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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — SEPTEMBER 23, 2024 4 Councilmember Fabel asked what the City's share of the fire station is. Councilmember Monson said it was approximately'/4 of the amount. Councilmember Fabel asked if any portion of the annual payments made will cover capital expenditures. Councilmember Monson said no. Councilmember Holden said the portion each city paid was supposed to be adjusted as the population changes. She wondered if it will be a flat 25%. Councilmember Monson said previous discussion was regarding one bond or three bonds. North Oaks and Shoreview both prefer a single bond. That would provide them with some administrative cost savings. Arden Hills looked at that and the savings wasn't substantial. They have a three-year rolling average to decide what proportion of the share the City pays. There is concern that today it's 2 5 % but in 5 to 10 years Arden Hills may owe a higher percentage, but the bond would reflect just the 25%. The discussion is whether or not the cities need to come up with a separate agreement that outlines if one of the cities' share swings X% above or below, would we have a payment plan to true up our portion. It's more complicated by going to three bonds. Councilmember Holden said the building is going to cost $25 million. It will be done. She wants to understand how the rolling average works. Why would our cost go up, when it was already built. Councilmember Monson said these are preliminary discussions. There are not agreements yet and negotiations are forthcoming. The argument for having three separate bonds so there are no issues with hitting the qualifying cap. We want to have a positive relationship with the fire board and with the partnering cities. Mayor Grant agrees with Councilmember Holden that the cost is $20-$25 million and we finance it, however it makes sense. We build it. It doesn't take that long to build. The proportional share to build the building is whatever the cost is that particular year. What if Shoreview puts up a bunch of apartments, or if North Oaks built up or if TCAAP moves forward? You have the financing in the year the building is built. He would not want to be subject to how the partnering cities want to run their bond. The longer you run it, the more expensive it will be. Councilmember Monson said that's why they want to go to one bond. A single bond outlines who has what share, there are no questions about timelines. A single bond is simpler, and it retains a positive relationship with our partners at the fire board. That is not to say that having three separate bonds will not retain those partnerships. Mayor Grant said if we finance the $4.5 million, we have the bonding and the building gets built; he doesn't understand why we're looking forward 10 years where our percentage will be more.