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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-12-24-SWS City of Arden Hills ▪1245 West Highway 96 ▪ Arden Hills Minnesota 55112 Phone 651.792.7800 ▪ Fax 651.634.5137 ▪ www.cityofardenhills.org Request for Special City Council Work Session A special meeting may be called by the Mayor or by any two Councilmembers. Reason for meeting: 1. Public Inquiries/Informational 2. Response to Public Inquiries 3. Agenda Items A. Comp and Class Study Update B. Legislative Priorities C. HKGi Ordinance Review Engagement Plan D. Rice Creek Commons/TCAAP Discussion E. Agenda Planning 4. Council/Staff Comments Adjourn Requested Date: 08/12/2024 Requested time: 5:00 pm Open meeting X Closed meeting Signature of person(s) making request: 08/08/2024 Mayor or Council Member Date __/__/__ Council Member Date -This section to be completed by City staff- Date received: 08/08/2024 Date meeting to be held: 08/12/2024 Time of meeting: 5:00 pm Location: City Hall All necessary posting and notices have been completed. 08/08/2024 Signature of City Clerk Date 7SF,,DENN HILLS Approved: September 9, 2024 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AUGUST 12, 2024 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 Special City Council Work Session at 5:00 p.m. Present: Mayor David Grant; Councilmembers Tom Fabel, Brenda Holden, Tena Monson and Emily Rousseau Absent: None Also present: Interim City Administrator Jessica Jagoe; Finance Director Joua Yang; Public Works Director/City Engineer David Swearingen; and Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Julie Hanson 1. PUBLIC INQUIRIES/INFORMATIONAL None. 2. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC INQUIRIES None. 3. AGENDA ITEMS A. Comp And Class Study Update Tessia Melvin of David Drown Associates presented a PowerPoint presentation and noted some changes from the handout the members received prior to the meeting. She shared the benchmark communities that were used in the study. Tessia Melvin shared a table that showed the City's overall market average is approximately 5% below the benchmark minimums and maximums, with a few positions being 10% or more under, which were shown in pink. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 2 Tessia Melvin discussed Job Content Evaluation explaining that the jobs are classified based on qualifications, decision making, problem solving, relationships, effort and conditions/hazards. She stated pay is decided by the Council and the City's pay philosophy. Tessia Melvin discussed the job classification changes she recommends based on the market benchmarks and the job descriptions where positions have additional duties that were not included before. Councilmember Holden thought there was a discrepancy between the slides showing four positions at 10% or more below market and the ten suggested job classification changes. Tessia Melvin responded that the four positions shown in pink are based on a comparison to the market. The classifications changes are based on the job descriptions, some of which have changed. Councilmember Holden asked about the Recreation Supervisor position. She wondered how the comparison was made when some of the other benchmark cities have much larger recreation programs. Tessia Melvin agreed that some of the other cities have much larger Parks and Rec programs but this recommended change is based the job description and the internal equity. Councilmember Holden asked for confirmation that when Tessia Melvin stated internally it was based on Arden Hills. Tessia Melvin confirmed. The recommendation was based on duties, accountability and budget. She clarified the market information tells where the City is in comparison to other cities and the classifications are based on an internal value to the City. She agreed some of the positions aren't comparing apples to apples,but based job descriptions specific to Arden Hills. Tessia Melvin presented four options the City has, showing the recommended market adjustments and the cost of implementation. Councilmembers asked for clarification on if Public Works was included in any of the options. Tessia Melvin confirmed that the Public Works positions were excluded from the study because they are union employees. Tessia Melvin concluded with a comparison table showing where the four options would put the City in the market based on pay philosophy and showed the cost for 2025. Councilmember Monson requested clarification regarding option three. She stated that if you add the 2%, there is more cost because the increase will happen up front, rather than changing the grid and the ability to step up. Tessia Melvin confirmed. She stated that option fixes the grid immediately, but you pay for it all at once. The other options slow it down because steps would be added. The benefit of this option is everyone gets the same and it's all done right away. Tessia Melvin stated if the cost is too much, but the Council likes the philosophy, the cost could be reduced if the Council decided to implement the adjustment in July. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 3 Councilmember Holden asked if currently there is 3% gap between every single step. Tessia Melvin confirmed. Councilmember Holden stated if a cost of living increase was implemented for someone who was not at the max, there would be additional cost because they would also get an extra step. She wondered if that was included in the calculations. Tessia Melvin confirmed the total cost does include the 3% cost of living increase and implementation into the step cost. Councilmember Monson wondered if information was available regarding how many current positions would be maxed out in 2025, 2026 and 2027. Tessia Melvin replied ten, currently. She said they would get the adjustment but no additional step. There would be other movement as others max out but she would have to look up and didn't have the information available. Councilmember Holden thought in comparison to other cities, Arden Hills is at 100%. She wondered how often the study needs to be completed. Interim City Administrator Jagoe believed it was every three years. Tessia Melvin confirmed it is mandated by the state to complete pay equity every three years. She said it is recommended that you look at the market every three years, as well, because it changes. She confirmed Councilmember Holden's statement that Arden Hills is at the average and its fine to stay there if that is the pay philosophy of the City. Councilmember Rousseau asked staff where they see Arden Hills needing compensation increase. She wondered if it was to recruit new hires or if it was for retention of current staff. Interim City Administrator Jagoe stated she believed it is both. It would be a tool to bring new people in when a position is posted but is also equally important for retention of current employees. Councilmember Rousseau wondered if it could be maneuvered around to include a 2% increase for entry level staff and adding 3% on the maximum. She wondered how that might land. Interim City Administrator Jagoe stated the negotiation usually includes an offer at the entry level steps. These increases could serve as an attractant for new hires. For current employees who might be maxed out, adding one or two steps will know they have movement vs. adding one increase and now they're still at the max. Councilmember Fabel asked if the total cost figures included just year one. Tessia Melvin confirmed that it is for 2025 and just includes the wage adjustment. It does not include PERA or taxes. This includes the cost of living adjustment, moving into the option chosen and any predicted step movement for 2025. Councilmember Holden stated we are a small city and said we'll never be able to compete with the larger cities. She is not happy with the cost of living being 3%. She thinks it should be higher. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 4 She said we can start people anywhere on the scale. We can give additional bumps if someone is exceptional. Councilmember Fabel sought confirmation that a new hire can be started anywhere on the scale, as appropriate, and that the City is at liberty to increase a person by more than one step for particular merit. Councilmember Monson thought we are using a lot of tools to try to retain people and we should continue to use them. She believes the question is what can be set as a policy? Market adjustment has to be done. People get a pay raise because there was a market adjustment. That doesn't forego their opportunity to receive the cost of living adjustment. She thought that was not one or the other, they are often hand in hand. She believes we are below market and have to catch up. She likes Option 1 because over half of the employees are maxed out and she would like to give them a runway. She also believes a policy should be in place that this grid is looked at every three years so there wouldn't be the need for the large increases. She thinks that we need to at least meet market but she would prefer to be above market. Councilmember Rousseau is interested in Option 1 but recognizes there may be some wiggle room in Option 2. Based on staff comments regarding recruiting/retention and knowing how competitive the market is, she would prefer to be able to compete with other cities, regardless of size. Councilmember Fabel would like to lean back against the thought that an employee ought to be paid more or less depending on size. He thinks the work that people do for this city is equally important, if not more, to the work done at larger cities. He likes the idea of us being above average. Mayor Grant stated that initially he favored Option 2. He said that it was established that we want to be about 4% or 5% above market. He is not concerned about the dollar amount difference between Option 1 and Option 2. He doesn't think we need to be a full 8% above market minimums and maximums but some progress needs to be made to be competitive. He reminded it is always at the Council's purgative to give an extra step and to hire at an advanced step if appropriate. He thinks maintaining at about 4% above average minimum and 5% above average maximum is appropriate. He favors Option 2. Councilmember Holden corrected that she didn't say anyone was less important because they didn't work in a big city. Big cities have a lot larger tax base and are able to pay their workers more money for doing the same job. She referred to Councilmember Monson's comment regarding we should have a policy to review this topic every three years. Councilmember Holden said there is a policy, because the state law requires it. She prefers Option 2 but would like to include a 5% cost of living increase this year which would equate to an 8-10% raise vs. 6%. Councilmember Monson stated the state law requires the internal pay equity study. Tessia Melvin confirmed the pay equity is required by state law. She said pay equity doesn't care about market competitiveness it only cares about the jobs and the classifications. A market review can be done whenever. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 5 Councilmember Monson stated the recommendation from Tessia Melvin is to do a market review every three years. Councilmember Monson clarified she believes the market review should be completed every three years as well. She believes increasing the cost of living adjustment is a budget issue. Between Options 1 and 2, there is a five thousand dollar difference and believes it would be worth the five thousand dollars to be that much more competitive in the market. Councilmember Holden reminded that figure is wages only. It doesn't include PERA, Social Security, or Medicare. It's more than six thousand. Councilmember Fabel stated if someone was maxed out now and we went with Option 1, they would continue to get raises for three years. With Option 2, after two years, they would be maxed out before getting to another adjustment. He believes Option 1 is the better choice so as long as this current writ remains in place employees will continue to see raises. Mayor Grant asked if Option 1 would put everyone 8% above the average. Tessia Melvin replied the pay grid is calibrated at 8% above average. Some employees will be slightly under and some will be slightly over. This is 8% average overall, not individually. Councilmember Holden asked if Option 1 is chosen and someone new comes in, would it be more likely to start them at entry level. Because starting someone at step 3 on the grid would be at step 5 now. Tessia Melvin stated most individuals aren't going to know the steps on the grid, they will know the wage that is posted. Negotiation is usually based off of where they are. Councilmember Holden said its public information. People know the grids. Councilmember Fabel wondered if there is a reason for nine steps. He asked if we increase the max by three steps, do we have to eliminate the three minimums. Tessia Melvin replied the average is eight to ten steps so having nine falls into line. Councilmember Monson thinks it's important to add the three steps and remove the bottom three because that raises the entry level wage which is more attractive for recruiting. Adding the three at the top end helps with retention. The minimums are already at 5% below market. Not eliminating the bottom three steps will stall that at 5% or more below. She thinks the adding and subtracting of steps is needed to stay competitive in the market. Councilmember Holden added that there used to be twelve steps but went to nine in an effort to give larger increases. Councilmember Fabel asked if there was data for total cost on year two and year three. Mayor Grant said Option 1 would cost $124,546 in 2025. Would the cost be $124,546 in 2026, as well? ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 6 Tessia Melvin said no. She would have to cost that out with the Finance Director to project those costs. Her goal is to figure out the pay philosophy and how fast Council wants to move. Then she can project all of those costs for budgeting purposes. She said they could project that out for all four options,but that cost could fluctuate based on new hires and separations. Mayor Grant also pointed the future cost of living adjustments aren't known so that will change any projections. Tessia Melvin added that the step increases happen on anniversary dates. So the budget impact will be staggered. Councilmember Monson stated she didn't think it was necessary to go beyond year one as there is too much movement. She likes Option 1. Mayor Grant summarized that three members like Option 1, with 2 members preferring Option 2, with some adjustment. He asked if everyone was okay with having it on the next City Council agenda. Councilmember Monson asked if it would be on consent. Councilmember Holden does not think this item should be on consent. She thinks people should know that staff are worthy of this pay increase. She thinks there should be a presentation. Councilmember Fabel agreed because a lot of people don't understand the step and grade, if they are not in the public sector. B. Legislative Priorities Interim City Administrator Jagoe stated that the Council requested to discuss legislative priorities. She pointed to the most recent Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). In the past Council has selected projects that they thought were good candidates for state funding. If the Council selects projects they want to pursue for future state funding, staff requests discussion on priorities. Interim City Administrator Jagoe pointed out the memo outlined various agreed upon processes, if the Council wants to mirror similar processes. She noted it is unclear if there will be a bonding bill next year. The agenda focused on priorities related to bond funding and larger capital projects. If Council wants to give priority to other legislative priorities staff can pass that on. Council may also wish to hire an outside lobbyist to assist in obtaining bond funding. Interim City Administrator Jagoe updated that Council requested that staff invite the state representatives to attend a future meeting. Those invitations were extended and are scheduled for the November 251h meeting. She asked for discussion. Mayor Grant said the memo is written as if 2026 is the bonding year but he thought funds may be available for 2025. He thinks it's not inconceivable that the legislature will choose to have a bonding year this year and double up with 2026. Councilmember Holden thought they will not skip two years. There will be a bonding or cash bill next year. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 7 Mayor Grant directed Council to discuss what is justifiable going into a bonding session. It's not about funding favorite projects. The goal is to get some funding relief for the City. Councilmember Holden asked about the Met Council Highway 10 project. She wondered if it was for the complete strip. She thought an option would be to go to the DNR grant, or other state bonding where we could get the boardwalk. She wondered how much money was received from Met Council. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen updated that the Met Council Regional Solicitation Grant received initial recommendation from the Transportation Advisory Board which was $1 million. That is set to be approved by Met Council on August 281'. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen said Council directed staff to pursue the MNDOT Safe Routes to School Grant. Staff met with MNDOT last week and got really good feedback. The City was edged out by tougher competition. They were trying to spread the money around and the Safe Routes to School funds received for the Mounds View High School Trail may have played into the decision. They suggested that we resubmit this fall, as an additional $1 million in grants is available. This would push the construction year from 2025 to 2026. Ramsey County indicated they will be putting additional money towards that project but we won't know the amount until the TIP comes out in November. We can look into a DNR grant or something more specific for the boardwalk site. He can look into any grant options Council makes him aware of. Councilmember Holden asked what the total cost of the project is. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen estimate for total project cost was $4.1 million. Councilmember Holden said the design is complete so that cost won't be recouped. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. He said at this point we're looking for$3.8 million or$3.9 million. Councilmember Holden calculated we would be short $2 million. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. He stated we would pursue the MNDOT grant this fall. He believed the application is due in November with the decision being made in February. Councilmember Holden asked if Rice Creek Watershed would give anything for a boardwalk. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen replied that they could but they have a max pot of$300,000, with only $100,000 maximum being given per applicant. Mayor Grant asked how long we have to use the Met Council grant. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen believed it is 2028 or 2029 and he will verify that. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 8 Councilmember Holden said it is five years to use the funds. She asked if there was any matching with Met Council or Safe Routes to School. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen stated the Met Council match is 80/20 and there is no match for Safe Routes to School. He will need to verify but believes cities can use the Safe Routes to School to match the federal dollars. So you could apply it towards regional solicitation dollars for a match. Mayor Grant stated that trail has been a priority for us and if we have until 2029 to use the Met Council funds, it behooves us to try and line up other funding sources between now and then. Councilmember Monson wondered how the Highway 10 trail will play with the Lake Johanna Boulevard trail. She asked if we know if the Lake Johanna trail is in the county budget or if they have committed to a year. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen stated 2028. He said the road work is in their TIP for 2028 but he doesn't think it includes the trail. There was a $2 million commitment from the county and the city if they would have gotten the Regional Solicitation Grant of$5.5 million. He will have to look at the TIP closer to see if they included the $2 million. But they are planning to do the roadway in 2028. Councilmember Monson thinks there should be a trail discussion regarding all of the options for Highway 10, laying out here are the years, here's Lake Johanna, here's what we know about the county. This would help figure out how we want to stagger them. She assumes Council should be looking at 2026 projects or 2025 projects that could be pushed to 2026. She asked about the force main discussion when the timing didn't work because the need was too urgent. Councilmember Holden said we should be looking at 2025, too. As soon as they pass the bonding bill, the money is available. We could easily put an RFP out and get the work done. If it's 2025 money, you can use it for three years. Councilmember Monson said that is helpful to know, looking at this project. She thought in the past we have been successful with sewer and water fixes. She wondered if anything on the list would be a good candidate, besides the trail. She thought the lift station rehab and trunk water main improvements with Roseville could be a good partnership. Mayor Grant said the trunk improvements with Roseville was $300,000 and then it ballooned to $900,000. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen confirmed that was the estimated Arden Hills' cost. Mayor Grant said because of the escalation in estimated cost, there could be a narrative in there that we could sell. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen added the genesis for that improvement is for future development for TCAAP. So that is a necessary upgrade to support TCAAP. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 9 Councilmember Rousseau returned to the Safe Routes to School conversation. The determination was based on data and scoring. She wondered if we should be looking at increasing the scoring by partnering with Mounds View School District. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen said he will reach out to Mounds View School District to see if there is interest in doing Safe Routes to School on a larger scale. He plans to start that conversation this week, pending what we hear from MNDOT. He said we did score well, but they suggested that if we could boost the scores, that would be helpful Councilmember Rousseau asked if MNDOT had any other recommendations or is that the space where we can get the most points? Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen stated they are looking to expand their own scoring. There is an All Abilities transportation plan through Ramsey County and MNDOT wants to see if they can include that into their scoring. So they are looking to expand it to more than just Safe Routes to School. Councilmember Rousseau asked if they might have different criteria in two years? Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen said it could be included this time around. That information will come out in late September. We will be looking at boosting the scoring based on the feedback we got last week. Councilmember Fabel asked for confirmation that the Lake Johanna Boulevard is planned for 2028. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. Councilmember Fabel asked if there were significant efficiencies that could be achieved by having the trail work done at the same time as the road work. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen said yes. Ideally you would do it all in one plan set so it is all constructed at the same time. Councilmember Holden said we aren't just talking about Lake Johanna and Highway 10. She said we are hoping MNDOT is going to do the 51 trail. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. They reached out to the surrounding cities and agencies to inform us they are looking to construct that in 2026. Councilmember Holden wondered what the cost of the Lake Josephine trail will be. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen said a rough estimate of City cost is approximately $100,000. Which would be a 50150 cost share with the county that they would match. Councilmember Monson there is a small stretch between Lake Johanna Boulevard and Elmer Anderson and she is surprised they didn't loop that in with the Lake Johanna project. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen said they were going to but their pavement preservation program is repaving County Road E in 2026. They asked if there is interest in adding the trail facility there during that project in 2026. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 10 Mayor Grant asked if the trail is only 750 feet long. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen said he was pretty sure, it's definitely less than 1,000 feet and the one on Hamline is even shorter,being 450-500 feet. Councilmember Holden asked if retaining walls would be needed. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen said he would have to visit the site again to be certain but there is a ditch there so there will be some storm water improvements. Mayor Grant thought the estimated cost could be increased since we're in such a preliminary stage. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen agreed it is very early but the,said he thinks $400,000 total, including the 50150 split with the county is a safe estimate. Councilmember Monson said if the Minnesota 51 Trail connection will be $880,000 in our budget would be a good use of that money to go to these other trails in 2026. Even if the $100,000 and $200,000 city portion is low, hopefully that balances. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen pointed out that $300,000 of that number was anticipated to come from grants. So direct city funds would be $580,000. Councilmember Holden said that if we go in and ask for TCAAP money, it will be really hard to ask for $1 million somewhere else. She said the county needs to get the money for Lake Johanna. If they give the money to the city instead of the county, it plays against other options. She thought if we are asking for TCAAP money, there should only be one other project in 2025. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen plans to complete a condition assessment on utilities that cross Highway 51 to determine if replacement should be planned in 2026 in conjunction with the state's project. Councilmember Holden asked approximately how old the utilities are. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen said they are around 50 years old but made with good material. He is unsure if the casing around them was extended when the highway was extended at the same time. He plans to explore that this fall. Councilmember Holden said that would be a good ask from MNDOT because they are redoing the road. Similar to how the City got money for 35W. Mayor Grant was present when they were doing the televising of that crossing. He reported what he saw and wondered what was needed in that area. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen stated he spoke to Councilmember Holden regarding making sure utilities are replaced when we build a new road or trail. In 2026 or 2027, he will be doing a condition assessment of the water main that runs along Lake Johanna Boulevard. There have been recent and more frequent breaks there. He said that is the method we used for the roundabout by going after the GO bond funds to get that funded and replaced. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 11 Councilmember Monson summarized that there are a couple things on the list with opportunity to align some of the work that may be a better candidate for state money. She asked if the trail or the sewer and water projects are priority. Discussion ensued regarding Safe Route to School. A determination should be received by February and the project would be $1 million short. Councilmember Monson would like to see a separate memo showing where the assumed money was. Councilmember Holden said there is a big increase in sewer prices. We need a legislator that will really push for it. She is concerned about 51. That will be big money if it needs to be replaced. Councilmember Monson would support looking at anything that's already running under a project like 51 or Lake Johanna. She thinks unless there is a really specific need for a trail, like for a school, it may not be favorable. The other requests are highly competitive so looking at absolute needs for the City is attractive. Councilmember Holden said everyone has MNDOT highways running next to their city and everybody is old, it's a balancing act. Councilmember Rousseau stated as a homeowner, it's not a great experience to have sewer lines fail on you. However, there seemed to be positive discussion regarding the Old Highway 10 Safe Routes to School. Explaining to the legislature it's a key connector for over 6,000 students between three schools could be successful. Councilmember Holden asked if there has been a request for legacy money for the boardwalk. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen didn't think so. Councilmember Holden thinks water and sewer could receive general obligation bonds. The Legacy Fund is the DNR pot. Councilmember Rousseau thought in regards to the trails, the Lake Johanna and Old Highway 10 are a public safety need. Councilmember Monson suggest tabling the discussion until the state representatives visit in November. That would allow Council to discuss what the legislative priorities are going to be. That may help narrow the options already discussed. Councilmember Holden thought there should be clarity on the need when speaking to the legislators. Discussion ensued regarding priorities and timelines and delays on previous projects. Councilmember Monson summarized information on Highway 51 is forthcoming. The trail discussion and direction from the Governor are needed. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 12 Councilmember Holden asked about the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG), if we would get some money for some parks. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearing stated the plan is to apply for it again in the spring, if it's available, for Arden Manor Court. C. HKGi Ordinance Review Engagement Plan Interim City Administrator Jagoe reminded the Council that previously HKGi presented the phasing and schedule for the ordinance review. After discussion with the Council, they put together a draft community engagement plan. The plan includes four phases for engagement. Part of that would start immediately after tonight's discussion. Phase 1 would be an initial introduction of the project to the public. Phase 2 would be additional engagement to include a website page, featuring ordinance revision in the newsletter, survey work, engagement with committees and commissions. Phase 3 might be a pop-up event. Phase 4 would be the final adoption of the ordinance, open houses and the public hearing. HKGi is requesting feedback from the Council on the engagement plan. They also want to know if there is anyone else they should target. She gave some examples. Councilmember Holden is concerned that there is no Community Development Director. She is worried about the timeline and the amount of work and not having the staff to deal with all the issues. She wondered when the phases would go. Interim City Administrator Jagoe replied that HKGi will be doing the heavy lifting on this. She will give them the feedback from Council but the consultants are the ones hosting the pop up events and putting together the survey. Mayor Grant said the personnel committee met and discussed this topic. This might be a project that needs to be paced and slowed down. His concern is HKGi will get started and then it turns out to be more than staff can handle. He wants to see this project paced so it won't overwhelm staff. Councilmember Rousseau thought this seemed good. She is sure the PTRC or the EDC might have feedback around ordinances, too. The EDC is starting to do some brief visits with businesses and that could be beneficial on a project like this. Councilmember Monson said she also has concerns about staff time but she is comfortable as long as staff is comfortable. Interim City Administrator Jagoe stated the engagement piece will be HKGi. As the project moves into the ordinance and development of the code there will be more staff involvement. Decisions like if there will be revisions to the existing code or is it a multitude of new ordinances. As far as the engagement piece, HKGi will do all of that. Councilmember Monson said we can start with August, do Phase 1 and staff can set the pace as we get into Phase 2. ARDE N HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 13 Interim City Administrator Jagoe confirmed and added the consultants will attend a joint work session in October and can discuss their initial framework and get Council feedback on what else should be looked at in Phase 2. The time frame can be set based on that feedback. Councilmember Monson is fine with the engagement piece, as outlined. Mayor Grant asked if the joint work session is Council and HKGi? Interim City Administrator Jagoe said it would also involve the planning commission. She said that work session will most likely be the second work session in October. Mayor Grant said when they engage the community he would like them to engage the whole community, not go back just to the planning commission. There needs to be a community wide survey. That is how we'll hear about the issues from the whole community. Councilmember Holden thought inviting former planning commissioners to the work session could be helpful because they are familiar with the different variance issues that should have had ordinances fixed when the variance was granted. The new commission may not have seen a lot of those issues. Mayor Grant agreed. Councilmember Rousseau thought that would be too large of a group who don't regularly work together. She thought Council members could reach out to certain individuals for their ideas and then the Council members could bring that feedback to the work session. Councilmember Monson said that since this is a very controlled effort, she would prefer to stay within the boundaries of the volunteers who are appointed today to do it. She thought a separate email to invite past members to complete the survey may be appropriate but she doesn't support inviting them in and participate on the same level as a current planning commissioner. Councilmember Holden believes that is limiting. You miss out on the experience former commissioners have regarding corner lots, streets, right of way. The campaign is to help eliminate variances. Former planning commissioners have seen examples and know what the issues are. Councilmember Fabel thinks the work session should include the people who are in the positions right now. They can solicit opinions from anyone. The deliberations should include the current planning commissioners. Councilmember Monson agrees the formal deliberations at the work session should be current appointees. Feedback from previous commissioners is welcome but it's not appropriate to bring them into the work session. Councilmember Holden thinks it's important to do this right and get all the information that we can. Councilmember Monson thinks we can still get the information from those people. Mayor Grant recessed the meeting at 6:48 pm. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 14 The Council reconvened the special work session at 8:48 pm. D. Rice Creek Commons/TCAAP Discussion This item was not discussed. E. Agenda Planning Mayor Grant proposed the August 19t' work session is full. He discussed the August 26 session. For item one, he understands that a number of people are being invited so that should be left as it is. He asked if the T-Mobile Lease item was time sensitive. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen said it is an item he would like to get going again but he is flexible. The current lease ends in April 2025. There is time but these things can drag on sometimes. Councilmember Monson thinks encroachment, code of conduct and possibly the T-Mobile one needs to be pushed. Mayor Grant summarized agenda planning, we always do. RCC is sometimes done from the Council bench. He doesn't know if code of conduct is time sensitive. Councilmember Rousseau asked which code of conduct is needing discussion. There is a committee one. She is concerned around the time sensitivities with youth commissioners and committee members joining and making sure adult volunteers act in a manner that would be conducive to those youth wanting to join other committees and commissions in the future. Councilmember Monson asked if discussion was needed for the committee one? Councilmember Rousseau said it has been looked at but it hasn't been moved to Council. She thought it could be mailed out and see if there are substantial changes. Mayor Grant agreed. Councilmember Holden thought the 19'h was reserved only in case we couldn't get to the budget. She thought that date had been held,just in case. Councilmember Monson understood the budget was on the 19t'. Mayor Grant said the budget could be moved to the 26f. He said mailing out the code of conduct and Councilmembers can work with staff individually. Councilmember Rousseau asked if there was interest in an additional work session in September to tackle the door to door affiliation and other small items. Councilmember Holden said in looking at the list from staff, September, October and November those months are really heavy in operating budgets, levy discussion, State of the City. She would rather not introduce any new topics that don't directly impact the budget. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 15 Mayor Grant asked if everyone was okay with just three items on the 26"'? That would include the tournament center, the T-Mobile lease and the encroachment update. Councilmember Rousseau said the PTRC is going to look at the encroachment update as part of the 2025 work plan. Councilmembers agreed to remove the encroachment update until a later time. Councilmember Holden would like to bring up the Mounds View skating item. She would like to see the City participate in the discussion and see what the ask is. All of our recreation programs are subsidized. Councilmembers agreed to discuss the topic on August 26'i'. Councilmember Monson thought some of the items on the list could be removed because they are going to the HKGi process or have been completed. She thought the short-term rental ordinance would be part of that HKGi project. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said that could be part of that Phase 2. Rental licensing is part of a bigger discussion. Councilmember Holden said that's a whole department discussion to include additional staff. Interim City Administrator Jagoe confirmed. Councilmember Monson thinks trail prioritization should bump up costs and confirming timelines on bonding may be the topic for budget. Councilmember Holden disagreed. If we can get the money for Highway 10 before 2028, we can't do any ask until 2027 or 2028 for Lake Johanna. We don't even have a design ready. Councilmember Monson's concern is if we go really deep on Highway 10 and then the county comes in and says they want to do Lake Johanna. Would we just want to wait until that moment to see what the levy impacts were? Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen said we would know more in November. They are also waiting for a final determination from the Met Council grant award. Councilmember Holden asked if the Porta Potties topic is done. She thought we were going to put out the handicap ones where we could. Councilmember Monson asked if we want to just wait until the parks are replaced and improved, or do we want to do it now, across the board? Maybe that's a master plan item. Mayor Grant thought the parks master plan should be on the long-range discussion list. Councilmember Holden said there is money in the budget so that is not a long range. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen will gather information on the scope for the parks master plan to get a cost range for what the City is looking for and bring that discussion ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 12, 2024 16 back to Council. Through that discussion he hoped to have a contract signed in November. Then we can get it going right away in 2025. Councilmember Holden asked what PMP projects are for next year. Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen said next year is the park improvements. He will be designing the 2026 PMP, which is the Karth Lake Neighborhood. It's heavy on design for streets and construction for parks right now. Councilmember Monson asked about sound walls. Did he need direction from Council? Public Works Director and City Engineer Swearingen said he will just assume we will apply for it every year. Councilmember Rousseau wondered how other Council members wanted to deal with those single issues. Discussion ensued regarding items that can be removed, combined or need further discussion. 4. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND STAFF UPDATES None. ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the Special City Council Work Session at 9:09 p.m. QS.L- �"Ja ,,tod4�� Jq4fiTTHanson David Grant `t Clerk Mayor