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Published by the Arden Association
No. 116 March - April 1978
"Let us, since life can little more supply
Than just to look about us, and to die,
Expatiate free o'er all this scene of man:
A mighty maze! but not without a plan."
--Alexander Pope, 1688-1744
The Arden Hills Planning Commission has
begun its study of the maze in and around
County Road E, and a couple of good ideas
have surfaced. One main concern is the un-
sightly power lines and power poles that
line the road; these, of course, could be
buried. Another problem is the great var-
iety of signs locating each business. These
could be made less obtrusive if the speed
along E could be reduced. A slower speed
would also allow the signs to remain more
visible to the auto traffic even after the
desired trees and shrubs are planted.
It was also noted that pedestrian traffic must be considered, and perhaps Arden
Hills "possibly could provide for a trail of some sort". (That term "trail"
always makes me uncomfortable. I feel as though I have to jog along the thing
with my bow and arrow at the ready. Couldn't they say "walkway" instead? Some
of us more urban types aren't ready yet for a "trail".) At any rate, our Plan-
ning Commission is on the moveI
Along with the plans for County Road E. Flaherty's is working with the City
trying to figure out what should be done concerning the new addition to the
bowling alley and the associated traffic problems. Right now, Connelly Avenue
goes north off of E, between Flaherty's and MacDonalds, for about a block. At
the end of Connelly, you can turn either right or left, but both directions
dead-end shortly. It is proposed to extend Connelly around the back of Fla-
herty's and have it come out on E again between Flaherty's and the gas station.
Currently the strip of land between the bowling alley and the gas station is
a sewer easement. One suggestion is to make this proposed loop into a one-way
street, but Flaherty's isn't sure this is a particularly good idea. Pat Fla-
herty feels that the problem with County Road E is the speed limit there, which
he thinks is too fast.
In an exclusive interview with Dick Flaherty (actually, we were both at
Wakota Arena watching our kids skate on the Moundsview Junior Varsity hockey
team), he said they hope to start the new addition this spring. They want to
'finish as much as possible over the summer, between the major bowling seasons.
(Moundsview beat the South St. Paul JV 4-2.)
' Had two phone calls this month -from people whose homes bad been robbed.
Apparently there has been quite a rash of burglaries in the Arden Hills -Shore-
view area since Christmas, so be extra careful. The Ramsey County Sheriff's
Office suggests the best protection is for neighbors to keep an eye on each
' mes but that a lar a snarling dog is a nice deterrent also. (Of
'
other's ho , large,
course, our large, snarling dog also kept my aunt away last week too.) Main
items stolen are: calculators, clock -radios, stereos and tape decks, coin '
and stamp collections, portable televisions, and anything else that is easily
resold with no questions asked. One man also had all of his World War II medals
taken! Let's all be extra alert and stop this kind of stuff. ,
Editor's opinion: I think it's really rotten for people who arrive late to '
a large meeting at the Village Hall to park in the handicapped parking spaces
that the rest of us have left open. Somebody did this at the Public Hearing
on February 6; in fact, two somebodies. There was plenty of room over by the ,
Public Works building, but of course that would require a little more walking.
There was no special card in either windshield, so I assume these people were
lazy rather than handicapped. Let's watch it, huh?
Other than that, the Public Hearing on February 6 wasn't neatly as exciti
as I had imagined it would be. The main item up for. discussion was the proposaao
to run City water into the Northwest part of the Village. (See.map`beloN.)
This would just about complete hooking up all of Arden Hills to the municipal
system of St. Paul. There is still undeveloped land in this portion of our
Village, and having water already run in would probably aid in any future growt .
The current guess is that it would cost around $18.20/front foot for residentia
property and S21.70/front foot for commercial. The arsenal is not included
because they have their own water supply, and you can't assess the Federal
Government anyway.
By and large, the 75 or so people in the audience appeared rather neutral ,
on this proposal. There were a few definitely against, a few, definitely for,
but most were merely questioning. I gathered that a person's feelings on the
matter is generally governed by the current state of his well. A straw poll
was taken, and all those in favor of putting in the new water were on the non- '
smoking side of the Council chambers. What this signifies, I have no idea.
Boundaries of
proposed area to
receive water
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The Northwestern Bible College case has finally been settled! The Court
thas decided that the Arden Hills City Council was right (was there really ever
any doubt?) when they denied the Bible College the building permit to erect
a new fine arts center. The Court said that the action of our Council in deny-
ing -this Special Use Permit was "proper and legal in all respects". North-
western has 30 days in which to appeal.
Our other college (Bethel) has now come forth with,a request for a Build-
ing Permit also. However, this one is for additional dormitories,which seems
to present less difficulty -and certainly much less opposition. At the Public
Hearing, a couple of questions came up concerning future enrollment and parking.
Somebody wondered if there would be enough parking available., considering that
Bethel's athletic teams are improving so much that they are beginning,to draw
quite an audience. (Editor's note: Am I wrong or did I detect a note of pride
in this query? I do believe our Planning Commission is proud of Bethel and the
football team.) Anyway, since the games are usually on Saturday, there would
seem to be enough parking.
The Planning Commission then spent 45 minutes trying to word a motion that
would..grant this building permit, but would prevent Bethel from doing anything
else in the future without coming back to Arden: -Hills for permission. What
Bethel has done with their last campus is making everyone here nervous. The
spokesman for Bethel said they dori't.plan on ever leaving this campus, but then
they never thought they'd outgrow the last one either. They have a lot of
students living off -campus; next year they plan to bus in over 600. -
POTPOURRI: Did you know that Arden Hills has nine (9) licensed trash,
haulers? Many of them are for commercial pick-up only, but still, nine seems
many. We sure must have a lot of`trash........... Also learned that all vend-
ing machines in Arden Hills must be licensed and the owner has to pay..a $15.00
yearly fee for the priviledge. The only machines exempt .from the fee are the
milk dispensers, which has something to do with Minnesota being a dairy state.
Do you suppose the cigarette machines are exempt in .Carolina?..... ... Last year
Arden Hills issued 61 Building Permits for new single-family dwellings at a
total valuation of $3,296,025.00. (This works out to a $54,000 average.) We
also permitted 1 new duplex, 18 dwelling additions,.9 new garages, 23 mobile
homes, 8 fences, and one demolition. Larry Squires, Building Inspector, said
the demolition was for a house torn down in Arden Manor........ "Briarknoll" is
the name of Arden Hills' newest development. It's located between Hamline and
North Snelling, just south of the Arden Hills Townhouses, west of Indian Oaks
Trail. (Got all that?) Anyway, it's for 97 single-family lots, and lies within
the map on the preceding page.......
Some idiot stole a heater from the warming house at Valentine Park. I hope
he's good and warm.......The Fire Station on Hodgson Road needs to be hooked up
to City water because its well has become inadequate. A problem arises when you
consider that the fire station is located in North Oaks, the water line comes
from Shoreview, and that the Fire Department also serves Arden Hills. The at-
torneys are trying to figure out how much each City should pay for the hook-up.
........A petition was submitted to our Council asking for more lighting at the
'Hamline-Snelling-Highway 51 intersection. The Council agreed to authorize the
installation of two break -away lights there. It was noted however that this is
only a stop -gap measure; we're still looking for a permanent solution to the
'problems there. (Apparently a break -away light in traffic jargon is something
like a tear -away jersey in football. If you attack it, it won't fight back.)...
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Since the Town Crier is funded for only 10 issues a year, this copy must
serve for two months. Your next issue will arrive sometime in early May (we
hope!). So here are the meeting dates for the next two months. It's always a
good idea to verify with the Village Hall before you come though.(633-5676)•
All of these meetings start at 7:30 p.m., with the exception of the Parks and
Recreation people who don't assemble until 8:00 p.m.
MARCH -APRIL -MAY CALENDAR
March 8
Rice Creek Watershed
April 10
City Council
9
Finance
11
Parks & Recreation
13
City Council
12
Rice Creek Watershed
14
Parks & Recreation
13
Finance
15
Public Works
19
Public Works
22
Rice Creek Watershed
24
City Council
23
Hunter's Park Landscape
26
Rice Creek Watershed
27
City Council
May 1
Public Safety
April 3
Public Safety
3
Planning Commission
5
Planning Commission
4
Human Rights
6
Human Rights
The Arden Association is a non-profit organization existing for the purpo
of .informing residents of Arden Hill of Village activities and business. The
Town Crier expresses opinions of the editor on these matters and attempts to
make its contents informative and interesting. Readers' comments on anything '
is encouraged. Deadline for the next issue: April 14.
Secretary -Editor: Diane McAllister 484-0773
1200 Ingerson Road 55112