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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — NOVEMBER 10, 2025 5 Councilmember Holden said this topic is up for discussion next on the agenda. She said they have decided there will be a drone show. That can be paid for through the reversal on the lodging tax. She said the drones can advertise the people who donate. The $10,000 would be nice to have because we will still need things that won't be supported by the lodging tax. It would give us something to move forward with. Councilmember Monson agrees. She said when looking at all of the events, the cost was about $20,000. That did not include the drone show. She would like to see more than $10,000. She asked if there is enough flex in the budget that we can take $20,000 in savings from somewhere else. Do we need to directly allocate that amount? Finance Director Yang said a one-time expense can be covered by fund balance. She would caution that if it were something ongoing, we would want to include it in the levy. Councilmember Rousseau said she is interested in moving the $10,000 from the strategic planning. She thinks we have a good road map for strategic planning. She noted the Economic Development Commission (EDC) is interested in getting involved with the planning and trying to get the business community sponsorships. Mayor Grant and Councilmember Weber both agreed they are also in favor of moving the $10,000. Finance Director Yang said the Economic Development Authority (EDA) Fund is projected to be $755,000 at the start of 2026. Adding the proposed $100,000 levy and accounting for expenditures, the fund will be at $584,000. The expenditures include the gateway signs and operating expenditures. Councilmember Rousseau said we are researching the affordable housing options and discussing changing the governance structure of the EDA by adding two EDC commissioners. She is interested in making sure we have some funds there over the next couple of years. Discussion ensued regarding if the EDC decided they aren't interested in gateway sings in the coming year or if they were going to continue the conversation. Taking the $180,000 for gateway signs would not reduce the 2026 levy it would just prevent a reduction of the EDA Fund. Councilmember Weber said the EDA Fund use was left on the table as an open question. He asked if we have an answer on if we can use the funds for affordability. Finance Director Yang said some of the acceptable uses are administrative staff expenses. The City could develop grants or loans for businesses. We could use it for property development or use it for advertisement and marketing to bring businesses in to the City. It can be used for anything related to growing the City. Councilmember Weber asked if it can be utilized for affordability, such as a land trust. He thinks there are a lot of options, other than signs. He isn't opposed to signs. That is a goal from the strategic planning. However, he would like to continue to grow that fund and put it to good use for the City.