December 1977 - Laserfiche WebLink

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County Road E for their catering to the handicapped of Arden Hills. It is a rare pleasure to encounter while shopping with my daughter Allison, who is in a wheelchair, handicapped parking close to the store's entrance and a ramp from the parking lot to the sidewalk. To , the average person these two items may be insignificant, but to Allison and me they make the difference between a positive experience and one of difficulty for both of us, especialLS'r in the winter time. Wheelchairs seem to have a mind of their own while trying to negotiate the snow. May other concerned businesses in Arden Hills make this a better place to live." P. - Charlotte McNeish, our Clerk -Administrator, pointed out to me that our Village Hall � also now has handicapped parking and a ramp to the building. Somehow the St. Paul Book and , Stationery sounds like more fun though, especially with a child in torr. From the Minutes of Regular Council Meeting, October 31, 1977= "Mayor Crepeau sub- mitted a check in the amount of $5.00 from Eugene Vorpahl to reimburse the City for postage ' for the Town Crier which he requests to be mailed to him at his California address. Council authorized the mailing of the Town Crier to Mr. Vorpahl for*the ensuing year." Editor's notes 4ell, bow about that; Somebody really cares about Arden Hills. j Eugene Vorpahl (whoever ,you are), I love you: I The Special Planning Commission meeting on October 18 was truly unusual. Is the first place, it was held in the lunchroom of the Public Works Building which was obviously rot decorated for the Stadium Site Selection Committee. There were barely enough fvldlag-ehairs to go around and the surroundings were less than luxurious. However, the very small room did seem to lend itself to a more informal, let -your -hair down type of discussion than can be held in the more elegant Council Chambers. The main item of business was to be a general discussion of "downtown Arden Hills". I went to this meeting so that I could tell you all just what the Planning Commission had in mind for this business area along County Road E; I was quite surprised to find that the Planning Commission didn't have anything in mind -- yet. The meeting opened with, "Nell, , what does anybody think should be done here?" The six Commission members present stumbled around f or a while, throwing out random ideas until Maury Johnson summed up the concerns of the area into the following lists traf- fic, visual impact, retail access, and safety. Apparently the County thinks that E can handle up to 20,000 oars per day the way things stand now. (Wo wondered if that included the two-lane bridge over Highway 51. The rest of County Road E is four -lane.) Right now, city ordinance requires a 50' setback from the road for all businesses, with 20' of this , as green area. Whatever is done has to be done in conjunction with Ramsey County because it is a County road. Visual impact also includes signs. The Commissioners, after only an hour, came to a general agreement that regularly , planted trees illuminated with some sort of indirect lighting (& la Palm Springs) would be lovely. They thoueht maybe evergreens instead of palm trees though. As a result of this meeting, the City Council has commissioned Orlyn Miller (our City Planner) to do a proposed site plan for Downtown Arden Hills. Editor's notes One of my kids wondered just what difference it makes what downtown Arden Hills looks like. I told him it is a matter of Civic Pride, and that the Planning Commission really cares about what our town looks like, both for ourselves and for outsiders The feeling of the Planning Commission was that most of the businesses along E want to look sharp too. A good image undoubtedly helps business. At any rate, we've made a start. Arden dills received two cash gifts this month, much to everyone's surprise and delight, i One was t200 from the Minnesota Baptist Conference; the other was $150 from tha Arden Hills' Community Service Club.' This last amount was directed for site improvement at Floral Park, and John Buckley says it will probably go for playground equipment. It's really neat to get these unexpected presents; makes you think Arden dills must be doing something right. '