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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JULY 28, 2025 6 <br />Councilmember Holden said they just saw the budget for the first time last week. There hasn't <br />been a vote on it yet. She is worried about getting Safer Grant funding this year and next year. We <br />submitted the reimbursement application in March and just got that money. We're sending the <br />second quarter of the Safer Grant. The Feds are restructuring and we don't know who the Safer <br />Grant will be under. We have looked into the relief association to figure out why we're paying <br />into that when they are at 150-160%. It's a legal requirement. We can't get that money back even <br />though they're doing well in the relief association. North Oaks is worried about brown outs. You <br />only get the information they give you. We are trying to get information about what happens <br />during a brown out. The board has 2 Shoreview, 1 North Oaks, 1 Arden Hills' representatives and <br />the rest are fire fighters. <br />Councilmember Monson said her concern is they just got a brand new ladder truck that was just <br />under $2 million. She doesn't understand the value in an additional ladder truck so soon after <br />receiving the other one. She said their argument for new full time captains is premature <br />considering they haven't finished the new station which is supposed to save response time. <br />Councilmember Monson said there will be additional budget requests from the General Fund <br />and Operations Fund. Do we have a sense of what that is? <br />Finance Director Yang said she has the preliminary schedule. She pointed to Attachment D. <br />Councilmember Monson asked if the 11 % includes the CIP. <br />Finance Director Yang said it does not include the CIP. The 11.2% is just the General Fund. The <br />CIP will be on top of that. <br />Councilmember Monson wanted to know what the CIP percentage was at the moment. <br />Finance Director Yang said there is a proposed $540,000 increase, which is a 9% increase <br />Councilmember Monson asked if that included the Franchise Fees. <br />Finance Director Yang confirmed. <br />Councilmember Monson said there was discussion around bonding during the last meeting. That <br />discussion was for trails. Have we talked about bonding for the PMP, rather than trails? Is there a <br />recommendation from Staff about pros and cons between those two options. <br />Finance Director Yang said it was brought up but that was not discussed at the July 14 work <br />session. City Council has the option to bond for just the special assessment portion or the City's <br />portion along with the special assessments. The City can also bond for all capital projects. <br />Councilmember Monson asked for Staff s recommendation for the best way to do it with all of <br />those options. We have a $10 million bond per year requirement. We have TCAAP and the <br />infrastructure when the spine road goes in, presumably in 2026. How are we ensuring we have the <br />capabilities to do that, in addition to whatever other bonding we may want to pursue. <br />Finance Director Yang said the $10 million is the limit per year. We will have to consider if we <br />have enough bonding capacity, when TCAAP spine road comes in. Whatever is remaining is what <br />