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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JULY 28, 2025 8 Mayor Grant said it may not have looked at the levy. We simply looked at what the savings would be by prepaying the bond. It was not as much as he hoped. It's like a mortgage. Towards the end you are paying mostly principal and there isn't much savings. He said Finance Director Yang can do the comparison to the levy increase as Councilmember Holden requested. Councilmember Holden agrees with moving forward with some fire station things. We don't know how many people may sign up. We have a new shiny fire station and a lot more people may volunteer. She thinks there is savings in waiting until the station is done so we can see who comes on board to be a volunteer fire fighter before we start filling permanent positions. We said the Franchise Fees would be used for the fire department so anything else would be a major policy change. Councilmember Weber is not familiar with staffing at the fire department. He asked if they will take volunteers and fill what would be a full time position, instead. Councilmember Holden said no. They said they don't have enough peak coverage. They are at 80% coverage with volunteers. It's part-time, paid. They sign up for shifts. During the work week there are morning shifts that don't have coverage. The fire department has a strategic plan. They hired three full time captains, through a grant. The grant will pay for those but after three years you have to hire three more full-time positions. It's a six -year initiative. When the captains are there full-time, they can cover those empty shifts. The entire state is having difficulty finding volunteers because people have so many other things. They would eventually like to move to a full-time fire station. Councilmember Holden asked what is happening to all of the gym equipment, furniture and everything that is at the other station. Councilmember Monson said they weren't asked to address that. Councilmember Holden said that is a big chunk of money. Councilmember Weber asked if that was budgeted in the new building. Councilmember Holden said they budgeted for brand new everything. She thought it had been decided. City Administrator Jagoe said she wasn't sure. She knew all of the soft costs included equipment for the new building. She doesn't know what they are doing with the equipment at the old building. She can follow up and ask about it. Councilmember Monson said the cost to deconstruct desks and move weights to a new location can be almost as costly as getting new. Councilmember Holden said we just purchased all that new gym equipment. Councilmember Monson said she isn't sure about the gym equipment but she knows moving office furniture is almost never worthwhile to move it. Councilmember Holden said the firefighters can move it.