02-09-2026-WS - Laserfiche WebLink

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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 9, 2026 9 Community Development Director Reilly said Mayor Grant seems to be trying to get to the land cost side of the equation. He is interested in knowing if the Council has appetite for the City to work with some of our granting partners like Metropolitan Council, Ramsey County, DEED and the MPCA to apply for grants to help write down some of the cost of development. Mayor Grant understands that may be Director Reilly's interest. He wanted to ask if the applicant has gotten what they came for, out of this discussion. He said what Director Reilly is talking about is weeks or months down the road. He is hearing Council say there was no push back from residential vs. business. There is general agreement on the plan. There is a little bit of concern about affordability, but not unanimously. There's a little concern on trails, where they are and what they connect to. That's a small item in the overall equation. Another comment was regarding building materials. He thinks all of those details would come out with a proposal. He asked Council if that is a fair assessment. Councilmember Weber believes the desire for affordability was understated. Mayor Grant said he acknowledged there was some concern over affordability. Brokers and builders hearing this would walk away knowing we're not opposed but we need to hear more. Mr. Salmen said as the broker representing the owner he needs to assess the probability of getting to a closing someday. The Roers team wants to know that as well. He thinks they have the information they need to consider if they want to move forward or not. Mayor Grant advised them to continue working with Director Reilly. Mayor Grant noted that the agenda order had been rearranged at the beginning of the meeting but said, due to the amount of time spent on the first item, it may be better to revert back to the original order, since Bolton and Menk is presenting and he would have to stay through the Council Meeting if we begin the Affordable Housing Discussion now. Council agreed. B. Booster Station Aesthetics Ryan Peterson with Bolton and Menk is the sub -consultant to Kimley Horn on the TCAAP/Rice Creek Commons public improvement project. Their primary focus is the sewer/water public utilities. They completed a refresh of the preliminary engineering report that was completed ten years ago. Part of that was to create a reliable water supply for the units that will be built there. The update of that preliminary engineering report indicated that a booster station would be needed in the west part of town to augment the existing booster station on the east, so there will be a reliable water supply when development occurs. A booster station is placed on the division between the two pressure zones in town. There is a north pressure zone and a south pressure zone. The north line is generally 694. That is why we dialed in to this particular intersection. The existing watermain also runs alongOld Highway 10/Old Snelling Avenue. We know we need one. Ramsey County is the partner and they want to see this move forward so it's ready to go when public improvements are completed and ultimately for development. Having a reliable water supply is needed to fight fires and to fulfill the needs for affordable water supply.