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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-10-25 WSlt ,-iiR�EN HILLS Approved: March 10, 2025 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION FEBRUARY 10, 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; Finance Director Joua Yang 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. Parks Master Plan Scoping Discussion Casey Byers and Bryce Shearen from Bolton & Menk introduced themselves. Councilmember Holden said she thinks with some of the other expensive projects happening, we won't be able to work on this plan for a while. She thinks this plan is five years out. She asked if that is how she should be thinking about it. Bryce Shearen said there is a portion of this presentation that will address that. He said he is aware that there are some large items coming up. This planning process will help the City through those. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 2 Bryce Shearen outlined that the presentation will walk through what a Parks Master Plan is, project understanding and approach, engagement, budget and next steps. This is Council's opportunity to say what they would like to see included in this plan. Bryce Shearen said the Park System Master Plan is a community -driven comprehensive document that outlines the vision for a community's parks and recreation facilities. It is a long term vision and it is best if the documents are updated every ten years. The Master Plan will include inventory and analysis of existing conditions. It will look at demographics and park usage. If there are gaps in the parks, trails, open spaces or any of the park amenities, this will identify those gaps. Councilmember Holden asked how gaps were identified. Bryce Shearen responded it will identify a physical gap or if there is a location that doesn't have a playground or open space but should. This plan will also look at local and national trends and look for funding opportunities. The plan will include a review and recommendation on maintenance and operation. Bryce Shearen said the Master Plan will be a comprehensive compilation of a lot of sources of information. Once complete this will be a guide to help make decisions. Having a Master Plan can help manage the expectations of the community. They have worked with several other communities were facing different types of maintenance, a wish list of amenities from residents. This process can help align the wish list items with the priorities of the community. This can help determine what the community needs, not just what they want. This plan will help set guidelines for how the park system will operate for the next five to fifteen years. Bryce Shearen shared the previous Park System Plan was completed in 2002. This will serve as a guide for the Public Works Department and the Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee (PTRC). The Master Plan will validate upcoming improvement projects and chart out those improvements over the next five or ten years. This will be a good resource to help plan for the future and also aligns different funding sources to make improvements at various parks. A lot of funding sources and grant opportunities require a plan like this. Having a Park Master Plan shows that the City is listening to the community and it shows a commitment to the process. There is a lot of competition for the few Parks and Recreation grants that are available. If you can show you've done the work to understand what the community needs, it will put the City in a better position to receive funding. Bryce Shearen said there are four major components to the process. These components are information gathering, findings and visioning, draft recommendations and final plan. The information gathering stage includes internal and external data collection. Internally, it will help us understand what amenities are in place, the proximity of residents to the parks, how many residents visit the parks and what amenities they are using. It will also determine if there are certain parks that are visited more than others and why. External information gathered will be those national metrics that will compare Arden Hills to regional and national standards. Councilmember Rousseau asked what national standards are used. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 3 Bryce Shearen said NRPA metrics are used to help understand, per population, how many pickle ball courts there should be or looking for trends in youth sports. They aren't used as standards it's just seeing how Arden Hills compares to other communities. Councilmember Rousseau asked if they will be looking at the statute that was changed for the climate mitigation and adaption requirement, including tracking the greenhouse emissions. Casey Byers replied that Climate Action is not built in, at this point. It could be an item that can be explored. Councilmember Rousseau said that will be required for the 2050 Comprehensive Plan. Bryce Shearen said Met Council is planning on releasing guidelines on all the boxes that need to be checked. The plan is to provide the City with a document that they can just plug into the 2050 Comprehensive Plan. Casey Byers reiterated that if there are requirements, they will make sure they are included. Councilmember Holden noted he keeps talking about parks. She asked where the trails come in. Bryce Shearen said parks, trails and open space are all elements under the park system. Councilmember Holden noted he keeps discussing how far away from a park residents are. She hasn't heard anything about usage of the trails. Thirty percent or less of the population of Arden Hills' residents are under 18. Most of the people out there using the system are adults on the trails. She wouldn't want that to get lost when discussing park amenities. Casey Byers confirmed when they discuss "parks" they are talking about the entire system of parks, trails and open spaces. Bryce Shearen said the second phase will be findings and visioning. This is the community needs assessment. They will take the information from the first phase and understand what the community needs. This could include natural resources, water quality and areas of mown grass vs. opportunities for a native vegetation restoration. They will dig in and determine what the data is saying, to help create some themes. They will develop a shared vision for the park planning process. Councilmember Rousseau asked if economic opportunities were looked at in this process. Casey Byers said they could include a market study. That isn't typically a standard product in the park plan process. They could look at department data. If there are revenues that are tracked on an annual basis. They can look at how that compares to other park systems. They can identify programming opportunities, to host community events or partnerships with other community organizations to offer different amenities or programming in a certain area. Bryce Shearen said just having a plan can serve as an economic engine, generating excitement about the process. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 4 Casey Byers added having a vision for the community can help housing markets and attract people to the community. Bryce Shearen said the third phase is identifying draft recommendations. This is where they are aligning community needs with what the community can support. It will then align those findings with the resources in the Parks Department. This is where we start to chart priorities, specific improvements and estimate a dollar value. These will have a broad range. They have done enough playgrounds and recreation amenities where they can provide accurate cost estimates to understand the impacts to the overall budget. This will factor in design/engineering, construction contingencies and inflation. This becomes the backbone for the implementation plan. Casey Byers said the fourth phase is the final plan document. This will be the City's resource for fielding questions regarding parks and amenities and thinking about how to manage the park system. This will be used regularly when making decisions about park improvements. Casey Byers said the process typically takes about nine to twelve months. They like to align the overall schedule around community engagement, which is the driver of this entire process. During the summer months residents are out and using the parks and attending community events. They like to engage people while they are out utilizing the park system and thinking about recreation activities. Bryce Shearen said a Project Advisory Committee could help facilitate the entire process. They envision that would be two council members and two PTRC members, two or three staff members and the Bolton & Menk team. This committee would have regular meetings. Councilmember Holden asked if this was the steering committee. Bryce Shearen said it could be. This is the discussion they have had with Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen. This approach would engage everybody. He reiterated it's important to engage residents while they are using the parks. Pop up meetings are an effective tool for this type of engagement. They go out into the parks and talk to residents. They ask what they like, what they don't like and what they would like to see us do better. When commissioners and councilmembers attend these events, it is a great opportunity for them to hear what people are saying. He said there will be a community -wide online survey where there are images, so residents know the amenities that are being discussed. This will be customized for what makes sense for Arden Hills. Bryce Shearen said this is a great opportunity to use the PTRC meetings as public engagement opportunities. Residents can be invited to their meetings to give feedback. There are other enhanced community input opportunities. These include an interactive online community mapping. It's a location -based tool. People can click right into a certain park or a portion of a trail and leave a comment. It is a moderated feature. They also use yard signs, trail graphics, materials in other languages and GIS asset management as a form of community engagement. Any or all of these tools can be implemented if Council thinks they are right for Arden Hills. Bryce Shearen outlined how this process is broken out from a budget standpoint. Project Management and Initiation is 10%, Inventory and Analysis is 15%, Public Engagement is 15%, Community Needs Assessment is 20%, Implementation Planning is 20% and the Final Plan is 15%. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 5 Bryce Shearen said he would be happy to answer any questions. If Council is ready to give directions, they will prepare a proposal for Arden Hills. Councilmember Holden asked if they collect school district information to learn what the upcoming demographics are. Bryce Shearen confirmed. He said they will collect school district information as well as census data. Councilmember Holden asked if he was talking about state or federal dollars when he is discussing funding sources. Casey Byers said there is a funding team at Bolton & Menk that tracks grants. They communicate with Project Managers to align potential grant opportunities with current projects. The plan will include a funding matrix that has a list of recommendations and a list of funding sources that may align with those projects. They outline the application timelines. They can't guarantee those grants will be awarded, but they make the City aware of potential sources. Councilmember Holden asked for confirmation that Bolton & Menk will provide a list of funding sources. She asked if they require there be a contract with them to keep receiving those sources. Casey Byers said it isn't required. They identify what the process is and give the City the resources to find that information. Councilmember Holden asked if they consider that we aren't really a standalone city. There are a lot of recreational activities in surrounding communities. She wondered if they take that into account. Casey Byers said as part of the proximity mapping they look at recreational facilities in surrounding communities. As part of the survey they can look at surrounding recreational facilities that are popular or generate a lot of business. From the list of parks in Arden Hills, and surrounding communities, they ask people which parks they go to and why. That helps them identify what amenities that particular park has that a resident would go there as opposed to a park closer to their home. It's another data point to study. They do look at surrounding communities, specifically for communities that are land locked and surrounded by close neighbors. Councilmember Holden wondered if they include monetary information in the resident survey. People will say yes to anything but she wants to know if residents have the cost piece to help in their decisions. Casey Byers said that is done carefully with consideration from the steering committee. They try to avoid questions that will only cause problems. They don't want to put in a lot of wish list items that aren't even a possibility. Those survey options are crafted very carefully. Councilmember Holden asked how they reach residents that aren't using the parks when there is a face-to-face event happening, other than the community survey. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 6 Bryce Shearen said they have a lot of tools. Their Marketing and Communications Team can identify areas of lower income, people of color and those neighborhoods can be directly targeted for community engagement. Casey Byers added they have communications that can be shared with City Staff to distribute in newsletters, direct mailings or other forms of communication. Councilmember Rousseau asked if, in addition to surrounding community parks, they look at other businesses that have market share such as YMCA. Bryce Shearen said they do look at that to determine if they are adding amenities that already exist. Councilmember Rousseau said that she was speaking to someone in Little Canada who said they have a Park Master Plan but they don't have funding. She asked if they would break it down so that the plan can be budgeted for and implemented. Casey Byers said he works with a community in Central Iowa that has a population of 30,000. They did the Park Plan and it included a splash pad and pickle ball facility. Those items were tabled for a 5-10 year time frame. They set up a budget allotment every year, for the first five years to put in accessibility improvements or replacing a portion of the playground or replacing a roof on a shelter. This approach allowed them to chip away at the smaller items to get their park system in better shape. Councilmember Rousseau said she has seen some of the grants that have been awarded to New Brighton. She thinks the decisions are going to need to be balanced based on grants. She likes the idea of the steering committee, and she thinks the PTRC involvement will offer great insights. The interests of the PTRC members are very diverse. Everything from natural resources to playgrounds for their kids. Bringing in a plan so Staff and future councils know what the focus will be for the next few years. She said the City is working with Great River Greening on a multi- year commitment to remove buckthorn from the parks and beatifying the land with natural species. She would like to keep those in a base layer where we are having those conversations on how to focus on sustainability and natural resources and build out from there. Mayor Grant said wants vs. needs has been discussed. He said the steering committee is going to be full of people who are passionate about parks, trails and recreation. He said Mounds View just completed a Parks Master Plan and the estimate is $20 million. There are budget limitations. He wondered what the best way is to distinguish needs vs. wants and have it outlined in the plan. The needs will be addressed first so we need to see that delineation in the report. Council will need to know that. Casey Byers said a lot of that is just a combination of those data points. Community feedback, staff feedback, the NRPA metrics and comparisons, the proximity mapping helps with that. There are a lot of different ways to steer that ship. That is their responsibility. They will help take all the information and steer the City in a direction that is responsible for the community. It is a balancing act. You want to have attractive things and you want to be competitive. People don't move because of the streets, they move because of the amenities. The resource and the financial price tag is an obligation that comes with it, doesn't mean Arden Hills has to do it alone. The plan ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 7 can help drum up support from businesses and organizations and other sources of income to help pay for the improvements. Mayor Grant said there are a couple of trails we want to put in. They are rather pricy. We may have to take a look at opportunities for various grants so some of this can be funded by outside sources. It doesn't make sense to design a plan that can't be implemented. Casey Byers said they want to set the City up for success. Some communities face challenges by not having a plan like this in place. Mayor Grant said Mounds View was shell-shocked over the cost of their Master Plan. They have a nice community center and a splash pad and it was still $20 million. Councilmember Monson said she is really excited to have a Park Master Plan. One of her first frustrations of being a councilmember was when having discussions regarding parks. She said improving one park is just a piece of the bigger puzzle. She struggled because she wanted to have a comprehensive view of what existed, if that was what we want and if the changes we are going to make meet the goals. It's exciting to have such a comprehensive view of our Parks Program. She reiterated the need to figure out needs vs. wants. She liked the example Casey Byers shared about raising the baseline, then you can talk about something else. It shows the ability to split that out so Council can make those policy decisions. She wondered if TCAAP was part of the scope. Bryce Shearan said he told Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen that it needs to be addressed in the Plan. Other than that, there won't be too much focus on TCAAP. Councilmember Monson said it will be important to marry the two together to create that comprehensive system. She is in favor of the PTRC participating. She is interested in seeing how they will loop in the Lake Johannah and the Old Highway 10 trails. We hear a lot about natural resources and she hopes this plan will help us understand how to hold those natural assets. Councilmember Weber thought the presentation was good. He supports the PTRC being involved. He thinks it would be ideal for the new Parks and Recreation Manager to be involved in this process, especially the inventory process because that is a great opportunity to get to know the parks. Councilmember Holden shared that Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen has stated that people get upset when his staff plant a certain tree or make a decision on what natural landscaping to use. She wondered how that will be addressed in the Master Park Plan. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said that will be addressed through asset inventory. Those open spaces will be identified where those natural resources programs will be functioning. That will tell us what types of natural resources can go in that space. Councilmember Holden asked if Bolton & Menk would determine what kinds of natural resources can go in a certain space. Casey Byers said they won't really get into that. A natural resource plan for a park system can get really intense. They will cover those topics at a high level. When they do park inventories, they are looking at physical amenities but they also note things like significant tree damage, or maybe ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 8 there are a lot of ash trees and a plan can be developed to replace those trees. They will make recommendations to reduce mowing areas, similar to a prairie restoration. Mayor Grant said this is Council's opportunity to decide if Bolton & Menk should develop a proposal and bring it back. He asked if Council would like to see a proposal. Council all agreed. He thanked them for their presentation and said they may proceed with a proposal and bring it back. Councilmember Holden wondered if this should be delayed until the new Park and Recreation Manager position is filled. She asked if this should be pushed out a month. Councilmember Weber said the timeline is probably already closer to Quarter 2. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said the next step is bringing back a proposal. She asked if Council would like to see this at the March Work Session or is this an item that Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen can bring forward at the March Council Meeting for approval so staff can start with that implementation process. Councilmember Rousseau said she would prefer it come to the regular meeting. Mayor Grant said you don't know what you're going to get yet. Councilmember Monson said it is a hard question because we don't know what the cost is going to be. If it's way outside of what they are expecting, we would want to give direction to go high level on certain things, or maybe the interactive map gets scrapped. As long as those things are line itemed they can decide to pull certain parts based on need and expense. She thinks we may need a work session to discuss it. Interim City Administrator Jagoe clarified they are bringing back the proposal to do the Master Plan within the budgeted amount. It's not the actual plan. Mayor Grant said if it fits within the budget they have to decide what they can do for that amount of money. Bryce Shearan said the plan will be within the budget unless the enhanced features are wanted. Mayor Grant said this needs to come back in March. Councilmember Monson agreed she would like to look at it in a work session. Councilmember Rousseau said she is okay with it being a work session. She said we need to be aware of those enhanced amenities. Maybe we do want to look more at the natural resource inventory. Mayor Grant said this will come back to the March work session. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 9 B. Water Tower Security Improvements Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said when the South Tower improvements were being planned and designed, there was interest in adding security elements to the South Tower. Council wanted to include some fencing improvements around the North Tower, as well. Staff applied for the UASI grant to fund those improvements. We did not get that grant. The timeline on that grant is to apply around March/April and then it is awarded in October. It's a long period of time. The improvements for the North Tower were removed from the South Tower project so we can move forward with the needed repairs. He is seeking direction on how to move forward, knowing it's not budgeted. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said we can pursue the UASI Grant to try to cover 100% of the amount. You can request up to 100% to cover costs with no match. You aren't guaranteed that amount, but you can request it. It isn't clear how much will be available this year. They decreased it by almost 20% from 2023 to 2024. Council could direct staff to start looking at budgeting this in for construction in 2026 or eliminate the proposed security improvements all together. Mayor Grant asked if the amount of overage was about $161,000. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. Councilmember Holden asked if that was a federal grant. She said she thinks we should apply for the grant. Councilmember Weber wondered if security has been an issue. Councilmember Holden remembered there was a break-in at one of them, in the basement. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said the security improvements are physical barriers. There haven't been any serious incidents. This came from a Risk and Resiliency Assessment. These improvements were identified in that assessment. Councilmember Weber understands the need for it but it is expensive. Councilmember Holden said if someone breaks in and drains one of the water towers we'll have half the city with no water. Councilmember Weber understands. He thinks staff should apply for the grant. Councilmember Rousseau asked about the Risk and Resiliency Assessment, she asked what the particular issue was that was called out. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said they do site visits with the consultants that create the assessment. They list what security needs each site has. Councilmember Rousseau wondered if they identify the items as low, medium and high risk. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 10 Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen didn't think they ranked them by risk, it was a bulleted list of the items they found. Councilmember Rousseau said that since this is not budgeted, she would like to try for the grant, again. Mayor Grant said the general consensus is to apply for the grant. C. 2026 PMP Discussion Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen introduced the routine PMP Projects. In 2026 the Karth Lake neighborhood is identified. Mayor Grant asked if that would be a complete reconstruction. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said Cummings Park Drive would be a full depth reclamation. Mayor Grant thought there was one that going to be fully reconstructed. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said he included the last project that was done on Pleasant Drive. That was a full reconstruction. Most of the streets that are being proposed here are full depth reclamation. The curb is still in good condition and there aren't significant soil issues that need correction so a full reconstruction is not necessary or warranted. Mayor Grant asked if the road project work is $1.7 million. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. The current estimate for roadwork is $1.72 million. Councilmember Rousseau thought there was fiber in this neighborhood, but it doesn't go to the individual houses. She wondered if this is the time to work with the communications company and discuss. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said they will reach out to private utilities during the feasibility stage to see what upgrades they need to make in the neighborhood. Councilmember Rousseau noticed there are constantly energy trucks digging around in those areas. She asked that they be looped in for that discussion to see if they can get it all done at once. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed they will be included when he starts contacting the private utilities. Mayor Grant asked the Council if they had any concerns with the scope of the project or funding. Councilmember Holden asked if Cummings Park is paid for by a business. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 11 Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen the assessment policy is 70% commercial. The 70% will be split by the three commercial properties surrounding the park. Councilmember Holden asked if there is a church wanting to build. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said we did receive an application last year but we have not heard back from them. Councilmember Weber noted that Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said there were no soil issues. He asked if they are having the cores done. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said cores were taken several years ago. New cores and borings will be taken during this process. Councilmember Weber asked if there is a concrete base. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said that wasn't found in the initial cores. There were no borings at that time but borings will be taken during the feasibility stage. Councilmember Rousseau asked if there was a rough estimate of what the assessment amounts will be for residents. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said historically they have been between $3,500 and $7,000. They plan to take some appraisals of the property which will support the benefit. It will be compared with the assessment policy to make sure it aligns with the appraisal. That is something new he is proposing to do for this year. That should help support the assessment rate. He thinks we will know that value around June. Councilmember Monson asked about the I & I infiltration. She asked if this is a good opportunity for homeowners to coordinate that work with this project. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said it would be a good time for that, however, this neighborhood is relatively new and has PVC pipe. Inspections didn't identify anything. Councilmember Holden asked if they have done televising in this area. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. It was completed last year. Councilmember Weber asked if he has talked to Center Point. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said they will be included in that list of private utilities. Councilmember Weber said that when a utility does major projects down the roadway sometimes you can get them to fix the road. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen noted that the Karth Lake Improvement District Board want to review the pumping operations to see if there is a way to make it more ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 12 efficient and have less of a bounce and to update the permit with the DNR to achieve a lesser degree of bounce. They have a two -foot bounce and want to minimize the bounce to what is reasonable with the City's operations and recommendation from the DNR and the watershed. Councilmember Holden asked who pays for the electric on the bounce. Mayor Grant said the City does. Councilmember Holden she said she remembers it being a big deal with the drought. She thinks one is too much. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said they want it more automated. Mayor Grant said they want it to be more consistent. Councilmember Holden said she understands what they are trying to do. And they're doing it at the City's expense. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said the next step is to bring forth a proposal recommending that we stick with Bolton & Menk. They have done a great job on the past three PMPs and they know the city well. Councilmember Holden asked if they are giving us decent prices. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen confirmed. We compare their rates annually and they are competitive with other firms. Councilmember Weber asked if we get quotes from other companies. He wondered what Staff is comparing Bolton & Menk against. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said each consultant has a rate for each position. When we receive the proposal, we see each task they outline. We see what position they are using for that task and the hours they allocate towards each task. The labor rates are pretty standard across the board between consultants. We try to negotiate and fine tune the number of hours they allocate towards a certain task. D. 75th Anniversary Planning Interim City Administrator Jagoe brought forward items for the Council to consider as we start talking about 75t1i anniversary planning. This will segway into 2026 budgeting. There aren't any dollars allocated toward this in 2025. She is seeking direction from Council on next steps for planning the 75a' anniversary celebration. She offered that a 75th anniversary sub -committee could be created, possibly a special 75th anniversary logo, purchase promotional items. Mayor Grant said there was a logo created for the 50`h anniversary. He thought there were paperweights and other items with the logo on it. Councilmember Holden doesn't remember the items but she thinks it's more important to have a community event than hand out junk. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 13 Mayor Grant agreed. He said he was thinking in terms of having a logo and using that to publicize the event. Councilmember Rousseau said she would love to see a community event. She hears from the PTRC how residents would love a community event to bring the connection within the community together. She said she often hears that the City is physically divided because of the major streets that we have. She would like to see a couple Councilmembers and community members take the lead on initially starting a community event. Mayor Grant said that may play into Bolton & Menk's having a community wide gathering to communicate about parks, as well. Councilmember Rousseau said she saw that Spring Lake Park used a portion of their Gateway Visitors Grant for advertising for their 75' Anniversary. That may be an opportunity for us, too. Councilmember Weber said he supports having a sub -committee for the event. He thought if the EDC got involved, maybe local businesses would sponsor. He knows there is a resident who has a Facebook page that has old photos of Arden Hills. He also thought having a contest for creating a logo, would be an option. Councilmember Holden wants this to be as simple as possible because staff is so booked. She was thinking about a movie in the park and some ice cream. We don't have enough Staff for planning, we don't have a lot of funding but we do have an Arden Hills historian. He has put together a book. He has offered to come in and show us the items. She thinks this should be sweet and simple. What if the weather is not good? Mayor Grant said maybe it could be tied in with the Penny Carnival. Council is in agreement that we want to do something. We aren't going to plan it today but he agrees it needs to be kept relatively simple. Councilmember Monson would recommend having a committee. She said it can be very structured. It can be a narrow goaled sub -committee. There are some cool ideas and the City has a lot of community event planners that would probably be happy to participate. We aren't in a hurry. It would be great to have public input. Councilmember Holden thinks the sub -committee should be people that are in the community and know the history. They can talk to PTRC and EDC. This is a unique thing for the community as a whole. Councilmember Weber agrees, to an extent that this shouldn't be assigned directly to the existing committees. But it should be open for committee members to be a part of the sub- committee, just as equally as someone who isn't currently serving on a committee or commission. Councilmember Rousseau was thinking about a combination of PTRC, EDC, Council and residents. But keep it small. Just a couple from each group. Councilmember Monson is open to that approach but is also open to completely opening it to the public. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 14 Councilmember Holden said it should be opened up to the people who are interested in the community and have deep roots here. Councilmember Rousseau asked what she meant by deep roots. Councilmember Holden said people that used to own land along Lake Johanna, the Perry's. There are people who have lived here since 1940, before it was changed over. Dan Ashbach has owned that piece of property. His grandpa owned it back in the 30s. There is a historian here who's been here for 50 years. Mayor Grant said there are people living here that owned land on TCAAP. Councilmember Holden said these are people that really have an interest in stuff like this. Not everyone has just moved in, in the last ten years. Councilmember Weber said a lot of the committee members are very long-time residents who are deeply involved in the City. However, this should be open to others. We want to keep it small. Councilmember Holden said she never said to keep it small. She said Councilmember Weber wants the other committees to do it and open it up to other people. Councilmember Weber said he already stated it maybe shouldn't be assigned to any specific committee, but that members of the committees could join as they are residents. He said especially the historians who live here. Councilmember Holden heard him say that but Councilmember Rousseau said something different. Councilmember Rousseau said she would rather see a steering committee with fewer members. She thinks a larger committee would be less productive. Councilmember Monson thinks this is getting heated for no reason. She thinks it should be opened up to the public. The people who want to participate can. She would like to keep it small because she agrees the production of a larger group is tough. She thinks committee members can be invited to be involved. Extending an invite to the Perrys and some other long term residents, would be fine. Mayor Grant summarized that there seems to be a consensus to open it up to the public, including current committee members and to keep it small. Councilmember Holden wanted to know what "small" is. She wonders, what's too big. Mayor Grant thinks if it's more than ten, it's too big. Discussion ensued about how many residents should serve on the committee. Council agreed it should remain less than ten. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 15 Interim City Administrator Jagoe said she will put together the information she gathered and share the information with Council before we do any advertising to recruit participants for the sub -committee. E. Agenda Planning Mayor Grant noted that the top of the list has short term rental ordinance and rental licensing program. He asked if those should be at the top. He said those are the ones that were voted to be at the top and is probably enough for staff to dig into. Interim City Administrator Jagoe isn't sure if it can be ready in a month but Staff can start to put together the information. Those will also align with the work currently being done on the Zoning Ordinance review. Staff will survey other communities and can start to share some of that information. Mayor Grant thought the encroachment discussion could probably be ready to bring back in a month. He is looking for items that can be ready in a month. Councilmember Weber thinks the code of conduct is important. Councilmember Monson said some of that work has already been done. That may be a good March topic. She reminded that Bolton & Menk will be back in March with the parks proposal. Councilmember Rousseau said there is a Code of Conduct for City Council and one for the committees. The commissions have reviewed this it has just been sitting for about a year now. Councilmember Monson said they are two separate Codes of Conduct, but should be similar, in theory. Mayor Grant summarized that in March Staff will bring forward the Code of Conduct. Staff will do what they can on rental licensing and short-term rental ordinance. That is a big topic. Bolton & Menk will return with the park proposal. Councilmember Rousseau asked if Council will meet again in February. Mayor Grant said there will probably be a special meeting in February for the fire department. Interim City Administrator Jagoe said that will be a follow up item to have Council weigh in regarding the Joint Powers Agreement (JPA). There are some proposed amendments that are more consistent with how the financing and the operations of the board and what the JPA will be doing for the construction. It isn't changing any processes but refining it to be consistent with the bylaws and how the Headquarters Board is operating today. Now that the bids have been received, the Headquarters Board is going to be having a special meeting on February 19th. They are looking for City Councils to weigh in and approve the JPA amendment. We received those today and Staff didn't have enough time to get that item assembled in time for tonight's meeting. Councilmember Holden wasn't sure what we need before the 19t'. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 16 Interim City Administrator Jagoe said ideally, the request of the Lake Johanna Fire Department is that the three Cities have reviewed the two resolutions as well as the amendments. She isn't sure what will happen if Arden Hills didn't take action by February 19ffi but that is their request. Mayor Grant said that means we might have a Special Meeting. Interim City Administrator Jagoe will circulate an email to the Council with some background information. Mayor Grant said his understanding is the changes are contextual and don't change the organizational structure. Interim City Administrator Jagoe confirmed. It won't change the cost share or the formula. Mayor Grant said it shouldn't be anything controversial. Interim City Administrator Jagoe confirmed. It has been mentioned that these bylaw changes are coming. F. Rice Creek Commons/TCAAP Discussion This item was not discussed. 4. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND STAFF UPDATES Councilmember Rousseau said the Rotary Club has submitted an application to adopt Floral Park. She wondered what Council would like to see for next steps. She would love to connect with the Rotary at the end of the summer to determine if we are ready to open this up to everyone next year. Mayor Grant said if groups are adopting the parks, the Council should weigh in and be really official. Councilmember Rousseau asked if there should be a resolution adopting this. Councilmember Holden said we need to see what the scope is of the adoption. She wondered how much of this will add continual work to Public Works. Mayor Grant said there should be a standard to-do list, when a group wants to adopt a park. Councilmember Rousseau said that's why we're limiting it to one right now. The Park Manager position can come in and take over that program. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — FEBRUARY 10, 2025 17 ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the City Council Work Session at 6:55 p.m. Je ifer Estling David Grant Deputy Clerk Mayor