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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01-13-25 WS-ARqNHILLS Approved: February I0, 2025 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORI( SESSION JANUARY 13,2025 5:30 P.M.. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor David Grant called to order the City Council Work Session at 5:30 p.m. Present: Mayor David Grant, Councilmembers Kurt Weber, Emily Rousseau, Brenda Holden and Tena Monson Absent:None Also present: Interim City Administrator Jessica Jagoe; 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. 2025 Parks Improvement Project Design Review Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said this is a final look at the project, as proposed. Staff will bring this back in February to ask Council to accept the plans and specs and will seek direction from Council to put it out for bid. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said Attachment A is the proposed plan set, and Attachment B is the related Engineers Estimate. ARDEN HILLS CITY COLINCIL WORK SESSION _ JANUARY 13,2025 Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said after staff received direction for the chain link ba:rier along the onramp for Highway 51, he engaged with MNDOT and they are receptive to the idea of putting a fence there. They would like to bring it back to their team to discuss timing, location, cost share and long-term maintenance. MNDOT has a repaving project scheduled in2026. They are looking into including that fence with that construction project. More discussions will be forthcoming so that was removed from the scope of work. The cost estimate for the fencing along the west side of the property line of the upper part of the project is under review. It wasn't in the initial scope of work or budget. Staff decided to remove that from the estimated cost. Staff will budget for that accordingly in the future or possibly it could be tied in with the fence improvement. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen presented the Arden Oaks Park bid alternate. The ADA trail improvement would extend from Arden Oaks Court on the south with a pathway that connects to both play structures. It includes an ADA restroom stall. The proposed location for the ADA stall seems like the best fit with the screening around it. The issue is there is no access. There will need to be a maintenance route to get there. The truck would need to access the stall weekly for cleaning. We want to avoid rutting through the grass and it needs to be ADA access to the stall. Staff decided to include this as a bid alternate to determine what that will cost. Staff can then either budget for that or move forward with it this year. That decision can be made after Council sees the bids. The bid alternate is not included in the total estimated project cost. Councilmember Weber said he noticed the silt fence isn't included in the estimate. He wondered if other erosion control items are missing. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said the silt fence and rock entrance are considered incidental items. It is not a specific bid item. It was discussed at the previous week's meeting. It's drawn on the plans but it is not called out as a specific bid item. Councilmember Holden said we are $64,000 over budget. Which part is causing the overage? Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said notable increases are due to Council's decision to approve the better play structure at Arden Oaks which was an additional $22,000. During design it was discovered the swing set container at Arden Oaks needed to be expanded and modified, for clear zone issues. The container at Freeway Park needed to be modified for the same reasons. Councilmember Holden asked if it was $10,000 for the containers. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed that was close. He said Arden Oaks is at $40,000 and $44,000 for Freeway Park. It is split relatively evenly between the two parks. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said Public Works is going to review if we are able to do the removals of the playground. Staff reached out to an outfit that recycles play structures and they said they are not interested in these two. Public Works will look at what equipment it would take to remove that. Per the estimate that could generate a $10,000 cost savings. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION _ JANUARY 13,2025 Councilmember Monson asked if the PSA-Public Engagement and Project Scope costs have already been incurred, with no additional expected. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. Mayor Grant asked about the wood fiber item of $9,200. He asked how much of that was labor and how much is wood fiber. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen didn't know the breakdown. Mayor Grant is wondering is ICWC could put it in, if we got them the engineered wood fiber. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen will look into that. Mayor Grant said it may be more coordination than is justifiable vs. cost savings. His guess is most of that amount is labor. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said we do utilize ICWC or routine maintenance of other play structures. Mayor Grant asked if engineered wood fiber is mulch. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. He said it is a term parks people use. Councilmember Monson asked what Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen's confidence level is surrounding the Engineer's estimate. She said the last time Council was surprised by the bids. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said he has high confidence in this team. They have been good to work with. The previous consultant didn't have a specified Parks Team. This estimate comes from the Parks Team within Bolton and Menk. Councilmember Monson asked what criteria they are using other than historical costs, structure equipment and inflationary dollars. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said they compile their previous years' projects and take that data into account when preparing these estimates. They did a number of these projects and are planning several new ones for 2025. Councilmember Weber asked if there have been any discussions about crowd sourcing labor like Valentine Hills did. He said that was well attended. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen didn't know if that is an option with this vendor but it is something he can explore. It may be too late in the process, but he will ask. Mayor Grant said if ICWC will do the wood chips, that would be some outsourcing. We would have to pay for them but it's a substantially reduced rate. This is a complex project. ARDEN HILLS CITY COLINCIL WORK SESSION _ JANUARY 13,2025 Councilmember Weber said during the Valentine Hills construction the foundation bowls were already done and it was laser-level graded. Everyone carried all the equipment to location as specified. They put it all up and the concrete truck showed up and the volunteers pushed the concrete around. He imagines it saved the school district at least S10,000 in labor. Mayor Grant asked how much of the estimate is labor. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said it is difficult to answer that question. If he had to guess it was somewhere in the 25-50% range. Probably closer to the 25oh. Councilmember Holden asked about the fence at Freeway Park. She said MNDOT already did that ramp. She asked for clarification that MNDOT would be open to completing a fence for us in that location just because they are doing 51, by the ramp. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen looked at the project. Their project limits extend beyond the onramp. He's not positive what is all included for the improvements they have planned there, but it is within their project limits. Councilmember Holden asked about the property line complications on the west side. She thought we are 12 feet from where the fence will go. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen thought it was 15 feet. Councilmember Holden said we should try to reclaim our City park. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said that can be a different discussion at another time. Councilmember Holden asked if we would leave that fence in place. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said for budget reasons staff is recommending removing the fence replacement from the project. Councilmember Holden said we are going to put asphalt in at the top of Freeway Park. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said not with this project. He said some bituminous was extended down with the trail project. There is a section of asphalt. But there is still class 5 where the parking lot is. Councilmember Rousseau thought the crowd sourcing idea was interesting. She asked if Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen could reach out to the school district and ask what they think the cost savings was. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen he can do that. He would prefer to keep this project on schedule, as proposed. We have side contracts with that vendor so it may be too late to incorporate that in this project, but it could be considered for future improvement projects. He will look into it. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION _ JANUARY 13,2025 Councilmember Monson asked if the Council has an appetite to open sponsorship from businesses within our parks. Businesses and Employers may want to provide funding for parks. She knows other cities do it. She understands there are pros and cons but it could bring in extra money while highlighting Arden Hills businesses. Councilmember Holden said she always thought it was a good idea but the City Attomey said we aren't allowed to go out and beg for money. If a business gives $20,000 for the parks then brings something forward, they will expect something in return. Mayor Grant said that was before Boston Scientific built the Cummings Park shelter. Councilmember Rousseau said in 2017 the PTRC would send donation letters to rotating businesses every three months. Her thought is what if a tobacco store wants to sponsor. How would you make those decisions fairly. We wouldn't want a cannabis leaf on the park. Councilmember Monson thinks when looking at saving on labor, if Council is open, maybe Staff can gather information on the pros and cons. Could we limit who can ask for sponsorship. Mayor Grant said Council wants to bring it on budget but just don't know how to do that yet. Councilmember Monson said we also have to wait for the bids to come back. She asked that when the bids are received, she hopes staff will be prepared to say what options could be cut if the bids are all over the estimate and budget. Mayor Grant said it would be good to have some bid alternates. Councilmember Rousseau said if the amounts need to be reduced, after bids are received, she wouldn't be opposed to pushing the picnic tables and benches until the following year. Councilmember Holden asked if Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said that he is looking to see if Public Works staff can do the equipment removal on this project. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. Councilmember Holden asked if that eliminates the option to use ICWC. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said we could use both. Councilmember Holden said that is cheap. She doesn't think there is a project list for that group yet. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. He just reached out to them a couple weeks ago to renew the contract. Mayor Grant agreed that group could provide labor for more than just wood chips. Councilmember Holden said she thought it was $800 a day for ten people. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed they are reasonable. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION _ JANUARY 13,2025 Councilmember Holden said we should use them wherever we can. This would be a good opportunity because they have done these types of projects in other communities. Councilmember Monson thinks the ICWC conversation is interesting because using them anywhere will bring value to the City. She will rely on Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen's prioritization to determine which projects will bring the highest value and savings. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said the 2025 Maintenance Plan is being developed right now. He is working to figure out those priorities right now. Mayor Grant asked if Staff is seeking Council direction to put this out for bid. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. He said this item will be on consent for Council to accept the plans and specs, as proposed, and then go out for bid. The bid opening would be in early March. Councilmember Holden asked if Staff will determine if installation can be completed by someone other than the vendor. Director of Public Works/Cit1, Engineer Slvearingen confirmed. The answer to that question will be provided in the memo, when it comes back. B. Parks and Recreation Manager Position Discussion Director of Public Works/CiQ, Engineer Srvearingen said Council has discussed the proposed Parks and Recreation Manager position previously. Council directed Staff to implement the position. He wants Council to take another look at it with the budget amount and give confirmation to proceed. Councilmember Holden asked rvhy Rain Gardens are included. She thought that was strictly a Public Works and Stormwater item. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Srvearingen thinks of it as a crossover item. It can rigidly be looked at as a water quality element. But it does have a garden aspect to it, which would be more the natural resources. He thinks this position will be best in managing that piece of it. Councilmember Holden asked if this position would notify Public Works when a rain garden isn't working and needs maintenance. Director of Public Works/CiQ, Engineer Srvearingen confirmed. Part of the program would be completing a condition inspection clf all the rain gardens. Councilmember Holden asked what the difference is betrveen this and a Publio Works Parks Lead. She isn't sure why we need this position and the Public Works Parks Lead being implemented. 6 ARDEN HILLS CITY COLINCIL WORK SESSION - JANUARY 13,2025 Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said the Parks Lead position will be taking care of the day-to-day maintenance and operations. The rain gardens are more like a program. Councilmember Holden said we're talking about natural resource management, forestry and other items listed. She's trying to determine what the Public Works Parks Lead would do differently or how it would complement this position. Director of Pubtic Works/City Engineer Swearingen said there would be coordination between the positions but the Parks and Recreation Manager will manage the program where the Parks Lead will lead the day to day maintenance operations, much like a site foreman. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said it would be scheduling of those work items and making sure the daily tasks are scheduled. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said this would be the day to day operations. Councilmember Rousseau asked which position would have trails. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen trails would still be undemeath him but the Parks and Recreation Manager would be completing condition assessments and suggest what the maintenance frequency for the trails should be. Councilmember Rousseau asked if that will be noted on the job description. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. He said the bigger picture Capital Improvements would still be under him. Councilmember Rousseau asked if the job description will outline the responsibilities with the Park Master Plan. She asked if this person will be implementing or prioritizing that Master Plan. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said this person would follow the vision of the Parks Master Plan future improvements. Councilmember Rousseau asked if this position will take ownership of the Master Plan. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said it would be their guide for doing their job for the City. Councilmember Rousseau said she sees forestry and rain gardens in the description. She wondered about a natural resources inventory. She said the statutes with the next Comprehensive Plan specifu that we need to have an inventory of the City's natural resources. She asked if this position would be involved with that. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen thinks that would fit in with this position. He said that is not something we have today. So, a strategy for that could be developed by this position. ARDEN HILLS CITY COTJNCIL WORK SESSION - JANUARY 13,2025 Mayor Grant asked if this person will have communication with the public where they might write articles about what's going on with Parks and Rec. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. This position would be working closely with the Communication Coordinator to develop content to and do promotions. Mayor Grant would like that to be included in the job description so the person being hired understands that expectation. This isn't just a Park and Recreation Manager, they will be communicating with the public about what's happening in their parks. Councilmember Monson asked if this position would be the lead on projects like the one earlier tonight regarding the Park Improvements. This position would manage that. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. Councilmember Ilolden asked about the Master Parks Plan. She heard that would be a play book or guide for this position. She said before it becomes a play book it needs to be created. Will this position be involved in creating the Master Plan. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said ideally, we will get a candidate that is familiar with this process and can hit the ground running. Councilmember Monson asked if this person would manage the process. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said this won't be an entry level recreation position. The right candidate will have some over arching knowledge. They will need to get up to speed with some of the facilities and equipment, they may have already been through this process or they will be someone who has coordination management experience. They will be able to work with the consultant to develop the plan. Councilmember Monson said she thinks it will be important to find the right candidate so Staff can highlight to the Council how this person will meet these requirements. Councilmember Holden said this position will only have one person reporting to them and there are just a couple of programs. She worries that this will become a steppingstone, and the person will only be here short-term. They're going to want to move on to a larger management position in a bigger city. Mayor Grant said that is the nature of Arden Hills. Councilmember Holden agrees but she thinks it's something to be conscious of when hiring because it doesn't do the City any good to hire someone who will only be here a short time. Mayor Grant said this is not an entry level position. He thinks this may be a hard position to fill. He will expect the selected candidate will not be entry level. ARDEN HILLS CITY COLTNCIL WORK SESSION - JANUARY 13,2025 Councilmember Monson said once someone is hired, you can't stop them from leaving. The goal should always be to get what you can from that person while you have them. There are a lot of reasons someone leaves a job. Mayor Grant said when we hire someone, we want them to succeed but we also want to develop them. They may choose to leave with their background, credentials and experience. We hope they have reasons to stay. He is proud of the Staff. A number of them have been internal hires and promotions from within. We want people to succeed. Councilmember Holden said she understands that anyone can leave at any time. She said we've always known who's going to be a short termer. It's important that we feel a commitment during the interview process. Mayor Grant asked if Council in agreement regarding this position. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said this item will be brought back to the February 1Oft meeting for approval to recruit for this position. At this time DDA is reviewing the proposed job description. Staff will get everything finalized and bring it back in February. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen asked if he could start the process sooner or if he has to wait until February 1Oft. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said Council must give authorization to recruit. Mayor Grant agrees. He would suggest adding it to tonight's City Council agenda, but we've always agreed that when we discuss something at a Work Session it won't be on the next agenda. Councilmember Monson wondered if it would be okay to put it on tonight, assuming there is a 5-0 consensus. Timeline is a consideration since there is no second meeting in January. She understands this goes against how things are usually done, but she is okay with it as long as no one else has an issue with it. Councilmember Holden is against it because she wants to see the final job description. Council just created a list of things they want included and she wants to make sure they are in there. Mayor Grant agrees there was a lot of question surrounding what this person will do. It would be nice to have the job description. Councilmember Monson asked if the Council would be willing to give approval contingent on Council receiving the final job description and giving a soft approval. Councilmember Holden said Council is the hiring body. There has to be a formal action to be the hiring body. She doesn't know how to do a soft approval. Councilmember Monson said maybe it can't be done. She is just trying to help staff. Mayor Grant asked how long it would take to frnalize the job description. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION _ JANUARY 13,2025 Interim City Administrator Jagoe said they have the job description drafted and completed. It is at DDA as part of their contract they review any new job descriptions and make sure that the proposed grade being recommended is consistent with the market analysis. That is the last step. She thinks the comments received by Council regarding communication, the Parks Master Plan and this position being the liaison to the public for trails. Her recollection is that all of those items are in the job description that's been drafted. She doesn't anticipate any changes to the description based on Council comment. If there is a way to distribute that job description for council to see. The logistics of a special meeting would have to be worked out. Councilmember Monson asked if Staff is requesting a special meeting to fast track this. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said if we wait until the February 1Oft meeting, he doesn't see how this position can be hired for the beginning of the second quarter. Mayor Grant thought the timeline was Q2-Q4. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said this position is budgeted for those three quarters. Councilmember Rousseau would be fine with coming in for a short l0-minute special meeting to approve this, at the end of the month. Councilmember Monson is fine with that, too. It should be called as soon as we get the job description back vs. waiting until the end of the month. Mayor Grant is okay with a soft approval. He doesn't think there will be any major changes. Any candidate that is interviewing that is serious about the position could be handed an updated job description. Councilmember Monson asked if we could do that legally. It's being reviewed by DDA. She said job descriptions are very specific about how they are paid. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said she has not received comments back from DDA yet, so it's still under review. Councilmember Monson thinks there could be a problem if we change the job description mid- process. Mayor Grant thinks this should have come to Council first for initial approval and then it should have been sent to DDA. What if Council wants a change after DDA reviews it. Will they have to look at it again? He asked how soon recruitment would begin upon approval of the job description. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said the next day. Councilmember Weber asked if there is a timetable for when DDA will complete the review. l0 ARDEN HILLS CITY COI.INCIL WORK SESSION _ JANUARY 13,2025 Interim City Administrator Jagoe does not know. She can follow up with an email to Council when the final job description is drafted. The last piece is DDA's review to confirm the language, formatting and the Class. Discussion ensued regarding when a Special City Council Meeting could be held. Councilmember Holden said if the final draft is approved on February 1Oft, it can be posted for a month and still have someone starting April I't. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said logistically, it might be tough to post the job, conduct interviews and get the selected candidate on the agenda for approval at the March 10ft meeting. Councilmember Holden thought that would be a good time to schedule a Special Meeting. Mayor Grant thought unnecessary urgency was being placed on this. Councilmember Weber asked if other cities job descriptions were used as examples while drafting this job description. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said he revised the Arden Hills' job description from a similar position in the past and built it up by using some other cities' descriptions. Councilmember Holden asked if this person will need a tree certification. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said it's not required but it is preferred. There are Certified Tree Inspectors in Public Works. Councilmember Holden thinks if this person is doing the parks management, it should be mandatory. Mayor Grant directed Staff to send the job description that we have to Council. Gather Council comments. Share those comments with DDA as soon as possible. That way DDA will be reviewing exactly what Council wants to be on there. If that takes us to the February l0s meeting, fine. If the full review is completed towards the end of January, we can discuss a Special Meeting at that time. Councilmember Weber said since Council cannot 'reply all' to emails, he wondered if Staff will compile Council comments and send those comments to the entire Council before DDA. Mayor Grant said you would send your comments to Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen and Interim City Administrator Jagoe. They would have to compile them, make changes and send it back to Council. Councilmember Weber understands that. His point is he would like to see the comments the other Councilmembers have prior to it being sent to DDA. Councilmember Monson said she is not interested in writing job descriptions as a policy maker. She doesn't remember having this conversation surrounding any other role. She thinks this feels a ll ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JANUARY 13,2025 little like micro-managing. Knowing what was shared at the meeting tonight will be incorporated into the job description is sufficient for her. Councilmember Holden doesn't believe they are writing the job description. She said that since this person is going to implement policies, we want to make sure that it is in the position description so that they will be able to do that. Councilmember Monson said that Council has succinctly directed Staff what should be in there. Councilmember Rousseau thought this was a good conversation, so Council knows what the expectations are and how Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen thinks this fits in with the overall planning with the City's resources. Mayor Grant said he has read a number ofjob descriptions during his time on the Personnel Committee. Our job it not to write the descriptions but to make sure we are hiring the right talent. Council does approve the job descriptions. Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Hanson said we have presented job descriptions to the Personnel Committee. With their blessing, the rest of the Council generally defers to their approval. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said usually Staff will present the job description with the request for authorization to recruit. The full Council would see the job description to give that authorization. The back and forth with writing a job description has historically been facilitated through the Personnel Committee. She suggested we could use that same process in this case. Mayor Grant said we could do that, unless the entire council wants to review it. Councilmember Monson is fine with that. Councilmember Holden said she would like to look at it. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said he will send it to Council. Councilmember Monson said we'll get it when we have to authorize recruitment. Mayor Grant wants to make sure we incorporate into the job description, what this Council wants that position to do. So the applicant knows what they're being hired for and what's expected. He asked Staff to incorporate the changes discussed, send it to Council and then get it to DDA for final review. C. Private Property I/I Equity Discussion Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said this discussion surrounds private property owners to utilize funds through Met Council to take care of inflow and infiltration issues with their sewer services. Last year was the pilot year for Met Council and Arden Hills participated in it. We received $45,000. This year we requested a larger amount but were awarded less. We received $41,000 for this year. He explained that part of their process is to ask Cities to implement an equity component. Last year, only 5 of the 20 cities implemented one. He has t2 ARDEN HILLS CITY COLINCIL WORK SESSION - JANUARY 13,2025 provided the equity components those cities implemented, as examples. He added information about the staff-time used. There was lot of back-and-forth communication with properties. There were 20-30 applicants. Only ten were approved. He is bringing this forward to discuss if Council would like to implement an equity component. Councilmember Rousseau asked about the ten that were approved. She said Roseville have 80% up to $8,000 or 50% up to $5,000. She asked what the metrics were in Arden Hills. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said we didn't have an equity component. It was a 50Yo match, up to $5,000. Most, if not all of them met that maximum amount. Councilmember Rousseau asked if we knew the value of the houses? Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said that information was not tracked or requested. Councilmember Holden said the neighborhoods where the approvals were, were older homes in older neighborhoods. She said the equity piece doesn't add anything. Making sure the INI isn't leaking into the ground is just as important as not being able to give the money away. We had 20- 30 applications with ten being approved and still used up all the money. Barely, but we used it. There was one person hanging on. They put the application in and then they don't get you the information that is requested. It's a game that can be played by people. For us, it's best to get the INI done. If you can see on a TV screen that the pipe is broken, we want it fixed. There are a lot of people that can't afford the minimum cost of over $10,000. She doesn't think it's right that we have income tax forms. We're asking for trouble for having private personal information. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said the consequence of having an equity component is that allows a single property to consume alarge portion of that allotment. We don't have a lot, relative to other cities. Mayor Grant asked if we could base it on house value instead of AMI. Councilmember Monson said that is what Roseville did. Mayor Grant said they say 80% AMI affordable home ownership cost. If you own your home, do they take the value times what the current mortgage would be and figure out how much you have to make? He would say base it on the median home value in Arden Hills. Anyone below gets 80o%, up to $10,000 or 60Yo, up to $8,000. Councilmember Rousseau said that sounds good initially. She would like to know if we are pushing some applicants out. She wonders if there is an area where there is a concentration where maybe 30% of average households. She thinks that would be beneficial rather than having the hard line be the median household value. Mayor Grant said people who are retired can control their income more so than someone who's working. That's the reason for him suggesting median home value. Councilmember Holden doesn't think there should be an equity component. There's only $40,000. We were able to give ten residents S5,000 each, or whatever 50olo was. Therefore, they l3 ARDEN HILLS CITY COLINCIL WORK SESSION _ JANUARY 13.2025 were responsible for coming up with the other half. This program can stay the same this year. We got less funds. But you can have people getting 50% of the money and still help. She said just because someone has lived in a house for 40 years doesn't mean their income is low. Councilmember Weber asked how much we applied for last year,thatwe ended up getting s45,000. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen it was between $70,000-$80,000. Councilmember Weber asked if the equity component had an impact on the grant amount. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said no. Some cities appear to be exaggerating their numbers to get a bigger slice. He said Crystal requested $750,000. Minneapolis and St. Paul were at $ 1.5 million each. So they get a larger chunk. We tried to take a more honest approach. Councilmember Weber asked if he felt like an equity component would have made a difference in the amount received? Not necessarily to the application process, but to either going through applications quicker or narrowing it down. It sounds like ten people qualified. Ten people got it. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said it is first come, first served. If we have applicants who meet the equity component earlier in the process, we would run out of money sooner. There is plenty of interest. We just don't have a lot of funds to begin with. It's lower than what we requested. Councilmember Weber said he would not support an equity component. If it won't make a difference on the amount we are receiving. Mayor Grant said then we wouldn't have income information at City Hall. Councilmember Monson would support not having an equity component. If the program grows, she would like to revisit it. The challenge is if you get someone in the lower AMI paperwork becomes even more challenging. The support to get someone across the line would be significant from staff. That would be a whole different strategy from now, which is just deploy the money and fix this environmental issue. She can get behind not having an equity component but will want to revisit it if we grow. Councilmember Holden agrees. She said next year when we reapply, we look at it again. Mayor Grant said we will award S41,000. He asked if anything on the calculations should change. We're at 50o/o of the first $5,000. Interim City Administrator Jagoe confirmed up to $5,000. Mayor Grant asked if Staff feels like we will use the $41,000 at that level. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. Councilmember Weber asked how quickly it would be used. t4 ARDEN HILLS CITY COI-INCIL WORK SESSION - JANUARY 13,2025 Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen thought around mid-third quarter. There are already one or two queued up waiting on a decision. Mayor Grant said it is important that we are able to award utilized the entire $41,000 we were awarded. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen is certain that it will get used. Mayor Grant said we are an old enough community that we should be able to use that money. Councilmember Holden thinks we need a policy. People have been hanging on and not submitting because it was first come, first served. We didn't get the information we needed. Then the next person is on hold because the person in front of them didn't get the necessary information. We need to have a timeline for Staff that if someone applies, they have a certain amount of time to get the work done. There needs to be a policy that states if someone doesn't utilize the money in a certain amount of time, it goes to the next person. She said someone can hang on to $5,000 for the whole year. There was still money left in November. Councilmember Weber supports a timeline. He also said, if we are looking at running out of available funds in Q3, then it is better to take a spread-the-wealth disbursement approach. Maybe 50oh,lp to $4,000. Maybe a little less. Obviously using it all, is the most important thing, he would prefer to see it stretch to help as many people as possible. Mayor Grant agreed. From a practical standpoint, he wondered could this type of work be done in Q4? Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said it would need to be done before freezing temps. Mid-November would probably be the latest. Mayor Grant said the end of Q3 is not a bad proxy to make sure the money is used. Councilmember Holden said there was one $5,000 allotment left in October. That person didn't come through. As soon as they were told to get their information in or we would have to move on. It took a while for someone else to claim that. She worries that if the amounts were less than $5,000, people may not be able to cover the entire difference and will choose not to fix it. Mayor Grant summarized that the claim amount will remain the same and we will revisit the equity component next year. D. Newsletter Policy Draft Interim City Administrator Jagoe said this is a follow up discussion from the December meeting regarding removing the Communication Liaison from appointments for the2025 calendar year. Based on that direction, and through discussion with the Senior Communications Coordinator it was determined that the newsletter policy and procedures needed to be updated. References to the Liaison has been removed. The point of contact for topic submissions is the City Administrator. There were no other changes to the policy other than what Council had seen l5 ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION _ JANUARY 13,2025 in2023 calendar year. During this process, Staff realized the 2023 changes had not been formally approved. She will bring this back for approval at a future meeting. Council supported the changes. E. Agenda Planning Interim City Administrator Jagoe provided the list of topics that Staff has earmarked for the next upcoming work session. Attachment A is the council rankings. In the memo isthe2024 previous work session ranking schedule. She opened the discussion, noting there were some items that are earmarked for the February l0 work session that are time sensitive. She also sought direction on the rankings for scheduling future work sessions and building these topics in. Mayor Grant said February l0 is somewhat full but asked Council to discuss which items should be discussed earlier. He will work with Staff to get them slated in. Councilmember Rousseau would like to use the January time period when there is no Council meeting to hold a work session. She would like to discuss some of these that have been on the list a while like short term rentals, licensing program, code of conduct, the encroachment discussion. She thinks the 75ft anniversary discussion will take a little time to get some buy in. Councilmember Weber agrees the list is big. He would support a January work session. Councilmember Holden said that the meetings were cancelled so she won't be able to attend any meetings. We said we were going to have the one meeting a month. Councilmember Rousseau said she does not want to cancel the second January meeting next year. She had anticipated that Council would still do something with those dates. She doesn't recall saying the second meeting would be cancelled. She thought that was a hangover from previous years. Mayor Grant said he doesn't think it's a hangover. He met with the nine members of the Mayors and Administrators meeting and there are other cities that are interested in that and looking to do such things for their Staff. It was well received by that group. Councilmember Rousseau asked if those cities had 26 items on their to-do list. Mayor Grant doesn't know how many items were on their lists. They saw it as a benefit for Staff. He said councilmembers drive a mile or two. Staff drives a lot longer, in the dead of night, in the dead of winter. Councilmember Holden thought this came from the Personnel Committee because of recruitment and retention. That was why we cancelled the meetings. It came from the Personnel Committee. Mayor Grant confirmed. It was a draw to recruit staff. Councilmember Monson doesn't remember that discussion. t6 ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JANUARY 13,2025 Mayor Grant said it was prior to her tenure. Councilmember Holden said former Councilmember Fabel was a part of it. Mayor Grant said he believes former Councilmember Fabel was in favor of the initial discussion pre-dated him. Councilmember Monson said she doesn't know when we'll have the meeting but she supports prioritizing the 75ft Anniversary and the Code of Conduct. She thinks the short term rentals and rental licensing should be looked at after the code updates. She thought PTRC would look at the encroachment item. Councilmember Rousseau said PTRC is not looking at encroachment. Mayor Grant said encroachment is not PTRC but trail prioritization should be. Director of Public Works/City Engineer Swearingen said trail prioritization is specific to Lake Johanna and Old Highway 10. Councilmember Monson added it was about funding for the two trails. Councilmember Holden said there was no funding in the budget for the 75ft anniversary. Mayor Grant confirmed. Councilmember Holden said when she brought it up during budgeting no one was interested. She is surprised it's on the list. Mayor Grant said it would be for the2026 budget cycle. Councilmember Holden said the 75ft is this year. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said she believed it was 2026. Mayor Grant recessed the meeting at 6:45 pm. F. Rice Creek Commons/TCAAP Discussion This item was not discussed. 4. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND STAFF UPDATES None. ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjoumed the City Council Work Session at 70:46 p.m., with no further Work Session discussions happening after the regular City Council Meeting. t7 ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JANUARY 13,2025 Deputy Clerk David Grant Mayor