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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL — FEBRUARY 13, 2023 5 willing to serve the best interests of Arden Hills. He did not believe these Councilmembers would bend to the wills of Ramsey County, but rather they were willing to get things done through leadership and should be allowed to govern. Lyle Salmela, 1480 Arden Vista Court, explained he has lived in Arden Hills for the past 35 years. He reported he has worked in the energy and environmental area for the past 60 years. He noted he was on the RAB for TCAAP since 1996 as a member and the Chair. He noted the JDA elected him Chair of the environmental regulation advisory board and thanks to the Council's support the TCAAP Energy Integration Resilience framework document was created. He thanked the former Council for their conservative management of the City. He noted he met with the JDA, the County, Alatus, Xcel and citizens of Arden Hills who all support TCAAP moving forward with a net zero community. He encouraged the City to zone the primer tracer area (62 acres) for sale by the US/GSA in April for a solar array farm and not for other use. He stated this was needed for the micro -grid and as an asset for all of Arden Hills. He encouraged the Council to work as a team to get this done. George Winiecki, 4175 Old State Highway 10, explained he has lived in Arden Hills for the past 74 years. He noted he lives on the old Winiecki farm site and this property has been in his family for the past 113 years. He discussed how the property surrounding his home has changed over the years. He stated he was shocked when he learned about the plans for TCAAP and commented that the City was trying to build a city within a city. He encouraged the Council to consider how much 1500 family units plus retail and commercial would impact the surrounding roadways. He understood this area could be developed but feared the site would become a problem to the community after the fact if the proposed plan moves forward. He encouraged the Council to do its due diligence to ensure this project was done right in from the beginning. Stan Harpstead, 1277 Nursery Hill Lane, noted he moved to Arden Hills in 1987 and he previously served as the City's mayor. He explained it has been over 12 years since he served as the Mayor and TCAAP was a big factor then. He discussed how much has changed in the past 12 years. He understood the TCAAP property had been cleaned to residential standards. He noted the median age in Arden Hills has dropped to 39 years of age. He indicated the world has started to come to grips with the impacts of climate change and the concept of sustainability has become relevant. He stated the world was not the same as it was when he was the mayor. While many things have changed, he noted the population of the City has not changed and was still right around 10,000 people. He reported he was unable to understand why Ramsey County and Arden Hills were not able to collaborate. He recalled a City Council meeting that he was not able to attend and during this meeting the Council added an item to the agenda, voted and passed this item which served to restrict activity. He reported at the next Council meeting, during the public comment section, he passed the gavel to the Mayor Pro Tem and he addressed the Council as a member of the City. His purpose was to remind the Council that their actions are to be conducted as a body. He understood that some motions would pass unanimously, some would fail and some would pass with a simple majority but the process was open and transparent and the whole body would have an opportunity to participate publicly. He encouraged the Council to continue to interact at public meetings and to be open and transparent with each other. He stated discussions were not personal but rather were on behalf of the City's constituents. He suggested the finance committee be started again and that they be tasked to review this project with the County. He noted this project would not be completed in the next decade and he anticipated future changes would have to be made to this project, and that was okay.