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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — AUGUST 25, 2025 15 Finance Director Yang said it's net amount vs. costs. Councilmember Holden agrees to use the loader until it dies. We always try to put something in there. It could die in two years. She is amazed how many trailers we buy. You should just weld it and put a new bearing in it. We need to keep that in there. Councilmember Rousseau is in favor of using the case loader until it dies. She understands that if it does, we need to have the funds ready to purchase something. She doesn't know how far out you have to order a case loader prior to delivery. She said a fire truck is one or two years. She wondered if there is a long wait for a case loader, like there is with a fire truck. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen isn't sure. His guess would be it would be a 6-12 month wait. City Administrator Jagoe said for this discussion, we can put a pause on the timing of the case loader. Staff could bring back a discussion item in March, to get to a set number that we use for equipment replacement. Then we can look at the strategy and timing of the case loader. For now, we can leave it in the 2027 planning. It won't change the discussion for this budget. In March, Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen can do a complete review on the timing and the needs. We can determine an amount that flattens the budget level each year. Mayor Grant said one thing to keep in mind is the 621 case loader is not the only loader down there. We have a 590, as well. Yes, it's a 1-yard bucket but a dump truck is 5-yards. Maybe you have to dump 5 buckets. We can get there. The only other thing the 621 is used for is to push back snow. We usually can push that back with a snow plow, anyway. Councilmember Weber said that is an important factor. We won't be in dire straights if it does break down. We should have one, in the long run. He agrees with keeping it in the long-term plan. He also thinks we should start building for that now. That would mean, if we put away $50,000 a year we can pay for it in 6 years. Councilmember Holden said we should do the planning for that in March. Councilmember Monson agrees that Staff should come back with a plan. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen thought that was the direction to bring it back in March. He will move forward with that. Mayor Grant asked if the 1996 Redi-Haul Trailer is a zero gravity tilt trailer. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen believes all of the trailers are tilt. Mayor Grant doesn't understand why we are getting a new one. We replaced them all because we wanted the gravity tilt. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said ergonomics and safety are the reasons. The other thing to remember is the trade-in value. The "use it until it dies" approach is not ideal. Especially for a City to maintain things that way. When discussing the loader, we did look at used