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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL — MAY 8, 2023 11 <br />Councilmember Rousseau recalled the Council had discussed an open house earlier this year. <br />She commented the list of concerns stated by Councilmember Holden was not what she was <br />hearing from residents. She explained she was hearing concerns about the plans for schools, the <br />energy plan for the site, environmental concerns, and what the plans were for a civic center. <br />Councilmember Holden reported she would be open to adding any other items the Council may <br />find important to address with the public as the list she provided didn't include everything and she <br />agreed the points Councilmember Rousseau brought up are important. <br />Councilmember Monson agreed it was a good idea for the City to have an open house that was <br />run by the City. She questioned if the JDA would be presenting this information to the public. <br />Councilmember Holden stated she would like this event to be put on by the City and not the <br />JDA. <br />Councilmember Monson believed this type of event would be appropriate. She agreed an open <br />house was needed. She indicated the JDA does have a community engagement event that would <br />be coming and she wanted to make sure this event coordinated with this plan. She supported the <br />list of topics being expanded. <br />Councilmember Holden stated the residents that live on Hamline were very concerned about <br />traffic. She discussed how an open house would allow the City to provide residents with detailed <br />information on the roadmap and plans for TCAAP going forward. <br />Councilmember Fabel indicated he was looking forward to this conversation, but he was hoping <br />more information could be shared than what has happened since 2016, given the fact nothing else <br />was on the table. He discussed how interest rates have increased and the office market has <br />changed since COVID. He understood the financial capacity of Ramsey County was dramatically <br />different when the City could have agreed to go forward with something and unfortunately did <br />not. <br />Councilmember Holden asked for a point of clarification. She explained Councilmember Fabel's <br />comment about the City choosing to not move forward was not a true statement. <br />Councilmember Fabel stated he recognized that there were two sides to the story. He understood <br />Councilmember Holden and Mayor Grant had a position of why things broke down and many <br />other people have a different view. He indicated there was no denying that things broke down. <br />Whether the Council was to blame or County Commissioner Ortega was to blame, things have <br />changed dramatically in the years since then. He reported there could be a meeting tomorrow and <br />the only things that could be shared was that the JDA was working on a plan from 2016 that had a <br />lot of favorable aspects, but this plan was not approved. He reported four years have since passed <br />and the JDA was trying to understand the changes that have taken place in this time. He stated a <br />new plan was not yet in place so he questioned how helpful an open house would be at this time. <br />He believed it would be more helpful to do what Councilmember Monson has proposed, which <br />was to wait for the JDA to better understand what the economic consequences are, what the <br />inflation rate is doing, and the financial capacity of Ramsey County. He did not find it useful to <br />discuss what happened in 2016, but rather thought the progress of this development should be the <br />