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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL — FEBRUARY 12, 2024 14 Councilmember Monson reported she believed the State of the City event was very well done. She thanked the City Councilmembers for providing excellent presentations and thanked staff for all of their efforts in planning this event. Councilmember Monson commented she toured the Ramsey County waste processing plant in Newport where all of the garbage from Ramsey and Washington County's were received. She discussed how the site would be piloting an organics recycling program. Councilmember Monson stated the Lake Johanna Fire Department held its first meeting of the year and noted a new firefighter was serving on the board. She explained the six new captains have been hired and would begin service in February. She reported the big focus for this group was on the fire station noting construction would begin this year in hopes of having the facility complete in 2025. She indicated this group would also be working to update the bylaws. Councilmember Monson indicated she attended the bonding tour with Councilmember Holden stating she learned a great deal at this event. Mayor Grant stated he was taken aback by the vile comments that were made at the last Council meeting. He indicated the comments were made via Zoom and he appreciated the fact City Administrator Perrault cut them off as soon as possible. He noted the comments were made by people who do not live in the community. Mayor Grant explained he received calls regarding the Arden Hills "Naturalist". He stated he does not know much about this flyer and he lives in the Chatham neighborhood. Mayor Grant stated the Twin Cities Gateway Bureau met and he was happy to report the City's hotels were doing very well. Mayor Grant thanked staff for all of their efforts on the State of the City event. He stated he received several comments after the event noting there were concerns with the fact the JDA had tried to continue to have open communication with the County and the County had not shown up. He believed the City did everything they could to keep communication lines open. Mayor Grant indicated the other question he received after the State of the City was about the City's tax rate. He described how the City's tax rate was calculated and noted Arden Hills' tax rate was 24.49%. He explained Arden Hills had the lowest tax rate in Ramsey County. He commented further on how the City's tax rate impacts Arden Hills' taxpayers. He suggested the slides created to assist with this explanation be posted on the City's website.