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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 21, 2023 6 Mayor Grant said he would advocate for public comment and participation up front so the negotiators know what the public is thinking. Councilmember Fabel said they are just getting started and they would certainly have public input. Mayor Grant asked who he was referring to when he said we? Was it the City Council or JDA? Councilmember Fabel said he was speaking of the JDA, and solicitation of public input would happen as the planning process resumes. Councilmember Holden asked if they were planning on involving residents prior to making an agreement. They have to bring residents along, not just tell them what they owe and what the density is without bringing them along. She asked what they were planning to do for the residents so they could take the information gathered back to the JDA. They previously had townhome and multi -family developers talk to them about what kind of space was needed. She's hearing that office space will be needed in 8-10 years. She felt they need to talk to experts to decide what retail and office space to plan for. Mayor Grant noted they had open house meetings in 2013, 2014, 2015 where residents left public comments, where they would typically have about 75 people show up. Councilmember Fabel said they we able to use that information and integrate it into the master development agreement and code, that work was done before the current JDA and they would have to evaluate what has changed in the last four years. Councilmember Holden asked if Councilmember Fabel was saying there would be no public process prior to an agreement. Councilmember Fabel said he didn't have an answer to that, when there would be public input, who would be there or what it would look like. Councilmember Monson said she supported having experts come to talk about the changes in the market, office space, and density. She thought bright line items would warrant public discussion, and she felt it was important to bring the Council along with the JDA and get public input. The JDA is currently deciding short and long-term goals. They don't have a roadmap developed yet. She is keeping her eye on when/how/if they need to have an environmental energy committee. Councilmember Rousseau asked about the logistics of putting an open house together. Mayor Grant said if it was a JDA open house the County would participate, if it was a City open house then City staff and Council would put it on. Councilmember Rousseau asked if there had been previous talk of utilizing an ad -hoc committee to review financial documents. Mayor Grant thought it had been talked about, and there is an external consultant that does financials for the JDA to review, but it would be good for residents to review those financials.