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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 3 fences, play sets, raised garden beds and plantings. He would like to understand what makes his encroachment unique and if they could develop some consistency. Councilmember Holden said she spoke with the former City Engineer who claimed she never gave anyone any oral permission to do anything to encroach on the City parks. She felt encroachments happen on other trails in the city. There have been articles in the newsletter regarding this. She felt if someone puts a row of shrubs or trees along the trail they are extending their yard and it is no longer park land, it's viewed as the resident's land. Councilmember Rousseau asked if this was becoming problematic for the City to maintain the areas that are being encroached on. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said the way they maintain this trail is to run a mowers width on either side of the trail, and Xcel Energy does the larger area mowing and vegetation control. There are some sanitary sewer structures that are accessed off the trails and possibly some storm sewer structures. He felt there was adequate room for snow storage and from a maintenance aspect the encroachments in this area weren't in conflict with maintenance. Mr. Bonine noted that he has no issues with anything anyone else has done, but the lack of consistency is confusing. Councilmember Rousseau thought the complaint they received seemed very negative and personal, and basing the entire community policy on this complaint might not be the right way to go. Councilmember Monson asked about the two examples of other properties that were given. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said in Example 1 there was a rain garden owned and maintained by the City. Councilmember Monson said she has talked with other people that live along the trail and has been told the same thing — that they could put items in at their own cost but that it might get moved. She wanted to be sure it wouldn't cost the City more if they had a watermain or something similar to fix. She asked how staff felt about trees and plantings being in the way and the costs of moving them. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen stated that shrubs were pretty easy to move but trees were more impactful. Fencing or hardscaping would also be more impactful, and City staff would not put the items back, it would be up to the homeowner. Councilmember Holden agreed that the letter was very negative. There are groups of people that walk Hazelnut Park trails and they've been dealing with this issue for many years. They've been upset because they haven't taken over City property in their yards and are frustrated with the length of time this has been happening. Councilmember Fabel asked how many arborvitaes Mr. Bonine had planted.