05-26-26-R - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL—MAY 26, 2026 6 City Administrator Jagoe reported in all three sections of the proposed ordinance language, the City is adding overall broad duties and functions for each of these groups. The City Attorney through this review has identified that our current ordinance for Committees/Commissions listed under Section 220 states that "The duties and functions of the Commission shall be included in the Annual Resolution appointing new members and may be changed by Council Resolution, from time to time, based upon the needs of the City." She has instructed that these duties need to be incorporated into the ordinance. Therefore, the City Attorney has incorporated standard language within the proposed ordinance which summarizes a list of broad duties to be performed. Upon approval and adoption, city staff will begin advertising for recruitment as needed for each of the above. Councilmember Holden stated in reading the PTRC minutes she understood this group used to have 12 members, but that this has become cumbersome and that too many people have too many ideas. She commented that the number of members was raised to 16 at one time to accommodate the number of residents that were interested. She has heard that we do have people that are interested in applying so we could have 12. She questioned why the number was being reduced versus being more inclusive. She said the leadership should make sure the plan is being followed. She explained she was struggling to support a reduction in the PTRC given how much work there was to do in the City's parks. She noted this group was expanded in order to allow for more diversity within the PTRC in relation to where the members live. She didn't know if six are from the same area and the same park. She noted this was one of the reasons the number had expanded was so that there was diversity and that all areas of the city could be represented as a whole. Mayor Grant requested Councilmember liaison Rousseau to speak regarding this. Councilmember Rousseau indicated the PTRC meets from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m., which is an hour and a half to meet, and there has been challenges with allowing everyone to speak. She noted the City now had the adopt a park and adopt a spot program in place, which allowed residents to get involved with the City's parks. She said there were times in the past where there were significant challenges where many people wanted to come in and speak and then a few that spend most of the time speaking. She commented the Chair was doing a great job at governance and noted a smaller sized committee would allow for more space to speak. She said that with a slightly smaller committee, you actually give the space for everyone to speak during a meeting. Councilmember Holden asked if non-committee members were coming in and speaking at the PTRC meetings. Mayor Grant asked if Councilmember Rousseau was referring to non-committee members. Councilmember Rousseau commented she was referring to PTRC members speaking about matters they were passionate about and not realizing there were time constraints which was leading to time management concerns for the PTRC meetings. This meant that other folks that wanted to speak during the meeting are unable to speak because another member had taken up so much time. She said they noticed this for a few years and it hasn't been related to any specific make-up of the committee but rather just due to the size of how big the committee is. She reiterated that the PTRC made a recommendation to have seven members and she supported their recommendation.