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ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — AUGUST 11, 2025 23 Councilmember Weber said he trusts Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen's judgement however there is a big pool out there. We could possibly pull someone from Ramsey County. Councilmember Monson thinks it's odd that we pay seasonal employees PTO. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen clarified it's unpaid time off. Councilmember Monson suggested it may be good to create a policy around that. Maybe this is new for this past season, but it makes sense to put a policy in place. She wondered if there is opportunity to extend the seasonal season. She also wants to know how many levy points $107,000 is. Mayor Grant said roughly two. Councilmember Monson said we can assume two levy points for 2026 and then we have additional costs of benefits and salary. She would like to see how this folds into the budget discussions in two weeks. If we had to split, she would prefer to approve the Street Lead because the impact is less. She would want to see the maintenance worker in the back half of 2026. She said we've already made some big changes surrounding the PMP. Mayor Grant is not aware that Arden Hills has gotten significantly larger. That may change dramatically with TCAAP. He wasn't in favor of a Phase 2 when it was brought up. He said going back a little ways, we had to hire a superintendent. Public Works Superintendent Frid was promoted and got backfilled on the crew. Then we had to hire an Office Support Specialist and we did. Then we needed an Assistant Public Works Director. We hired him. Then we hired a Park and Recreation Manager. Now we're up to four new positions. Where does it stop? The City hasn't gotten any bigger. He wonders if we are doing things effectively. He asked when the Public Works Superintendent position was added. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said there was always a Superintendent position. He said the Assistant City Engineer position was converted to Assistant Public Works Director because we wanted someone with more field experience. Plus Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen is the City Engineer with signing authority so we didn't need an Assistant City Engineer. Mayor Grant said there was a time where we had Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen's position but didn't have an Assistant position. Discussion ensued regarding previous Staff and their roles. City Administrator Jagoe said some levels of service expectations on maintenance needs have been a driver. The work plan has increased the need for additional Staff. Mayor Grant said he was here when there wasn't a superintendent or a public works admin. Maybe the Assistant Public Works Director. He has a lot on his table and he does very well. He was here when there wasn't a Rec Program Manager.