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Home My WebLink About07-07-25 JDAJoint Development Authority Work Session Monday, July 7, 2025 Arden Hills City Council Chambers Minutes 5:30 pm Roll Call Joint Development Authority: Chair Jon Wicklund, Commissioner Tara Jebens-Singh, Commissioner Kurt Weber, Commissioner Mary Jo McGuire, Commissioner Tena Monson Also present: Jessica Jagoe (Arden Hills); Ella Mitchell (Ramsey County), Rachel Tierney (Kennedy & Graven) Roll call taken. Public Input None. New Business a. Review Communications Update Director Mitchell stated in May, Goff Public worked with Ramsey County and the City of Arden Hills on additional inquiries from Star Tribune reporter Matt McKinney for his article about the Outlot A groundbreaking and sustainable design guidelines, which ran on May 10: Green, but not green enough? First building at former TCAAP site misses efficiency targets. Goff Public also worked with project staff to issue a special update to the Rice Creek Commons newsletter list on May 7: Construction underway on first development at Rice Creek Commons. Also in May, the American Institute of Architects Minnesota published an article in the annual ENTER magazine focused on carbon-neutral development at both Rice Creek Commons and the Heights: New Developments in Carbon Neutrality in Minnesota. Director Mitchell explained in June, Goff Public worked with JDA Chair Wicklund, Ramsey County and the City of Arden Hills on a statement about the outcome of the June 25 special JDA meeting regarding the request by Alatus for an extension to the preliminary development agreement. Star Tribune reporter Matt McKinney covered the meeting and decision by the JDA to take no action on the request: Rice Creek Commons board to part with TCAAP site developer citing sluggish pace. The next quarterly Rice Creek Commons newsletter is currently planned for August. There have been nine recent inquiries through the Rice Creek Commons microsite contact portal regarding housing, sustainability, wildlife, and requests for more information about the project. Staff responded to each inquiry directly. Commissioner McGuire thanked staff for their efforts to let the public know what’s going on. Chair Wicklund requested staff provide him with information on how many people are visiting the Rice Creek Commons website. Director Mitchell stated she would pass this information along to the JDA members. b. Review of Prior JDA Development Solicitation Processes Director Mitchell stated the JDA has undertaken two solicitation processes for development partners in the past. The primary documents for these two solicitation processes were presented to the JDA in detail for review and discussion. Commissioner Jebens-Singh questioned who did the evaluating of the proposals. Director Mitchell explained an evaluation subcommittee was formed to complete this task for both solicitation processes. Chair Wicklund stated back in 2016, the City Council was finalizing the TRC as a developer was being selected which allowed for conversations with the developer as the code was being finalized. Commissioner Jebens-Singh commented on the differences between the 2016 and 2023 solicitation processes. She asked what drove the differences. Director Mitchell stated she does not have a really great answer for this, noting she was not part of the 2016 process. She commented on how the scope of the project changes from 2016 to 2023. Commissioner McGuire questioned how many proposals the County received for each solicitation process. Director Mitchell stated the County received four proposals in 2016 and in 2023 the County received six. Commissioner Monson asked why the feedback on the proposals was submitted anonymously in 2023. Director Mitchell indicated she thought this was done at the advice of one of the attorneys. Commissioner Monson commented she would like to avoid an anonymous feedback process. She believed this process was incredibly limiting and she received a great deal of feedback from the public about the approval process because the JDA relied heavily on staff for recommendations. Commissioner Jebens-Singh supported holding the negotiations in a closed session in order to protect conversations and matters that are discussed. Attorney Tierney stated this was a complicated instance because the County owns the property and the JDA was not directly negotiating the sale of the land. She was uncertain that a closed session for the JDA would be necessary. Commissioner Jebens-Singh questioned if there were any common themes as to the barriers, concerns or questions to completing the vision for this project. Director Mitchell explained this was something she could explore and bring back to the JDA. Chair Wicklund stated this was a great question for the JDA to consider. Commissioner McGuire indicated she was sympathetic to both sides of the anonymous feedback process given how these were public meetings. She explained she would like to see a copy of the scoring rubric. Staff provided further information regarding the rubric that was followed in 2023 for the evaluation process. Commissioner Monson asked if the JDA would have a discussion on the want or need for a master developer. She indicated she wanted to learn more about the developer landscape and if a master developer was possible for this project. She stated the financing, mass grading and strategy of this project may have to be further considered. Chair Wicklund believed this would be an important conversation for the JDA to have. He explained he would not be in attendance at the August 4 JDA meeting. It was noted the September JDA meeting would be moved to Tuesday, September 9. Commissioner Weber stated whatever has changed in the development culture from 2016 and 2023 would have to be considered by the JDA. Chair Wicklund stated the TRC may have to be reviewed. Commissioner McGuire stated it was difficult to be back at square one, but it was also exciting to be able to begin this process anew. She hoped the JDA would not be limited in its thinking going forward, but rather that the group would be creative in order to move this development forward. Commissioner Jebens-Singh stated the JDA would have to consider what it knows now that could be built on and what course adjustments could be made. She indicated there may be new technologies or adjustments in the way developers were operating. She commented on how sound judgement has to be used in order to find a path forward for this development. Chair Wicklund suggested the Commissioners write down their thoughts and suggestions for improvements on the evaluation process and pass this information along to staff. c. Review Road Map Director Mitchell reviewed the Road Map with the JDA. Commissioner Monson stated it appears the community event planned for September would not be held. Director Mitchell indicated this event could be further discussed by the JDA in August. Commissioner Monson supported staff proposing an event in order to give the JDA something to react to. She believed now would be a great time to provide the public with an update. Commissioner Jebens-Singh requested staff investigate how changes at the federal level would impact the green energy initiatives for the Rice Creek Commons development. Chair Wicklund recommended staff begin entering 2026 meeting dates. Administrative Director’s Report Director Mitchell provided the JDA with an update on the spine road design plans. Commissioner Monson asked if staff an update on district energy. Director Mitchell reported the County was planning to use a portion of the geothermal planning grant to do an early district energy study in order to align with the spine road design plans. Commissioner Weber asked if staff had an update on the NGIA grant application process. Director Mitchell explained a letter of support was submitted and this grant was not quite at the application process, but was at a site selection process. Development Director’s Report Director Jagoe stated she had no update for the JDA. Commissioner Updates Commissioner McGuire encouraged staff to meet with Peter Lindstrom with the Met Council. Commissioner Weber stated he appreciated the discussion that was held at this meeting and he looked forward to the August 4 JDA meeting. Commissioner Monson asked if staff had an update on Building 116. Director Mitchell stated she would bring information back on this building for the August meeting. Chair Wicklund recommended Building 116 be added to the solicitation process because this was an issue that had to be solved. Commissioner Jebens-Singh explained she visited The Heights earlier today and stated she was inspired by the sustainability guidelines that were followed for this development. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 6:46 pm. Approved _____________________________________ _______________________ Jon Wicklund, Chair Date 9/9/25