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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 9, 2023 2 3. AGENDA ITEMS A. Lake Johanna Fired Department (LJFD) Fire District Discussion (discussed as Item 3B) City Administrator Perrault stated the fire board is looping to cities to see if they would support a fire district. The fire board's issues include the effective governance, they think it would be more effective and productive under a fire district, while cities feel they will lose control over items such as taxing. Councilmember Monson added there is a benefit to the City taking the fire costs off the levy issued by the City. City elected officials would sit on the board, but the makeup hasn't been determined. Full time hires and building a new station are coming at once and there was concern about supporting them and making decisions based on the current governance. The alternative to a fire district is to update the bylaws and contracts to shore up some of the governance concerns. She felt the fire department is due for a new governance model. As the department goes away from a part-time fire fighter model they need to have a governance that matches that. She also found the district to be a big distraction for the fire board because there are things in front of the board that need time to be discussed but aren't such as the fire station funding. She wondered if they should be pursuing a fire district while there are other important topics in front of them. If they cities don't want to levy for those cost, the fire district is a solution as they could decide how to levy for the money. She felt there were good things about it but to her it was more about timing. Councilmember Holden felt the bylaws and governance that has been in place up until now has worked perfectly. She said there are three firemen that are elected to the board and there is one board member that is bringing up issues. They have had the opportunity to change the bylaws every January and yet the fire department hasn't done it. One of the main issues she saw was if two cities vote for it, the third city is stuck with it. She didn't understand why Shoreview felt they should have more seats on the board because they have more houses. It cost the same amount of money to put a fire out in Arden Hills as is does in Shoreview, and yet Shoreview has a shorter response time than Arden Hills or North Oaks. If Arden Hills gets another 5,000 people do they get another half a vote? She thought changing the bylaws wouldn't be an issue. They didn't know what it would cost to become a fire district on top of the additional fire department personnel, equipment, and lawyers. She didn't know what the rush was. Councilmember Rousseau said she wasn't able to attend the fire board meeting. She thought if they go to a fire district they can't go back in a few years and roll it back. She wondered if they could make amendments to the bylaws first and see how that went. City Administrator Perrault said his general impression was that Shoreview was supportive and looking at it as a new, unique governing model. He felt North Oaks was still on the fence and maybe less supportive of it, partly because of the way payment or financing was distributed; on a taxable market value base or a predefined formula. If it was on a taxable market value base North Oaks' share would go up significantly.