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Arden Hills Service Directory 1245 West Highway 96 Arden Hills, MN 55112-5734 Summer Office Hours Monday through Thursday 7:30 a.m.--5:00 p.m. Friday 7:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. 651-792-7800 www.cityofardenhills.org Sheriff and Fire Emergency 911 Sheriff (non-emergency) 651-767-0640 Fire (non-emergency) 651-481-7024 Water and Sewer Problems (During non-business hours) 651-767-0640 Mayor: David Grant 651-538-0747 dgrant@cityofardenhills.org Councilmembers: Brenda Holden 651-636-2987 bholden@cityofardenhills.org Fran Holmes 651-631-1866 fholmes@cityofardenhills.org Dave McClung 651-332-0352 davemcclung@comcast.net Ed Werner 651-636-2547 ewerner@cityofardenhills.org City Administrator: Patrick Klaers 651-792-7810 pklaers@cityofardenhills.org Communications Committee Kristine Goodrich, editor; Susan Cathey, Tina Kulzer Council Liaison: David Grant Staff Liaison: Amy Dietl Desktop Publisher: Mary Nosek Council meetings are held at City Hall on the second and last Monday of the month at 7 p.m. Meetings are televised live on Cable Channel 16. Meetings of the Planning Commission are televised live at 7 p.m. on the first Wednesday of the month. Visit www.cityofardenhills. org for information about taped meet- ing playbacks. Arden Hills Notes is the official news- letter of the City of Arden Hills, an equal-opportunity employer. 2 by Tina Kulzer Around the Town In a new series for Arden Hills Notes, we are going to take a closer look at the 14 parks within the City of Arden Hills. Year after year, feedback provided by residents of Arden Hills reflects that the quality and accessibility of parks and other green spaces consistently rank very high as contributors to quality of life in the City. In this series, we hope to provide a closer look at the history of park acquisition and development, il- lustrate the long history of com- munity involvement and support in the development of the park system, and highlight the unique amenities offered at each park today. A bit of history City Council minutes from the years fol- lowing the City’s incorporation in 1951 reflect a strong concern for creating parks and play areas within the City. At that time, a Public Welfare Committee was responsible for advising the City Council on parks and recreation business matters. Official Parks and Recreation Committee members were not recorded until 1968. At this point in the City’s history, this committee was truly a working committee: planting trees, flowers, and plants; laying sod; grading park sites; and building play equipment and park shelters. A period of growth The development of the City’s parks gained momentum and reached its peak in the 1970’s for several reasons. First, the recreation department of the Mounds View Public Schools—which at that time held the responsibility for providing year-round leisure activities and services for residents and families—underwent a reorganization which placed responsibility for parks and recreation programming onto municipalities. A municipal Parks and Recreation Department was created in Arden Hills in 1973. Although the City and the Mounds View Public Schools operated in cooperation under a Joint Powers Agreement (in which municipalities were given priority for use of school facilities, buildings, and grounds for recreation programming), the need for City-owned park facilities in which leisure-time programs and services could be provided became more urgent. Secondly, as the United States entered a period of economic inflation in the 1970s, the expectation was that Arden Hills families were going to be traveling less for leisure and looking within the City for leisure-time activities and services. The City’s first full-time Parks Director was hired in 1972 to spearhead park development and improvement ef- forts going forth. Arden Hills also experienced its greatest period of growth from 1970-1979, building 1,065 housing units during this time. As a result, park system improvement efforts were Let’s get to know our parks! continued on page 3