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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-22-26-WSApproved: July 27, 2026 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION JUNE 22, 2026 5:00 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Grant called to order the City Council Work Session at 5:30 p.m. Present: Mayor David Grant; Councilmembers Tena Monson, Emily Rousseau, Kurt Weber and Brenda Holden Absent: None Also present: City Administrator Jessica Jagoe, Public Works Director/City Engineer David Swearingen, Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Julie Hanson and Community Development Director Jake Reilly 1. PUBLIC INQUIRIES/INFORMATIONAL None. 2. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC INQUIRIES None. 3. AGENDA ITEMS A. Rice Creek Boulevard Discussion Mike Kirsch of Kimley-Horn said the presentation will recap previous presentations on lighting and landscaping and he'll provide a general project update and overview. The City and County are working on a draft cooperative agreement. The draft is included in the agenda packet. The 2026 bid package will bid over the summer for advance work on the site, including soil correction for the bridge, utility work and other environmental compliance items. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 22, 2026 2 Mr. Kirsch said the multi -use trail width and street lighting amendments will have the public hearing at the regular Council Meeting following this work session. There are changes in pavement section which will include more concrete pavement in heavy traffic use sections. The booster station for the City watermain is in design. The County and the Army have a memorandum of understanding signed by both parties. They are working on a contract for their consultant to do the analysis and design of that system. Mr. Kirsch highlighted the typical section for the roadway. They are working with the private utilities to consolidate the locations of the utility conduits. Mr. Kirsch said with a summer bid opening, there should be advance work happening on the site by September or October to continue through the fall and winter. The full construction bid opening will take place in spring of 2027 with work beginning early in the 2027 construction season. They are seeking feedback regarding landscaping and lighting scopes. The JDA will have that conversation in July. Mr. Kirsch said the cooperative agreement has been reviewed by the city and county attorneys. It will be presented to the JDA on July 6 and will advance for Council approval on July 13. The cost participation for the City is zero. John Mazzitello, Deputy Director of Public Works for Ramsey County said the cooperative agreement is 95% complete. There are a couple of issues that need to be negotiated. We avoided assessments levied for City utilities under the private property. That will be recouped through land sale. Mayor Grant said he read that if the County doesn't recoup enough money to pay for the improvements, would it become a 429. Mr. Mazzitello confirmed. He isn't well versed in that area. The attorneys have been discussing using Statute 429 Assessments as a coverall for the County, should the land sale not recoup the entire amount. Mayor Grant asked if that was one of the items remaining to be negotiated. Mr. Mazzitello said no. The remaining items are regarding when assets will transfer from County ownership to City ownership and maintenance responsibilities. The attorneys have already settled on the Statute 429 language. Discussion ensued on what is still being negotiated. The ultimate owner will be the City of certain improvements within the agreement, the question remains when that will happen after construction is complete. Councilmember Rousseau asked if the water tower is a City responsibility. City Administrator Jagoe said the water tower will not be associated with the cooperative agreement for Rice Creek Boulevard. There will be a separate cooperative agreement that speaks to fees, water tower and other improvements that will be part of the Rice Creek Commons project. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 22, 2026 3 Mr. Mazzitello said the booster station and the two off -site water mains are part of this cooperative agreement and the County is paying 100% of those costs. Councilmember Weber understands that the County is going to install the pedestrian lighting and the City will maintain it. He wonders if the plan is to install conduit right away but not the pedestrian lighting. Will JDA make that determination? Mr. Mazzitello said the recommendation is to put the conduit in for future installation. They are open to JDA direction. Councilmember Weber asked if it would be cheaper to do the lights now Mr. Kirsch said it would be more efficient to the lights now if there were a level of confidence that they wouldn't be impacted. You want the final landscaping, amenities and pedestrian lighting to be cohesive with the development. This can be affected by how buildings close to the roadway are lit. We won't have that information, building the roadway ahead of development. Councilmember Weber said there is an initial charge and a monthly rate the City will pay to Xcel to maintain the street lights. He wonders how that works with the County doing the install. Public Works Director/City Engineer said he will start that conversation to determine what the cost splits are. The City will still be responsible for the monthly maintenance fee. He will look into how the construction and installation costs are structured and will bring that information to Council. Mayor Grant asked if the attorneys are concerning themselves with how the City gets its planning costs back in Phase 1. City Administrator Jagoe said the planning area fees are part of the negotiation that the City and the County are still discussing as part of the larger cooperative agreement. That will be a future Council work session topic. Mayor Grant asked if the phasing will be done by whoever purchases the land. City Administrator Jagoe said phasing will be done by the developer or developers selected through the RFP process by the JDA. The County, as the land owner, will negotiate the purchase and sale agreement. Mayor Grant said the County determines the phasing based upon the land they sell. City Administrator Jagoe said no. The RFP will go through the JDA. The JDA will select the developer or developers based off of the future solicitation process. Councilmember Monson has questions about the vertical development. This discussion is just for the road. The City had minimal risk with bonding and having it covered by 429 assessments. However, the County is covering the cost and utilities. That is fantastic for the City. She is very appreciative. She stated the 75t' Anniversary is going to have a booth where residents can find out what's happening with Rice Creek Commons. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 22, 2026 4 Councilmember Holden said this year includes soil correction, water/sewer connections, trees and fencing for endangered species. She appreciates that the county stepped in. We could have done this years ago. There was never going to be a cost to the City because we are going to recoup our money and the County had promised a 429. To her, we're still in the same place we were years ago. Now the County has all of this money. At least now the taxpayer money is being used instead of sitting there. Mayor Grant said this is similar to Outlot A. He asked when the Council will be brought into this cooperative agreement discussion. City Administrator Jagoe said July 6 is the JDA meeting. They will see the draft cooperative agreement for Rice Creek Boulevard that is in Council's agenda packet this evening. She is unsure of the timeline for the larger cooperative agreement that will speak to the other fees discussed earlier. Councilmember Holden asked if she could get a copy of the outline. City Administrator Jagoe said it's just an informal outline that Staff put together that includes the topics we want to go through with the County. She can share it with Council, but stated this is just what the Directors have put together to try and make sure nothing is missed, based off of previous agreements from 2018. Mr. Kirsch moved to the proposed landscaping topic. He outlined how boulevards and roundabout will be planted with native seeds. Councilmember Holden asked if the City is liable for the trees. Mr. Mazzitello said after the 2-year warranty period has expired. He has received the specifications for the warranties for landscaping from City Staff. Councilmember Holden asked when the trees will be installed. Will it depend on when things are constructed? Mr. Kirsch said the proposed recommendation is to have a separate package later. It may depend on how the development is phased. It would make sense to wait for adjacent land to be graded and developed before that package. It could be one landscape package, or it could be multiple. Mr. Mazzitello added that the County has very specific policies about how their right-of-way (ROW) are landscaped. If it is the JDA's desire to fully landscape the ROW, the County is designing it in such a way that future installations of conduit and utility connections will cause minimal disruptions. Councilmember Holden said it was always the norm to plant similar trees together for ease of maintenance. Now we have diseases taking certain species of trees. Is this plan diverse? Mr. Mazzitello said the policy states that anything planted in a ROW needs to be native or native cultivar. No block gets planted with the same species ratio. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 22, 2026 5 Discussion ensued that nothing is set in stone and Council is being asked to give feedback. The information was from 2015. They are seeking feedback on the general plan. There is no need to drill down to a specific finish today. Further discussion ensued regarding irrigation on the medians and ROW. There is conduit to the medians to install irrigation in the future. Mayor Grant asked what the overall grading plan for 2027 is. Mr. Mazzitello said the bid package release is anticipated in January 2027 to begin construction in April. That bid package includes site preparation and grading across the entire site and installation of Rice Creek Boulevard at its proposed design elevation. Mayor Grant asked for an estimate for 2027 costs. Mr. Mazzitello said we are between $60-$65 million. There are variables that we don't have answers to yet but it should fall into that window. Discussion ensued distinguishing between mass grading vs. building pad ready site grading. There will be no correction of the private sites for future development. They are pushing the earth to get to the right elevation to put the road in. Mayor Grant asked if dirt will be trucked across Rice Creek Boulevard after it's been built. Mr. Mazzitello said the phasing plan that is being developed has the bulk of the earth moving will be done first. The site preparation grading will be graded within +/- 4 inches of the anticipated final grade of the development on both sides of the road. Councilmember Holden said there has been previous discussion about limiting trees near the storm water pond. There were concerns about trees blocking the view of the storm water pond, which is a water feature for the entire area. Councilmember Monson asked what level of details Staff is looking for. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said if Council would like to see any landscape enhancements above what is proposed, he would recommend having a vision exercise of what it can look like through a landscape architect. City Administrator Jagoe said the 2015 preliminary design report is Attachment E in the packet. We are looking for Council to give feedback on the base amenities and the enhanced elements outlined in Attachment E. Councilmember Weber asked if there is an Arden Hills identifier planned for the railing of the bridge. City Administrator Jagoe said the JDA reviewed the addition of one logo on the railing. The enhanced exhibits discuss entry monuments or gateway signage and options for a logo on the bridge. Those are the kinds of enhanced items Staff are seeking feedback on. Councilmember Weber asked if enhanced means it is the City's responsibility. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 22, 2026 6 City Administrator Jagoe said that needs more discussion. Mr. Mazzitello said the current package, which isn't final, outlines one logo on the bridge. However, Ramsey County discussed it internally and said it may be better to wait until later, if we want a Ramsey County logo on there, as well. That would open the discussion about if we want to wait to place both logos and design the railing appropriately to hang those at a future date. Councilmember Weber said having a logo inlaid, into the concrete would be nice. Mr. Mazzitello said that is not in the current plans, but this is not the final plan yet. Councilmember Rousseau said she likes the direction. Irrigation in the round about would be great. She asked if we can do trail signs to help users determine their way. Mr. Mazzitello said the two trails on either side of Rice Creek Boulevard and the Regional Trail, along the eastern property line will have an interpretive sign and will link up with the rest of the Regional Trail network. He thinks signage along Rice Creek Boulevard to show the connection to the Regional Rails may be appropriate. Councilmember Holden asked about trees with plowing and salt. This will be a very busy road. She also wondered how traffic on Highway 96 will be regulated. Mr. Mazzitello said Rice Creek Boulevard and 96 will be a signalized intersection. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said the City's street tree list will be used to select the species along the roadway. Those include salt -tolerant trees. Mr. Mazzitello added the City's list is compatible with the County's policy. Councilmember Monson thought it would be good to include historic monuments that highlight TCAAP. She would like there to be a historical component, whether that's signs or the civic center space. It would be nice to include a sculpture from a local artist, as well. She thought those may be discussions for the JDA. Mayor Grant asked if the civic center will be part of the discussion. City Administrator Jagoe confirmed that is on the topic list for the cooperative agreement. Mayor Grant said starting from seed can be tough. He suggested the soil be properly analyzed and prepped. Councilmember Holden said there was going to be a small pavilion or something that would have the history. That was in the TRC. Councilmember Rousseau said an art walk is fun. There can be spacing challenges with the trees. If we were going to do a historical walk, she would love to highlight the indigenous people. Arden Hills history tends to start with a millionaire's hobby farm when in actuality we were part of Mounds View Township and that was named after the mounds that were here. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 22, 2026 7 Mr. Mazzitello said as these items get vetted and discussed between Council and the JDA, we need to determine what will go in this bid package and what will go in a subsequent RFP or secondary bid package. Councilmember Holden agreed with including the Native American history. We did have big encampments on Lake Johanna. She suggested inspirational quotes in the cement of the sidewalks. Mayor Grant said we need to know what is in the cooperative agreement and what's on the list to still be discussed. Councilmember Weber said there isn't a lot of concrete sidewalk on this project but he liked Councilmember Holden's idea. One thing that he has seen becoming prevalent is a stencil, applied with hydrophobic spray. When it rains, the message shows up. Councilmember Holden said there have been discussion about where Rice Creek Boulevard goes over a water feature. She asked for more information. Mr. Kirsch said that will have an exposed aggregate, similar to the culverts on 35. Mr. Mazzitello said they were trying to match other area architectures. If there is something else that the City or the JDA would like to see, they are open to new ideas. Councilmember Holden said it was never finalized what would go around the water feature. She wants to make sure whatever goes in, melts into the water feature. Discussion ensued about the transition from an urban look at town center to the more natural approach as it gets closer to the creek. Councilmember Holden asked how far apart the seating nodes are. We don't have enough benches in a lot of places in the City. Mr. Kirsch said they haven't proposed specific spacing for those but they will be off the back of the trails. We can propose them at whatever distance we want. Councilmember Weber asked if there will be lighted fixtures for crossings. Mr. Mazzitello said it's not off the table but he would want to see what the development intensities of the properties look like. Mayor Grant asked how we make Rice Creek Boulevard look planned and cohesive with the rest of the development. Mr. Mazzitello said that is above what public works is doing with this project. He suggested that is a question for CED and the JDA. Discussion ensued regarding east and west crossings on this road. There are crossings at every intersection. In addition to the three round abouts there is a crossing at town center and another to the north. There will also be a crossing at 96. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 22, 2026 8 City Administrator Jagoe said the 2015 preliminary design had the seating nodes are approximately a half mile spacing. She said the enhanced design elements in the preliminary design were in place before the previous developer was brought on. Some of these corridors should still align with how we anticipated these areas would be built out. The JDA will still have some visioning on the southwest corner where the zoning changed in 2024. Councilmember Monson asked if the change from commercial to residential at the southwest corner changes anything on the road for landscaping. Mr. Mazzitello said he didn't think it will alter the landscaping for Rice Creek Boulevard at Highway 96. Councilmember Monson asked if there were different landscape designs along Rice Creek Boulevard that differ based on the neighboring use. Mr. Kirsch confirmed. It will be more natural the closer you get to the creek. Councilmember Monson just wanted consideration of that to be noted since the southwest corner will be residential now. If there is a landscape design for residential, it should be pulled into that location. Councilmember Holden said she can't tell from the mock-up. The plan looks like there is so much vegetation there. Safety is a big issue. We don't need solid things between the lake and the road. She wondered how good the landscaping in the median is. Mr. Mazzitello said as a general rule, trees aren't planted in the medians anymore. They either don't survive, or they make it and their roots crack the pavement. They can propose lower rising shrubs so there won't be large root structures but can still provide headlight shine filtering. Councilmember Holden asked who would maintain it. Mr. Mazzitello said landscape maintenance is one of the things in the cooperative agreement that will eventually be handed to the City. Councilmember Holden said knowing that, she wants to see something simple there. She wants it to look nice. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said it will mirror what we do on 96. Councilmember Monson asked if there are any other changes to this 2015 document that Staff would like Council to consider. Mr. Kirsch said he thinks they got the feedback they were looking for. The biggest feedback was alignment on timing. A landscape package, after the fact, may align better with the timing of development. We want to meet the City's full vision and this doesn't need to be in the 2027 bid package. Councilmember Monson said if the landscaping conversation doesn't need to be decided for another year, she would recommend discussing lighting tonight. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 22, 2026 9 Councilmember Weber said this Council needs to agree whether or not the City wants to include landscaping as part of the 2027 bid. He thinks we do. The JDA members will ultimately enforce that through this design process. Councilmember Monson said she heard that we don't want to install landscaping while everything is being constructed. She's fine with that. Councilmember Holden said we need to give direction so they know how to plan the spine road. Mr. Mazzitello asked if there is a minimal planting that should be included with this package. That can be enhanced by the developers as they come. He believes there should be minimal spacing identified for trees in the boulevards. We can wild seed mix under the trees. They will do whatever the JDA wants, but we need to figure out what the minimal level of landscaping is. Councilmember Holden thinks putting just a couple of trees is like putting lipstick on a pig. They will be moving dirt from east to west. The County is paying for the trees so what gets hurt, gets hurt. If you're doing it in an area where the south gets developed first, you do the south. She wouldn't do it the entire length of road. Mr. Mazzitello said we are designing this cross section for the development to have minimal intrusion to Rice Creek Boulevard itself. How the utilities are placed and how we're stubbing everything out for the developers and the City infrastructure to connect into. He doesn't anticipate Rice Creek Boulevard being grossly disturbed. It is being designed to have the capability to withstand the development truck traffic. Discussion ensued regarding the grading that will be required. The site is pretty much in balance. There are areas to be filled and areas to be cut. Further discussion ensued on if the landscaping on the boulevard helps facilitate sales. Mayor Grant would need recommendations from a realtor organization to learn if the trees add the benefit of making it more marketable. Councilmember Monson agrees. If Staff recommends minimal planting for marketing, she is open to that. If it doesn't really matter, she thinks it's okay to wait. Councilmember Rousseau would like to wait until we are closer to the final landscaping. She would hate to see a lot of trees not survive. She would defer to an expert on the subject matter. The consensus was that Council will go with the recommendations from Staff to make it marketable. Outside of that, landscaping can wait for a later bid package. Mr. Kirsch said there was a request to look at lighting using the proposed code amendment, looking at different spacing. The code amendment references the MnDOT lighting design guide. That provides for different types of corridors. Street lighting is designed with both the level of lighting and the uniformity in mind. To achieve consistency in the illumination, you have to reduce the wattage of the light and put in more lights. The recommendation is to continue using the intermediate standard for light spacing and install conduit for the pedestrian lighting which will be discussed when landscaping decisions are being made. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 22, 2026 10 Councilmember Holden said it's split into residential and commercial. The creek wasn't at grade with the rest of the property. If that's going to be residential now, is that grade with the rest of the property. Are we going to install more lights? Mr. Kirsch said the recommendation is to utilize the intermediate standard, with the standard Xcel poles. When you get closer to town center there will be denser lighting. Meaning more poles, to provide intersection lighting. Discussion ensued regarding the number of feet in the old TRC and how they will be spaced now. There is a standard lighting for the type of zoning. To achieve that light rating, they will either increase or decrease the number of lights or wattage so there is a uniform light quality. We need to meet a lighting standard, not a spacing standard. Discussion ensued regarding spacing of pedestrian lighting. When utilizing the Xcel lighting palette we are limited on what can be done. A more decorative style of lighting gives the ability to meet the illumination standards and utilize lights as an aesthetic element. Councilmember Holden remembers a conversation that the entry ways would be more of a gateway which might have more sophisticated or decorative lighting. She hopes the JDA will discuss that. Mayor Grant said this proposal is to county standards. He thinks Rice Creek Commons should be better than a County Road standard. He wants the poles closer together. Maybe it's softer lighting. In a stretch of road a little longer than a mile, that wouldn't be a lot of extra poles. Decorative lighting enhances the visual appeal and can increase property values. He hopes the JDA will want something a little more special than county standards, especially at the entry ways. Councilmember Monson asked what the intersection lighting at 96 and Rice Creek Boulevard is. Mr. Kirsch said the signal mast arm will house the lighting. Each of the four quadrants will have a lit mast arm. Councilmember Monson summarized that it's more lit because it is an intersection. There will be a gateway sign or monument when you enter and then lighting would be spaced based on MnDOT safety requirements. She asked what could be done to make it look nicer. Mr. Kirsch said in order to use lighting as an aesthetic element, you change the look of the light pole and the look of the light. We are bound by what Xcel has available. The portions of the lighting that look different is a transition to custom light poles. The City will have to maintain an inventory of those poles and fixtures to maintain those portions. Councilmember Monson said more light doesn't equal improved aesthetics. We can improve aesthetics with lit monuments or lit ground lighting. She asked if those types of things could be included in the bid package. Mr. Mazzitello said he would not include that in the bid package in six months. He would leave those aesthetic items for gateway appearances and ornamental lighting for a subsequent bid package that will have the adjacent developers involved. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 22, 2026 11 Councilmember Monson asked Staff if that strategy was agreeable for considering aesthetic lighting and timing. City Administrator Jagoe agrees with those remarks. She said they would also look at the 2015 entry plan for County Road I, County Road H and Highway 96. She agreed it would make sense to exclude those elements from the initial bid package and revisit them with later packages. Councilmember Rousseau likes the idea of doing an aesthetic element by the entrance ways. She doesn't have strong feelings about the other lighting other than making sure the trails are lit for safety. Discussion ensued regarding the lighting available from Xcel. There are two different types of leases. One is a 25-year lease and after that lease, the City is responsible for full replacement and the full cost. The other lease is a lifetime lease. That lifetime lease is only available with certain fixtures. Council previously discussed the types of fixtures and lease options and Council selected the lifetime lease because it calculated out better. Mayor Grant said there should be coordination among the multiple developers on interior street lighting. We don't want three or four different types of street lights. Councilmember Weber said we choose the light that applies across the site. We have control over that. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen said he will bring forth the Arden Hills Design Manual once the TRC amendment is complete. That manual includes the new language before Council tonight. The developers will have to design around the Arden Hills manual. B. Cities For Safe And Stable Communities City Administrator Jagoe said Arden Hills opted to be a member of Cities for Safe and Stable Communities in March. There was the option of being an ally member or a full member. Council gave Staff direction to participate as a full member in Phase 1 of the coalition. The Phase 2 approach was shared at the coalition June meeting. The coalition is looking for commitment from cities that are interested in participating in Phase 2. This phase will include networking, information sharing and will allow the coalition to quickly mobilize, should the need arise. The contract city is Minnetonka and they will continue in that role. The one year membership is $30,000 to be split equally between the participating members. The ally option is no longer available. This is opt in or opt out. Current membership includes 26 cities, including Arden Hills. Phase 1 required that the Mayor was the Council representative. For Phase 2, cities are being asked to select who their Council representative will be. The Staff representative is the City Administrator. She is seeking direction on Arden Hills continuing in the coalition, in Phase 2 and who the representative will be. City Administrator Jagoe said in Phase 1 the mayors were meeting weekly and the administrators and managers were meeting weekly. All meetings were via TEAMS except the June meeting, which was in person. They are saying Phase 2 could be a quarterly commitment with updates being provided between meetings. Again, there is still the possibility of swift mobilization and increased meeting frequency, if there is a need, but this will be a scaled back commitment. Councilmember Weber said he is interested in being the Council Liaison. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 22, 2026 12 Councilmember Rousseau wants to stay in the coalition and supports Councilmember Weber in the liaison role. Councilmember Monson and Councilmember Holden support continuing to be members. Mayor Grant said there are a lot of lengthy emails with a lot of good information. He supports Arden Hills remaining in the coalition but worries about the amount of time required of City Administrator Jagoe. In addition to the meetings and emails there is networking and tracking legislative initiatives. We're a small fish in a large pond. Council agreed to remain a member of the Cities For Safe And Stable Communities and Councilmember Weber will be the Council Liaison. C. Sign Ordinance — Election Signs Community Development Director Reilly said Council requested we discuss election signs related to the zoning code update. Elections signs are defined in state statute as non-commercial signs or opinion signs that do not advertise selling anything. He provided information on what surrounding cities do. The only things we can regulate are time, place and manner of posting signs. The recommended approach for Council to consider includes prohibiting any signage on the right of way (ROW), except for street signs; include easements, sidewalks, trails, etc. as areas prohibited from placement of temporary signs; place limits on the size and number of noncommercial signs outside of election season and include language to address elections that take place outside of the state's general election. The suggested enforcement approach is to continue on a complaint -based approach, require temporary signs in violation of code standards to be removed by the sign/property owner immediately and establish an impoundment mechanism. Councilmember Rousseau asked how many calls City Hall received during the last election cycle to pick up signs. City Administrator Jagoe said that was handled through code enforcement. She doesn't have the exact number. She recalls it being a weekly occurrence, sometimes it was every other day. All code enforcement activities are generated by complaints. Code enforcement was not proactively seeking out violations. Councilmember Rousseau would like to establish criteria where Staff will not go out and spend time chasing signs and measuring six inches. She wants the rules to be clear. Maybe that's six feet from the curb or they aren't allowed in the ROW. Councilmember Weber is firmly against any resolution that prohibits them entirely from the ROW or easements. Some ROW and easements extend into the middle of someone's front yard. He doesn't want to infringe on people's rights to express their political opinions. He does want to reduce the workload on enforcement staff. He wouldn't want to penalize anyone for calling in a complaint but would like to have something in place to deter false reports. Councilmember Holden agrees the ROW isn't the same for every property and shouldn't be used as the measurement. She said she received calls about her own signs and she took a tape measure to make sure her signs were in the proper place. The regulation needs to be easy, for example five feet from the curb. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 22, 2026 13 Councilmember Monson said if we allow them in the ROW, there still needs to be a distance. Is that from the curb? What if there isn't a curb? Is it from where the pavement starts? Discussion ensued that the rules need to be refined to establish where measurement starts to minimize confusion. Further discussion ensued whether signs would be allowed along trails. There are no changes to the rules about ROW and if it was previously prohibited, it still is. Councilmember Monson said she would prefer to have an easy to understand ordinance along with a solid enforcement policy. She would like to see enforcement on safety issues. When would the property owner be notified to move it vs. when would we take the sign? City Administrator Jagoe said if there was a complaint, someone would go measure. Attempts were made to talk to the homeowner. If they weren't there, information was left at the property describing the violation and notifying that we pulled the sign. Some of the time, the candidate placed the sign then the homeowner moved it when they were mowing their yard and shifted the positioning. Councilmember Monson said there needs to be Staff discretion to decide if a complaint is a safety issue or if there may be a game being played. Mayor Grant thinks Staff should establish a policy, not necessarily an ordinance. That policy can be given to candidates who file, or to anyone else who installs political signs. Councilmember Rousseau said she would like there to be some leeway, maybe six inches, then also give Staff the discretion. City Administrator Jagoe said that type of notice was provided during the last election cycle. There was a follow up with all candidates in the middle of the election season, reminding them of the regulations. Councilmember Holden said it is about staging it among other signs, too. If the ordinance is six feet, it should be enforced if a sign is placed any closer than that. Give them the rules. Council recessed the Work Session at 6: 55 pm. Council reconvened the Work Session at 8: 51 pm. Community Development Director Reilly summarized the conversation prior to the recess. Discussion ensued regarding the different types of signs. There needs to be an easy way to measure. Councilmember Weber said the issues isn't how far the signs are placed from the ROW. The City has issues when people start calling enforcement for six inches, when a sign isn't obstructing traffic or sight lines. Councilmember Holden asked if Councilmember Weber is suggesting placement can be anywhere, as long as it's not in a driver's sight line. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 22, 2026 14 Councilmember Weber proposed using the sign as the measurement tool. If it is a one foot sign, it's one foot back. If there is a two foot sign it's two feet back. If you have a five foot sign, it's five feet back. The bigger the sign, the farther back it goes. That seems reasonable, but it is difficult to write effective guidelines around that. Councilmember Monson thinks we make it clear in the code. She thinks we should have a separate policy internally that we won't enforce petty or minute issues when it comes to inches. If it's a safety issue, we can remove it. If there is a complaint, Staff shouldn't be impounding signs. Maybe there is a sticker we can put on the door, instructing them to move the sign. There needs to be clear enforcement that allows for flexibility and staff discretion. Mayor Grant said, Staff needs to write up some policy or guidelines and hand them out to candidates. Candidates are expected to follow those guidelines. Councilmember Holden asked if we are saying the code will remain at six feet, but if there were a complaint and it were at five feet six inches, Staff wouldn't pick it up. So the policy is technically five foot six inches. The County has totally different rules than us and they aren't going to waive their rules for our residents. City Administrator Jagoe said it is correct that we don't enforce the County ROW. She said if we receive a complaint, Staff will have to go and look at the sign placement. She thought, if it is found to be in violation, the staff member can lay the sign down in the yard and tape some literature to the sign. When the homeowner goes to pick up their sign, they will see that literature that explains the reason the sign was pulled and laid down. Staff will come up with some options and bring this item back. Councilmember Rousseau likes that approach. It reduces the risk of the City being blamed for taking signs. She'd also like to see an internal policy where if we're talking about inches, it can just be left as is. Councilmember Holden has a problem with that. What is the threshold for when a sign is taken down? Is it five and a half feet? Everyone will do that, then. City Administrator Jagoe said Staff will address that in the policy. She hears Council saying we want to continue to educate residents but not have to pull and impound signs. Discussion ensued that if a resident has received educational information on two or three occasions and continues to be out of compliance, Staff should have the discretion to take the sign. Staff will brainstorm some solutions for education/enforcement and bring it back for further Council discussion at the fist meeting in July. D. Code of Conduct Not Discussed. E. E1 Use of City Property and E2. Immigration Enforcement Discussion Not Discussed. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION — JUNE 22, 2026 15 F. Rice Creek Commons/TCAAP Discussion Not Discussed. G. Agenda Planning Not Discussed. 4. COUNCIL/STAFF COMMENTS None. ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the City Council Work Session at 9:07 p.m. jr Ij Je stling David Grant Deputy Clerk Mayor