12-18-23-WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION - DECEMBER 18, 2023 6 Mayor Grant noted that the meeting generally lasts about an hour. They need to pick out topics that are of interest to residents, and some are topics they should cover like taxes and finance. Minor topics that wouldn't be of interest to the city as a whole and could be addressed at the meet and greet after the meeting. Councilmember Holden thought the fire department should be a separate category as it will be their biggest economic driver over the next five years. People need to understand that they can't hire enough volunteers anymore or part time people, they're hiring and going to build, and then talk about City finances as a whole. Mayor Grant thought there were some people that don't realize there is a fire station proposed. Discussion ensued regarding what items should be included in each category. Councilmember Holden thought water meters should be discussed. Councilmember Rousseau wanted to include an update about Committees and Commissions and NYFS. Councilmember Monson felt the core topics could be budget, Lake Johanna Fire, Public Works/PMP, Community Development, and Rice Creek Commons. Along with updates regarding NYFS, Committees and Commissions, cannabis. Water meters could be put under Public Works. Councilmember Holden thought they should talk about Committees and Commissions. Councilmember Rousseau said noting the Economic Development Commission was back up and running, highlighting activities of PTRC or thanking Planning Commissioners would be good additions. Councilmember Holden said people should be able to ask questions after each segment, maybe give five minutes for questions from the audience as long as they stay on that topic. Councilmember Fabel disagreed. He recommended against having any questions at the State of the City. They could be encouraged to present questions in writing, come to the next Council meeting, or approach a Councilmember after the presentations. Councilmember Rousseau would like to see how long the presentation is before making that decision. She liked the idea of people submitting questions in advance so they could try to tie some of those into the presentation. Mayor Grant stated that from the discussion it sounds like they've taken out food trucks and chickens but he thinks they are probably looking at an hour of topics. Councilmember Monson suggested they have notecards that people can write questions on and give them to staff to sort through. She would prefer to have questions at the end. Mayor Grant said they could ask for cards to be collected after each presentation so there was time to go through them. He noted that once the event is over, typically Council stays around to mingle and talk to residents.