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<br />~ <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />. <br /> <br />ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JUNE 14, 1999 <br /> <br />11 <br /> <br />bills throughout the year, they do not have enough cash for these services, aside from the reserve <br />account. <br /> <br />Mr. Fritsinger stated that the issue alluded to by Councilmember Larson was what would be an <br />appropriate balance of the reserve account and how to accommodate their needs as an <br />organization to deal with emergency situations. He indicated that in a future meeting, the City <br />Council would be seeing an amendment to the contract to go back to biannual payments, <br /> <br />Mayor Probst requested confirmation that the reserve fund was to be utilized in emergency <br />situations. Mr. Fritsinger explained that the current reserve fund has been utilized for many <br />different things, <br /> <br />Councilmember Larson stated that at the last City Council meeting he had sought to increase the <br />amount of park dedication assessment for the subdivision. He indicated that since that time he <br />had been surprised when reading the Ordinance that there is a choice between using the assessed <br />value and the market value when determining the park dedication fees, He expressed his belief <br />that this is not a good arrangement since it allows the Council to deal differently with different <br />developers when the Council shonld be consistent in determining what a park dedication fee <br />should be, The fee should be based on either the assessed value or the market value consistently. <br /> <br />Councilmember Larson indicated that the subdivision discussed at the last Council meeting had a <br />valuation difference of close to $150,000 between the County's assessed value and the market <br />value, Although Ramsey County is working to bring these two values closer together, there are <br />some major discrepancies, He asked if there was other support on the Council to have staff <br />review this situation and present the Council with a recommendation, Although there may be <br />situations that call for non-consistency, the way the Ordinance is written at this time is not <br />correct. <br /> <br />Mayor Probst asked staff if this was a policy issue. Mr, Fritsinger stated that it is written in the <br />Code how to determine park dedication fees. He indicated that the Council would be receiving <br />the Code back in their packages for review on Friday. This may provide an opportunity within <br />the next couple of weeks to make suggestions as to how the Council would want to proceed with <br />this portion of the Code, <br /> <br />Mayor Probst stated that he would be willing to look into this issue. Since there have been a <br />variety of methods used over the years to determine the park dedication fees, it would be helpful <br />to have a rational and consistent approach. <br /> <br />With regard to what method to use when determining park dedication fees, Councilmember Rem <br />noted that both methods would be argued for. She indicated that for the most part, the <br />developers always say the fee is more than they can afford, She agreed that the City does need to <br />revisit this portion of the Code. <br /> <br />Mr. Fritsinger stated that one difficulty at this point is that the Code works well when dealing <br />with large properties. Much of the development within the City of Arden Hills at this time deals <br />with smaller properties and lot splits, It is often difficult for the developers to understand what <br />