes at the park. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said details haven't been worked out yet but there would be an upcoming improvement project at the park. Ms. Seemann said there are at least 5 species of invasive plants they need to be concerned about, with the main ones being buckthorn and garlic mustard. Councilmember Holden asked why they were choosing Hazelnut Park instead of some other park. Ms. Seemann replied that she lives a few blocks away so it's an easy place for her to start. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said Hazelnut is on a rotation for buckthorn removal, but they don't come back to plant native species.