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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL — AUGUST 12, 2024 4 <br />Councilmember Monson indicated the JDA has not had discussions regarding neighborhood <br />private infrastructure. She agreed this infrastructure should be managed by the developer. <br />Councilmember Monson stated she believed the community land trust option was a great idea <br />for the development, and anticipated this would be further addressed once the funding gap was <br />resolved. <br />Councilmember Holden explained she was not accusing anyone, but rather after reviewing the <br />financial information from City Administrator Perrault, she understood $1,000,000 had been <br />pulled from the general fund for TCAAP. She indicated she does not have the same information <br />as Councilmember Monson does regarding TCAAP. She stated the City Council has not had a <br />discussion regarding TCAAP, except when there were concerns regarding the loss of commercial <br />business space. <br />Councilmember Holden reported the information she had regarding the 10 affordable housing <br />units was provided to the County recently from the developer. She commented further on the 429 <br />bonds noting the City would not receive the funding until the parcels were split and the homes <br />were sold. She reiterated that her comments were not accusatory in any manner, but rather she <br />wanted to learn more about what was going on, especially when it comes to the finances that will <br />impact the City. <br />Mayor Grant commented he watched the July 23 JDA work session and to be clear the County <br />has stated the $40 million gap, was closer to $38.4 million. He explained there was a City <br />representative that stated the City has given the County everything they wanted. His question to <br />this statement is what has the City received in return. <br />Mayor Grant indicated because the development was more dense, the City was scoring lower on <br />the energy resiliency score card. He stated this was unfortunate. He supported City staff speaking <br />with the County regarding "Save Arden Hills" to learn more about who these people were. <br />Mayor Grant explained he may not fully understand the land trust, but it was his understanding <br />land would be placed in a trust and would then be turned over to Habitat for Humanity. He <br />questioned how much would be placed in the land trust and how much would become affordable <br />housing. <br />Mayor Grant commented on the level of risk in doing this development, noting Arden Hills <br />understood they would be responsible for the water tower and the trunk utilities. He stated it was <br />never discussed that the City would be responsible for local roads. He indicated this was typically <br />done by the developer and turned back to the City. <br />Mayor Grant reported the concept of risk was discussed at the recent JDA meeting and noted he <br />was interested to hear the City representatives acknowledging the amount of risk within this <br />development. He stated acknowledging the amount or risk was the first step in properly managing <br />it. He indicated this would be a difficult project and it was reassuring to hear people <br />acknowledging this fact. <br />Mayor Grant discussed the term sheet from several years ago, noting the terms within that <br />document were completely different than what was being agreed upon today. He commented on <br />how costs and densities have changed for the development. He encouraged residents to watch the <br />