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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL — JULY 28, 2025 12 deferring all of their deficits to counties and cities, which would also adversely impact property taxes as well. Kristen Hansen, 1160 Karth Lake Drive, questioned what other cities were doing when it came to taxing residents for street improvement projects. Mayor Grant stated road assessments were expensive and he did not have detailed information on how other communities assessed their residents. He reported the City put an assessment policy in place in 2004 after getting a group of residents together to discuss a fair way to assess residents for street improvement projects. Mr. Fisher explained assessment rates vary greatly from city to city. He estimated over half of cities still assess for streets and noted 50% was a standard percentage. Ms. Hansen commented the proposed street improvements should last 20 years. She asked what would happen if this street were to fail prior to 20 years. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen stated the City would complete routine maintenance and large area patching if a portion of a roadway were to deteriorate in order to ensure the roadway makes it to 20 years. Ms. Hansen questioned what would happen if costs were to come in over the engineers' estimate. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen reported the City would be assessing residents based on the low bid prior to construction. He noted a contingency would be built into the project, but if any large expenditure were to occur, this would be at the City's expense. Councilmember Holden explained she greatly appreciated the level of detail that was discussed by the residents with the City's assessment policy was created. She stated Arden Hills was different than Roseville because they have grid systems for their streets. She was of the opinion all of the neighborhoods in Arden Hills were unique and lot sizes were larger than in neighboring communities. She noted this led to slightly higher assessment costs because there were fewer homes on each City block. Joe Freking, 1130 Amble Drive, questioned if the industrial reclamation costs were covered by the adjacent industrial property. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen reported this was the case. John Shields, 1144 Karth Lake Drive, asked when this neighborhood was last assessed for streets. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen stated he believed Karth Lake Drive was last improved in 2003. Mayor Grant questioned when the open house for this project would be held. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen explained the open house would be held later this fall.