Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-16-2020-WS �-ARQDEN HILLS Approved: December 14, 2020 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION NOVEMBER 16,2020 5:00 P.M. -ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Grant called to order the City Council Work Session at 5:00 p.m. Note: On March 20th, the Mayor signed a determination allowing Councilmembers to participate in City Council meetings via telephone pursuant to State Statute 13D.021 Present: Mayor David Grant; Councilmembers Brenda Holden, Fran Holmes, Dave McClung and Steve Scott Absent: None Also present: City Administrator Dave Perrault; Finance Director Gayle Bauman; and City Clerk Julie Hanson also present via telephone Public Works Director/City Engineer Todd Blomstrom and Community Development Manager/City Planner Mike Mrosla 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. North Suburbs Youth Coalition For Justice Follow-Up Discussion City Administrator Perrault stated The Council received a presentation by the North Suburbs Youth Coalition for Justice at its July 23, 2020 special work session. The presentation to Council was meant as a listening session, and Council would have a follow up discussion regarding their presentation. This agenda item is an opportunity for Council to consider what the coalition presented, have further discussion as a Council, and provide any necessary direction. The presentation from the coalition was reviewed, along with a summary of the coalition's requests. City Administrator Perrault reported the Council did had a meeting with the Sheriff's Office prior to the meeting with the coalition, and had a number of requests for the Sheriff s Office, two of which were getting the Sheriffs Use of Force Policy publicly available and holding a meeting with the Sheriffs Office and its contract cities to discuss policing strategies. The Sheriffs Office did provide the cities with a copy of its Use of Force Policy and is in the process of getting it posted on their website. The Sherriff s Office is also planning on a contract city wide meeting in ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—NOVEMBER 16, 2020 2 the first quarter of 2021; the preference of the Sheriff's Office is to hold it in-person, but COVID- 19 is making it difficult to hold the meeting. Councilmember Holden questioned how the contract with the Sheriff s Department works. City Administrator Perrault explained Ramsey County was a separate entity from the City of Arden Hills. He reported for as long as Arden Hills has been in existence, Ramsey County has been providing contract police services, along with six other cities. He noted the Sheriffs Office was an independent police organization that created and enforced their own policies. Councilmember Holmes asked how the City was billed for contract police services. City Administrator Perrault explained traditionally the Sheriffs Department creates a budget for providing services to the City and a cost formula is applied to the contract cities. He estimated Arden Hills pays 13% of these fees. Councilmember McClung inquired when the Council last signed a renewal on the last contract. City Administrator Perrault stated the last contract was signed in late 2018 and it was a three year contract. He noted this contract would expire at the end of 2021. Councilmember Holden discussed the event that occurred in Falcon Heights with Philando Castile, noting at the time Falcon Heights had contract police services with the City of St. Anthony. She commented further on how difficult it would be for Arden Hills to change policing services. Mayor Grant stated it would also be cost prohibitive for a community the size of Arden Hills to create its own police force. He asked if the police activity reports were public records. City Administrator Perrault stated the police activity summary report from Ramsey County was part of the public record. Councilmember McClung recalled Ramsey County provided the City with quarterly and yearly reports on police activity. He explained he was be supportive of the City posting these reports on the City's website. Councilmember Holden reported this information is provided to the City and is disbursed to the City Council. She clarified these reports were always public information. Councilmember McClung thanked Councilmember Holden for the clarification. Councilmember Holmes stated she visited the Ramsey County Sheriff Departments website recently and she believed they were lacking transparency as only general information was posted. She indicated there were very few reports available to the public. She believed this information should be available on their website for the contract cities to review. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—NOVEMBER 16, 2020 3 Councilmember Scott agreed with this recommendation. He did not believe it was the City's responsibility to repost this information, but rather Ramsey County should be posting this information. Councilmember McClung supported the onus being placed on the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department to post this information on their website. With that being said, he stated that as long as they don't the City should make this information available on the City's website for transparency purposes. He discussed the plethora of information that was available on the Roseville Police Department's website. Councilmember Holden agreed with Councilmember Holmes and Councilmember Scott that this information should be posted on Ramsey County's website. However, she also supported the police activity reports being posted on the City's website. Mayor Grant reported the City can ask Ramsey County to put this information on their website, but noted Ramsey County has a number of contract cities. He noted the City can try and gain agreement with all of the contract cities and if not, this information can always be posted on the City's website. Councilmember Holden suggested the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department be encouraged to review the amount of information that was available to the public on the Roseville Police Department's website. Councilmember Scott asked if Arden Hills could receive monthly updates from the Sheriff's Department, as was done at North Oaks. Mayor Grant feared this would take too much time. Councilmember McClung supported the Sheriff's Department having more of a presence at City Council meetings to report on crime trends or areas of concern. He anticipated having a liaison between the City and the Sheriff's Department would foster better communication between the two entities. He stated this could even be done through Zoom meetings. Mayor Grant recommended quarterly updates be provided that would address trends and issues in the City of Arden Hills. Councilmember Holden encouraged residents in Arden Hills to consider doing a ride-along with the Sheriff's Department to learn more about policing in the community. Mayor Grant stated this was a great suggestion. He explained he does a ride along each year for an eight hour shift. He asked how the Council wanted to proceed with creating a Diverse Civilian Review Board. Councilmember Holden recommended this be driven by all the contract cities and not just Arden Hills. She suggested the Justice League contact the other contract cities regarding this matter. Mayor Grant agreed with this recommendation. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—NOVEMBER 16, 2020 4 Councilmember McClung stated he would be supportive of the creation of a Civilian Review Board, but he agreed that all contract cities would have to be on board with this initiative. Mayor Grant questioned how the Council wanted to address the power of the budget to create change. Councilmember Holden commented one thing she would like to see addressed is transit. Secondly, she would like the amount of affordable housing in Arden Hills to be better explained and communicated to the public. She explained 43% of the housing units in Arden Hills were affordable. Mayor Grant stated in the under 30% AMI, the most affordable units, the City has 292 units all in one location within Arden Manor. He commented after having numerous conversations with the public, it was his understanding residents supported the contract the City has with the Sheriff's Department and the public wanted these services in place 24 hours a day seven days a week. Councilmember Holmes discussed how there was a growing number of mental health calls in Ramsey County. She commented on how the State Legislator was addressing this concern and could possibly be proposing new training for police officers on how to respond to mental health crisis situations. She noted some police departments have social workers that respond to mental health calls. Mayor Grant reported domestic disputes and neighbor to neighbor disputes were dangerous calls for officers to respond to. He stated the Ramsey County Sheriff's Department was well trained to work through the neighbor to neighbor mental health concerns. Councilmember Scott reported after talking with the residents in his neighborhood they welcome a strong police presence in Arden Hills. He commented he did not support reducing the funding for the current level of police services. Councilmember McClung agreed stating he would like the current level of services to remain as is. However, he understood society was changing and there was a lot that needs to be done at the State and County level to address mental health concerns. Mayor Grant discussed how the City communicates budgeting information to Arden Hills residents. Councilmember McClung reported the City does a great job presenting budgeting information to the public. He suggested the City consider being more vocal about when budget worksession meetings are held in 2021 in order to further invite residents into the process. Councilmember Holden commented on how the City promoted the chicken survey and stated there was only so much advertising the City can do. She explained if people wanted to be proactive, they would read the City newsletter and become engaged. She questioned what more the City could do. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—NOVEMBER 16, 2020 5 Councilmember McClung stated he did not have any concrete examples and he believed the City did a good job, but suggested the City pursue one or two more ideas to reach the public. Mayor Grant indicated if residents wanted a more proactive role in the City's budgeting process, they could consider serving on FPAC and could also attend all Council budget worksession meetings. Councilmember Scott stated during his time on the City Council, he has yet to see a single person attending the Truth In Taxation meeting. Mayor Grant commented historically,people do not show up for this meeting. Councilmember Holden reported the League of Minnesota Cities has an equity training program. She recommended a City staff member attend this training. She suggested the City Council hire an organization to conduct an audit of the City's job descriptions to ensure they are inclusive. In addition, the City's hiring practices should be reviewed. She recommended Good Time for the Truth: Race in Minnesota be read by the City Council and City staff in order to learn how to be more inclusive. Mayor Grant recommended staff order five copies of this book. In addition, he supported the City hiring someone to take a look at the job descriptions and hiring practices as well. Councilmember Holden asked if staff was aware of the GARE program through the League of Minnesota Cities. City Administrator Perrault stated he had heard of this program. Councilmember Holden supported City staff members and City Councilmembers attending the GARE program. Councilmember McClung stated he supported the recommendations made by Councilmember Holden. Mayor Grant commented the last item was for the Council to consider creating a Human Rights Commission and to conduct an equity audit. He reported the City already conducted an audit based on gender. He noted the larger concept here was the Human Rights Commission. Councilmember Holden stated before she could support this going forward, she would need to understand what this Commission would be tasked with. Councilmember Holmes explained she spoke with Subbaya Subramanian who serves on the Arden Hills Planning Commission noting he was willing to help the Human Rights Commission get started. She explained Mr. Subramanian previously served on the Roseville Human Rights Commission. She believed the two functions of the Human Rights Commission were to get different cultural voices out in the public and to bring concerns to the City. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—NOVEMBER 16, 2020 6 City Administrator Perrault reported the City of Arden Hills had a Human Rights Committee in the mid-1990's. He explained this group was disbanded at some point, but it was not clear as to why. Councilmember Holden commented she talked to the chair of the Shoreview Human Rights Committee, Ben Schank, and she learned this group hardly meets quarterly but works to educate the public. She questioned if the City's existing Commissions could help the cause better than a Human Rights Committee. Councilmember McClung indicated he has been doing research and stated he was not necessarily opposed to a Human Rights Committee if there was a purpose. He commented on the general focus of these groups. He stated the organizations that tended to meet more frequently were in larger communities and had their own police departments. He explained he could support the City having a Human Rights Committee but was uncertain what this group would do. He discussed how difficult it was to find volunteers to serve on the City's existing Commissions and Committees. He commented on how the discussions held by these groups may overlap with a Human Rights Committee. Councilmember Scott stated he would be in favor of forming a Human Rights Committee. He indicated he would want to be assured that the community was going to engage with this group. Mayor Grant reported a Human Rights Commission was tried years ago, and because this is a smaller community, it was disbanded. He commented on an event that occurred in Arden Hills in 2010 noting a Human Rights Commission was discussed again but there was not enough community support. He indicated he would rather make substantive achievement and progress on the issues, versus creating a committee. He supported the Council reading the book Councilmember Holden suggested. He wanted to see all of the City's standing committees fully staffed. He stated he was proud of the diversity the City had on its standing committees. Councilmember Holmes understood it was hard to staff the City's standing committees. She commented unless residents come to the Council requesting a Human Rights Committee, the Council was better off trying to make its existing Commissions more diverse and vibrant. She supported the Council and City staff attending more training and reading the book suggested by Councilmember Holden. Councilmember Holden stated she believed it was a little premature to discuss this issue. She recommended this idea be put on hold for six or twelve months. Mayor Grant asked what the Council thought about this suggestion. Councilmember McClung reported there was not enough appetite to move forward with the committee at this time. He agreed with Councilmember Holden. Councilmember Scott commented he would be supportive of a committee, but he would have to see an interest prior to the group moving forward. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—NOVEMBER 16, 2020 7 Councilmember Holden explained the City would have to provide the purpose and direction for this committee. She indicated it would take time to draft policies and create this information. For this reason, she supported the Council holding off on forming a committee. Mayor Grant agreed the City should hold off on forming a Human Rights Committee at this time. Councilmember Holmes stated she believed waiting was the best course of action. Council consensus was to direct staff to post the police activity reports to the City's website. In addition, the Council requested staff speak to Ramsey County about receiving quarterly reports beginning in 2021 and to ask if the other contract cities were interested in starting a Diverse Civilian Review Board. Lastly, the Council was to reconsider a Human Rights Committee in six to twelve months. B. Keeping of Chickens Survey Results Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla stated at its September 21, 2020 Work Session, the City Council discussed public engagement and feedback options in regards to the keeping of backyard chickens. Council directed staff to create an online survey to gauge resident support. The survey launched on Monday, October 5 and closed Thursday, November 5, 2020. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla reported 660 residents completed the survey. Of the respondents, 75.2 percent indicated that they were in favor of allowing egg laying hens and roughly two-thirds of respondents indicated that they had experience or knew someone with experience with raising chickens in the past. Among the respondents who indicated their support, residents stated that their interest in chickens ranged from a desire to participate in a "greener" lifestyle to providing a learning experience for kids. The most important factor was a desire to access food quality, with 71.4 percent of respondents indicating that this was either "Important" or"Very Important"to them. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla explained roughly less than half of all respondents indicated that they had concerns about changing the chicken ordinance, but some respondents indicated that they were concerned changes to the ordinance may result in noisy or unsanitary situations, or situations that could attract vermin. There was no clear majority of respondents who supported the same number of chickens that should be allowed on a residential property, but the largest cohort of 45.2 percent of residents supported four (4) to six (6) chickens per property. A clear majority of residents supported a minimum distance from other properties required for chicken coops, minimum cleanliness standards for chicken coops, and the maximum or minimum size of coops and run area allowed for residential properties. Roughly half of all respondents indicated that they supported a requirement for a city-issued permit, screening for chicken coops or a run area, and restrictions for the location on a property where chickens can be housed. Councilmember Holden commented 20% of the population responded to this survey, which was a significant amount. She explained based on the results of the survey, the majority of the ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—NOVEMBER 16, 2020 8 residents want chickens. In addition, based on the results, she stated she did not believe a standalone public hearing meeting was necessary. Mayor Grant questioned how many households completed the survey multiple times. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla stated there were 55 households that completed the survey twice. Councilmember McClung agreed a standalone public hearing meeting was not necessary. Councilmember Holmes agreed and noted a public hearing would be held by the Planning Commission when this item came forward for consideration. She thanked the public for providing the City with thoughtful comments. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla questioned if the Council supported staff drafting an Ordinance. Councilmember Holden supported staff moving forward with the drafting of an Ordinance. She explained she would only support a property in Arden Hills having up to three chickens. Councilmember McClung agreed staff should begin drafting an Ordinance. Mayor Grant agreed only three chickens should be allowed, no roosters and only laying hens should be permitted. Councilmember Scott asked what the city of Shoreview allows with respect to chickens and questioned how much their license was. Mayor Grant commented he was uncertain. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla explained residents in Shoreview can have up to four chickens. He asked if the Council supported the City having a formal permitting process for chickens. Councilmember Holden stated she was in favor of the City having a formal process because this would provide the City an avenue to address enforcement concerns. Mayor Grant reported the City requires residents to have a license for their dogs and he recommended the same permitting process be followed for chickens. Councilmember Scott questioned if staff had any information about the mutation of viruses from fowl. Councilmember Holden explained she had spoken to several vets and it was her understanding all of the studies show that COVID was not transmitted by domestic animals. She inquired what the timeline would be for approving a chicken Ordinance. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—NOVEMBER 16, 2020 9 Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla reported staff would be working on this ordinance over the coming months and is anticipating bring this item forward for formal approvals in February 2021 timeframe. Councilmember Holmes stated it would be important for staff to review all of the comments that were provided by the public, while also reviewing other chicken ordinances when drafting an ordinance for Arden Hills. Councilmember McClung recommended the City post a news flash that the Council directed staff to draft chicken Ordinance language. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla explained he would be posting the results of the survey on the City's website and he could add a statement explaining the Council had directed staff to draft chicken Ordinance language. He the Council for their feedback. He reported he would begin drafting Ordinance language and would bring this item back to the Council at a future worksession meeting. C. 2021 Budget Discussion Finance Director Bauman stated a budget workshop was held with the Council on August 17, 2020. Staff was directed to reduce the proposed COLA for non-union employees from 3% to 2% and Council adopted a maximum tax levy increase of 4.25% on September 14, 2020. It was noted the final levy and budget adoption meeting was scheduled for December 14, 2020. Staff reviewed the proposed 2021 budget in further detail with the Council and asked for comments or questions. Councilmember Holden commented she was having a hard time with the proposed CIP. She explained she wanted to know more about the vehicles the City had, how they were being maintained and what vehicles were proposed for replacement. She wanted to be assured that the City was taking care of the vehicles that it had. Councilmember Scott questioned if the 4.25% proposed levy would meet all of the City's priorities. He indicated he could deprioritize vehicle purchases. Finance Director Bauman explained in 2021 the expenditures exceeded revenues in the General Fund by $59,710. However, she noted the City has sufficient fund balance to cover this deficit so she reported staff was not too concerned with the levy being 4.25%. Councilmember Holden discussed the projects and expenditures for the next nine years. She reviewed which years ran in a deficit within the CIP. Mayor Grant thanked staff for the thorough report on the 2021 Budget and the Council directed staff to move forward with the proposed budget and levy at 4.25%. D. 2021 Fee Schedule City Clerk Hanson stated the City Council annually establishes a fee schedule for administrative, building construction, liquor licensing, copying of maps and ordinances, park and recreation ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—NOVEMBER 16, 2020 10 facility usage, planning and zoning, utilities, business licenses, utility fees, and other miscellaneous permits and penalties that are enforced by the City. She indicated the City Council annually establishes a fee schedule for administrative, building construction, liquor licensing, copying of maps and ordinances, park and recreation facility usage, planning and zoning, utilities, business licenses, utility fees, and other miscellaneous permits and penalties that are enforced by the City. Staff reviewed the minor changes that were proposed to be made to the 2021 Fee Schedule and asked for comments or questions. Councilmember Holden asked why the fee for Final Plat permits was decreased. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla reported after completing an analysis with neighboring communities the City fee was reduced to be on average with adjacent cities. He explained staff was trying to make Arden Hills' fees consistent with neighboring cities. Councilmember Holmes stated she did not understand why the City would be reducing its administrative fees. She did not believe it mattered what other cities did. Councilmember Holden supported the City keeping the Final Plat fee as is due to the fact it requires legal review. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla explained the legal review was covered by the funds provided in escrow. Mayor Grant asked if the escrow was paid back to the applicant if the funds were not used in full. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla reported unused escrow funds are returned to the applicant and upon completion of the project. Councilmember Holden requested further information regarding the erosion control fees. City Clerk Hanson stated this was a fairly new fee section created by the previous Public Works Director/City Engineer. Councilmember Holden questioned why the fee schedule had been amended to state applicants were to contact the Met Council for SAC fee information. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom reported the City could put the Met Council's SAC fees into the fee schedule. However, he didn't want to create any confusion with having the wrong numbers. Councilmember Holden asked when the Met Council would be updating their fees. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom stated these numbers should have been updated this fall for 2021. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—NOVEMBER 16, 2020 11 Councilmember Holden supported the Met Council SAC fees being included in the Fee Schedule. Mayor Grant agreed and recommended the numbers have an asterisk to note the fees were charged by the Met Council and not the City of Arden Hills. City Clerk Hanson asked if the Council wanted to consider inflationary increases for the 2021 business licenses, or should the fees remain as is. Councilmember Holden supported the fees remaining as is. Mayor Grant agreed and the Council was in concurrence. E. 2021 Council Liaison and Mayor Pro Tem Appointments Discussion City Clerk Hanson stated each year, a Councilmember is appointed to serve as liaison on the various committees and commissions in the City. She provided current liaison information and requested feedback on how to proceed with the 2021 appointments. Mayor Grant stated historically the City Council has provided him with emails regarding their thoughts. He explained he can not guarantee that each Councilmember would receive their requested appointments, but he believed this was the best way to move this item forward. Councilmember Holden recommended the Lake Johanna Fire Department Alternate be changed. She understood that the Alternate had to be a City Councilmember and could not be the Finance Director. Councilmember Holmes requested CTV and NYFS be added to the list of appointments. The Council supported this recommendation. Councilmember Holden supported the City making a new appointment to NYFS and that this appointment be a Councilmember. Councilmember Scott stated he had no preference. Councilmember McClung commented given how things went the last year, he would like to see a change. Councilmember Holmes agreed. City Clerk Hanson reported the Council would be approving the 2021 Council Liaison appointments on December 14. She requested the Council make their requests prior to December 9 in order to allow staff enough time to prepare the meeting packets. Mayor Grant stated he would provide the assignment information to City Clerk Hanson. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—NOVEMBER 16, 2020 12 F. TCAAP RAB Council Participation City Administrator Perrault stated the City was recently made aware of renewed efforts on the part of the Army to re-engage citizen volunteers to serve on the TCAAP RAB. The Council then requested a discussion on whether or not they should have a Councilmember as a representative on the board. According to the website for the RAB, their job is to: Review documents prepared by the Army about the environmental restoration process taking place at the former TCAAP and provides an opportunity for local citizen input into the cleanup process. The status of each of the sites undergoing cleanup is available on their website. Community input is critical to ensure understanding and acceptance of the decisions made by the U.S. Army, the MPCA, and the U.S. EPA. City Administrator Perrault reported no RAB meetings are currently scheduled. The Army had hoped to hold a meeting to talk to and encourage community members to serve on the RAB, but due to COVID-19 social distancing requirements, they were unable to hold an in-person meeting. The Army plans to hold a virtual public meeting related the Round Lake Proposed Plan before December 2020 and the details will be available on their website. Councilmember Holden commented she did not believe any City Councilmembers should be representing the City on the RAB. She stated if any Councilmembers wanted to attend these meetings, they could represent themselves, but not the Arden Hills City Council. She suggested RAB representatives be invited to attend a future City Council meeting. Councilmember Holmes stated she had mixed feelings on this because she feared if a resident were to serve on the RAB, the information from this group may not be fully relayed to the City Council. She noted in the past, Lois Rem served on the RAB as a resident even while she was a City Councilmember. Mayor Grant recalled Lois serving as a resident on the RAB. He reported he served on the Arden Hills Foundation and he happened to be the Mayor. Councilmember Holden discussed the Round Lake issue and noted the City was observing this issue. Mayor Grant reported this was the case and noted Betty McCollum's office has been good about keeping the City apprised on this issue. City Administrator Perrault stated the City does reach out to the MPCA three or four times each year regarding Round Lake. He explained he requested Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom attend the previous RAB meeting, and would request the director attend future, applicable meetings Councilmember Holmes supported the City having a staff member at these meetings. She indicated these meetings appear to be rather technical in nature. She stated this staff member could then provide the Council with feedback on the meeting. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—NOVEMBER 16, 2020 13 City Administrator Perrault commented Director Blomstrom would be attending the meeting to listen only and would not be commenting on issues. Councilmember Holden noted the proposal for Round Lake has been in place for some time and a public comment period was held. She indicated she did not support dumping the RAB meetings on staff. Mayor Grant explained City Councilmembers could attend future RAB meetings as an individual resident of Arden Hills for listening purposes and could report back to the Council. He stated this did not require the approval of the City Council. Councilmember Scott indicated he would likely be attending the RAB meetings but this would not be in an official City capacity. Council consensus was to not appoint a City Councilmember to the RAB. G. Lexington Avenue Improvement Project Status Update Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom stated City staff was requested to add an agenda item on the work session for November 16 to discuss the status of the Lexington Avenue Improvement project. The project includes roadway and utility improvements between County Road E and 1-694, with funding participation from Ramsey County, the City of Arden Hills, and the City of Shoreview. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom explained the project delivery schedule has changed over the past two years. The project was originally scheduled for construction in the year 2020. In November 2019, the County notified the City that project construction would shift to the year 2021 due to the amount of time needed to complete the easement acquisition process. In August 2020, the County notified the City that the Lexington Avenue project construction schedule would likely be shifted to the year 2022 due to limitations on available funding as a result of COVID-19. County staff fully expects the Lexington Avenue project to be constructed in 2022 due to the limited terms of the negotiated right of way agreements. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom indicated the Lexington Avenue project requires three agreements involving the City of Arden Hills. The City Council previously approved a Cooperative Agreement for Right of Way Acquisition with Ramsey County on March 23, 2020. This agreement committed City cost participation in the estimated amount of $228,218.76 for temporary and permanent easements along the corridor. Councilmember Scott asked if the City wanted to avoid tackling Snelling Avenue and the County Road E intersection projects both in the same year Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom reported staff was recommending these projects not be completed in the same year. He stated the County was also making this same recommendation. He explained the County would prefer to shift the intersection improvements to 2023 or 2024. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—NOVEMBER 16, 2020 14 Councilmember Holmes questioned if the work on the County Road E intersection would include a roundabout. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom indicated this project would include roadway improvements to the south on County Road E to Highway 51 and noted the roundabout would be delivered in a separate project. Councilmember Holmes discussed the expense of the project noting the overall impact to the City would be $400,000. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom reported this was the case. Councilmember Scott asked if the signal synchronization was part of this project. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom stated he would confirm this with Ramsey County staff. Councilmember Holden noted the total watermain price for this project was estimated at $423,000 and the City may receive some funding from State bonding. Mayor Grant commented it would be in the City's best interest to complete this project in 2022 in order to utilize State bonding. Finance Director Bauman reported she had confirmed that the State bonding would be good through 2024. Councilmember Holden requested staff investigate what statute the State bonding had been approved under and see if there were any restrictions in how the City could spend these dollars. H. Council Tracker City Administrator Perrault provided the Council with an update on the Council Tracker. 2. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND STAFF UPDATES None. ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the City Council Work Session at 8:00 p.m. 4iKd,,,J- Ak Hanson David Grant City Clerk Mayor