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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 21, 2023 11 K. Gathering Place Parking Lot Discussion City Administrator Perrault gave a brief history of the parking lot and the agreement with the church. The parking lot is privately owned. In previous discussions the city would be willing to split the cost and give the church a payment plan, in return they would turn over about 30% of the property into green space. The church would like to retain ownership of the greenspace for the life of the agreement. The City would pay the church for plowing each year and provide maintenance to the lot. The church would also like a low interest rate, possibly 2% over 20 years. Councilmember Holden noted the church had defaulted on their contract and hadn't maintained it, and now they want the City to pay for a private entities parking lot. She felt the City should get the property or not pave the parking lot. Mayor Grant asked what the City got out of the negotiations. City Administrator Perrault said the two changes were the church would maintain ownership of the green space and get a lower interest rate. The benefit to the City would be to have a functional parking lot for the park for $140,000. Mayor Grant wondered how much of the parking lot gets used by people going to the park. Councilmember Monson said she has seen it half full on weekends when there are soccer games. She didn't know how you could functionally arrive at the park if the parking lot wasn't available. She thought it would be nice if the city could own the piece and turn it to green space or make it into our own parking lot. She didn't feel comfortable getting into another long-term contract with a partner that didn't maintain the lot. Councilmember Rousseau asked if the construction costs may increase. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said he was fairly confident in the current estimate but would know more once the bidding process gets underway. Councilmember Rousseau wondered what would happen if the Gathering Place sold the property. Mayor Grant thought the cost of reconstructing the parking lot could be potentially more than $280,000. Councilmember Monson asked if the City had ever offered to purchase part of the property. City Administrator Perrault said they hadn't offered to purchase a portion, only for the 28% to be given to the City. Councilmember Monson asked if they could have a new proposal saying the City would buy a portion of the lot and not repave the rest of the lot. Councilmember Holden felt we were technically buying it by fixing the lot, and by doing so we're spending that amount for less than an acre of land.