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ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — APRIL 27, 2026 8 Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said the total cost is $300,000 for the front end loader with the plow attachment. The $275,000 is the cost after applying the trade in value for the old equipment. Councilmember Weber asked for examples where a larger excavator is beneficial. Public Works Superintendent Frid said we currently use the mini -excavator primarily for storm sewer clear out, removing sediment, setting rip rap, catch basin rebuilding. We often need more reach to stay in the roadway or on the boulevard to reach the aprons. It would help immensely with storm sewer projects but a backhoe can be used for many more projects. In the winter you can go around with a forestry head attachment so it has auxiliary hydraulics. Councilmember Weber asked if we have experienced lack of reach and leaving things behind. Do we not have platforms? Public Works Superintendent Frid said not leaving it behind but we're only able to reach what we can with the current equipment. If we have to crawl down we could use mats but we don't own any. We would have to rent them, trailer them in, set them up and tear them down. He can only think of two instances when we rented mats. He wouldn't want to rely on that method. He would prefer to have a machine that can get the job done with less restoration and we can reach what we need to. It also gives us larger lifting capacity. Councilmember Weber appreciates seeing what the surrounding cities have for case loaders. He sees that at least one city say they contract out any loader work. Was that a consideration? Public Works Superintendent Frid said there are a handful of functions that Falcon Heights doesn't do. Their watermains are taken care of by St. Paul Water. They purchased used Ramsey County plow trucks and they bring those trucks to the county shop to get salt. The county still helps them with plowing. They don't operate the same as us. Councilmember Rousseau asked when we are paying for trails. Finance Director Yang said trails are scheduled for 2027. Councilmember Rousseau said we've had the case loader for 30 years. She appreciates that we would like to get a new one more frequently than that. That cost is $10,000 per year, spread over that time. She sees the City Hall roof is coming up. She asked if we are doing solar with any of that. She thought we should use greater discretion around those two. Councilmember Monson said she trusts Staff to make decisions on what equipment they need on a day-to-day basis. Her job is to trust and understand Staff but also know that we have to remain within budget. The replacement timeline is an approach to normalize the costs and ensuring we aren't letting equipment fall into disrepair to the point of creating emergencies when we need it. She remembers talking about giving a budget number that Staff will have to figure out how to work with that amount on an annual basis. That could be a valuable second layer. You could use the replacement table and slice and dice it to fit with the number. She would prefer that structure. These discussions feel heavy handed from the Council. Our job is to set policy to help Staff have the resources they need while balancing the budget.