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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—APRIL 15, 2024 13 <br /> Councilmember Rousseau asked if the Mayor wanted her to set an agenda topic at a future <br /> worksession regarding the PTRC's plans regarding rain gardens. She stated the PTRC was also <br /> interested in pursuing grants with Great River Greening for buckthorn removal. <br /> Mayor Grant believed these items had to come before the Council. <br /> Councilmember Monson agreed. She understood buckthorn removal was important to the <br /> PTRC, but when money started getting involved this matter should come before the Council. <br /> City Administrator Perrault stated the Great River Greening matter would be coming before the <br /> Council at the April 22 worksession. <br /> Mayor Grant stated it was unfortunate that the full Council could not be in attendance to discuss <br /> the last item on the agenda, but he understood Councilmember Holden was only available until <br /> 6:30 p.m. <br /> F. Proclamation Policy <br /> City Administrator Perrault stated in 2023, Council discussed creating a proclamation policy, <br /> and at the time it chose to wait on creating a policy. In the past, the Council has generally only <br /> considered proclamations regarding Public Works Week, Police Week, and Night to Unite. An <br /> additional proclamation regarding fair housing was passed last year. Should Council want to <br /> create a formal policy on proclamations it should discuss how they are brought forward, do all <br /> requested proclamations receive consideration, is there any type of discussion or vetting done by <br /> the entire Council prior to consideration, what happens if the entire Council is not supportive? <br /> Some possible direction is below: <br /> • Proclamations need to be brought forward for consideration by a City Councilmember for <br /> discussion at a worksession(this could conflict with how Council sets their agenda) <br /> • Proclamations need to have full Council support to be brought forward for approval <br /> Councilmember Fabel stated the Council recently observed how Minneapolis and St. Paul got <br /> into a long, heated and publicized debate on how to address the cease fire in Israel. He did not <br /> believe it would be helpful for Arden Hills to get into these discussions. On the other hand, he <br /> believed proclamations that addressed life in the city were fine for the Council to consider. <br /> Mayor Grant commented he liked the way the City handled proclamations. He discussed how he <br /> did not want to be receiving outrageously wrong proclamations that would then have to be <br /> publicized because the Council did not have a policy in place. He stated once the door was open <br /> and all groups were allowed to have their proclamation read, he questioned if this was the manner <br /> in which the Council wanted to proceed. In addition, he did not support the City getting into <br /> political proclamations. <br /> Councilmember Rousseau stated she was not interested in micromanaging this process. She <br /> indicated there does not appear to be an issue at this time. She reported as new Councilmembers <br /> come on, she recommended they be made aware of the legacy proclamations. <br /> Councilmember Monson explained generally this was not a problem. She did not believe the <br /> Council should have to spend time talking about proclamations that don't impact the City. She <br />