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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - NOVEMBER25,2O24 <br />Mayor Grant said he has gotten a lot of feedback about the roundabout and that it doesn't look <br />pretty. <br />PTRC Chair Anderson agreed. The PTRC is aware that there are people who have complained, <br />but it is still new and the plantings aren't established. <br />Mayor Grant said it belongs to the County, not the City. <br />Commiffee Member Rogers said there isn't signage, nor would it be appropriate to have <br />signage, stating it's a County project. That is where the education piece would come in. <br />Councilmember Holden asked if they would update the list to separate the roundabout and the <br />park. They are two different things. <br />PTRC Chair Anderson said the issue for PTRC is educating the residents about why it isn't in <br />Arden Hills' best interest to do something about that. <br />Councilmember Holden said that kids had a great time at Lindy Park the last couple years, <br />riding their bikes on the dirt piles. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said it <br />wouldn't be that expensive to install something like that. <br />PTRC Chair Anderson said they will look at the prior Master Plan. They will continue the <br />invasive species initiatives with Great River Greening, primarily. They hope to create suggested <br />guidelines for planting on areas encroaching on City property. That has begun but she thinks that <br />will need some more discussion. <br />Councilmember Holden said for that one, it isn't just the plantings that are encroaching on City <br />land. Some people are building brick walls there. She said maybe the answer is something that is <br />solid vs. something that is removable. She read the minutes that a friend of a councilmember filed <br />a complaint. The woman sent a note to the entire Council. They were walking their dogs every <br />day. We got 4 letters over the past couple of years. The encroachment was set to be taken out. <br />PTRC Chair Anderson said the PTRC discussion was much broader than just that one example. <br />PTRC is interested in assisting Council in coming up with code. It would be helpful to have some <br />clarity about what is being requested. It's hard for the group, as laypeople. They don't know why <br />someone is putting a firepit on City property. <br />Councilmember Rousseau said she thinks PTRC got stuck on this. She said discussion around <br />whether or not you can take a chainsaw or lawn mower to remove it. Taking down a tree would <br />be more challenging that that. PTRC didn't want to get involved in the physical building <br />encroachments. It would not be her preference to have PTRC make those decisions. She would <br />rather apply a policy throughout the city that says you can't put fences in these spaces and if a <br />resident plants trees or a garden there, the risk is that Public Works can remove it at any time. She <br />said Committee Member Seemann had the idea of Adopt-A-Spot program where a resident may <br />have a spot in their yard that they maintain and have an informal process where someone says <br />they want to plant a tree in the space they are taking care of. She is still researching how that <br />might work. Minnetonka has a similar program. If there is creeping Charlie coming on their lawn <br />from a City property maybe they clean up that space in the park, as well as their own yard. <br />t2