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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL—APRIL 8, 2024 11 <br /> agreed to work on. She noted this was a timely issue that should be addressed prior to the June <br /> budget discussions. She believed the 5:30 p.m. worksession meeting time was not working. She <br /> supported the Council holding its worksession meetings at 5:00 p.m. <br /> Councilmember Holden indicated she would not object going back to 5:00 p.m. but noted when <br /> the Councilmembers were elected, the third Monday of the month meetings were to be held at <br /> 5:00 p.m. and the other two meetings were to begin at 7:00 p.m. She stated due to personal <br /> reasons, she could not be at meetings prior to 5:00 p.m. She hoped the Council would keep <br /> meetings times so that all members could attend. She understood Councilmembers wanted to <br /> spend more time with their families and noted this could be accomplished by spreading out the <br /> committee appointments. She believed it would be complicated to have the Council rating items <br /> by priority at each worksession meeting. <br /> Councilmember Monson stated she generally felt neutral about the agenda setting policy until <br /> recently when it became clear that the Council's priorities were not clear and the Council did not <br /> hold a strategic goal setting meeting. She commented on how challenging it was to call a special <br /> Council worksession for April 15 and therefore she did not believe the current agenda setting <br /> policy was working. She indicated she was willing to give this a go and could rely on the Mayor <br /> during worksessions to set aside several minutes at the end of each meeting to discuss upcoming <br /> priorities. <br /> Councilmember Fabel reported he was comfortable with the proposal. <br /> Mayor Grant indicated he was not comfortable with the proposal. He believed the list was long <br /> now and would be knocked off shortly. He stated if the Council wanted to get through these <br /> items, he did not believe specific procedures had to be put in place, rather the items had to be <br /> discussed in a concise matter and the Council had to move on. He suggested before procedural <br /> changes are made, that the Council be allowed to work through items on April 15 and April 22 <br /> and after that time the list will narrow. <br /> Councilmember Holden stated back in November when the scheduling changes were made for <br /> the worksessions, she was told the changes were being made for staff. She believed adding <br /> worksessions would now be burdensome for staff. She indicated the strategic planning retreat was <br /> nixed because the Council was told these items could be addressed at regular worksessions. She <br /> questioned which items were a priority for the City versus a personal priority. She suggested <br /> some of the items be addressed by staff versus being further vetted by the Council. <br /> Mayor Grant reported the Old Snelling matter would not take long to discuss. He understood <br /> there were difficulties in getting to all the items. However, he was of the opinion the Council <br /> could get through all of the items without putting new policies in place. <br /> MOTION: Councilmember Monson moved and Councilmember Rousseau seconded a <br /> motion to approve the agenda setting policy as outlined in the memorandum <br /> from staff dated March 11,2024. <br /> Councilmember Holden stated approving this policy would take any power away from the <br /> Mayor to set an agenda. <br />