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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JULY 28, 2025 3 Anna Springer said the list is organized by family, genus and species. The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board developed an approach to forest management that consists of a five, ten, twenty rule. The guideline now, to avoid mass casualty, is that you don't want your urban forest to have more than 20% from the same family, not more than 10% from the same genus and not more than 5% from the same species. Councilmember Holden was asking about maintenance. It was easier when they were the same. You were able to trim them at the same time. If there is a Dogwood, an Elm and a Crabapple Tree, will it be a lot more maintenance if we meet that criteria? Anna Springer said the best practice it to trim trees in the dormant season. Councilmember Holden asked if it will create more work if they are different trees. Anna Springer said no. She said the list excludes high maintenance trees. Councilmember Monson supports changing the language to reflect the design manual rather than listing the trees in the ordinance. She supports relying on the consultant to help get up date and organized. She supports relying on Staff to decide what to plant based on the location. Mayor Grant agreed. He directed Staff to continue on that path. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said he received a request from PTRC and some Councilmembers to complete some tree canopy evaluations. Anna Springer put together some initiatives for a city-wide tree inventory. The current inventory only includes Ash and Oak trees because they are on a treatment cycle. He is seeking Council input if there is interest in an Urban Forest Management Plan and the Tree Canopy Assessment initiatives. Councilmember Monson would like to see what those initiatives would cost, including employee resource requirements. Councilmember Holden agrees. It will depend on the cost. There isn't going to be much grant money. It may be better to schedule them over a couple of years. Mayor Grant is interested in seeing the proposals but also wonders what the benefit of doing this is. There should be some benefit on the other side, to justify the cost. He said Staff should continue with the design manual and bring those initiatives with cost and purpose back for consideration. B. 2026-2030 CIP Discussion Finance Director Yang said this discussion is a continuation of the July 14 Special Work Session discussion regarding the Preliminary 2026-2030 Capital Improvement Project (CIP) Plan. Changes have been made and are laid out in the memo. She said Public Works Superintendent Jeff Frid is available to field questions related to equipment. She is happy to answer any questions or move to Council discussion. Mayor Grant said we need to go through the categories that increased to provide structure for the discussion.