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Parks, Trails & Recreation Committee – July 15, 2025 Page 6 <br /> <br />Council Liaison Rousseau said Council has started the budget conversation. She doesn’t want to <br />wait until 2027 to start planning for the implementation. She asked if we should be estimating <br />something beginning this year. It will be challenging to set much aside. <br /> <br />Casey Byers said the City is already spending money on the Park System now. We are updating <br />two parks. We have to look at what the City is spending now on capital and operating costs and <br />have a real conversation asking if it is enough. If we spend the same amount every year, are we <br />going to catch up with where we want to be in 10-15 years? If it’s not enough, we need to calculate <br />what is enough and what will it take to get there? <br /> <br />Council Liaison Rousseau said by the time we are starting to get into the finer details, it will be <br />early into 2026. She is just trying to determine when is the right time to have these conversations. <br />Maybe we can put a little bit in the levy and let it build up over the next couple of years. <br /> <br />Casey Byers said the conversation will be had again next year at the same time. At that time the <br />plan will be complete so it will fit into the fiscal year for 2027. It is a difficult question to answer. <br /> <br />Committee Member Rogers asked what percentage of the total budget Arden Hills spends on <br />parks projects. <br /> <br />Council Liaison Rousseau doesn’t have that information with her but they did have the <br />accountant pull out how much we spend on parks and recreation. The amount is lower than other <br />cities. <br /> <br />Casey Byers said that is one of the benchmarks for comparison. They’ll look at what we are <br />currently spending and how it compares to similar communities. It will give us a ballpark figure. <br />That doesn’t all have to come from the General Fund. It could come from other sources. That’s <br />where we would consider funding campaigns and grants. <br /> <br />B. Council Liaison Update <br /> <br />Council Liaison Rousseau said Mullins Garden was approved by Council. The details on if it will <br />be identified by a plaque or a sign still need to be ironed out. <br /> <br />Council Liaison Rousseau said Anne Hall provided funding estimates for the Tree Trust next <br />year. She is hoping the Council will set $7,000 aside so we can have that event again. She asked <br />if anyone was aware of any concerns around that event. If not, she will move forward with <br />requesting this from Council. <br /> <br />Council Liaison Rousseau said Rec-on-the-Go is requesting about $8,000 for next year. It was a <br />successful program this year, although, there were some challenges with connecting to the <br />residents at Arden Manor. She is going to reach out to City Administrator Jagoe or maybe work <br />with Parks and Recreation Manager Skalicky to discuss producing some flyers or permission slips <br />in Hmong and Spanish to try to reach those demographics. <br /> <br />Council Liaison Rousseau said she is hoping we can build something into the park plan for <br />implementation. She thought $25,000 or $50,000. She said Staff is talking about an 11% levy this <br />year. There aren’t a lot of inter-governmental funds coming in. We’ve known for the past four-