HomeMy WebLinkAboutAugust 1978Published by the Arden Association
No. 119 August 1978 -
Flood: a great flowing or overflowing of, wat4w
especially over land not usually
submerged.
---The American College Dictionary
Of course the main topic of conversation in
Arden Hills this past month has been,our excess
CNof water. Normally our lake chain accepts run-
g off water from Shoreview into Lake Josephine.
After going through Josephine, the water exits
I through culverts under Hamline and 'Snelling
Avenues into Lake Johanna. From Johanna;,it goea
E north of Lake Johanna Blvd. where it is stored
in the marsh until finally flowing into Long-z--
Lake.
ong:=Lake.
• • • The biggest problem in July occured at
• • • the Johanna Blvd. crossing .where the culvert..:
• was not large enough to handle the overflow#
The level of Johanna raised from a normal:- 877.5'
to approximately 881.0' and several homes on:
the north shore were sandbagged. After pumps were tried and the water still
remained, Mayor Crepeau and our Public Health Officer, Dr. Ausman, declared
a public health emergency. This enabled Arden Hills to immediately install
an additional outlet to drain the water without over.-tax*ng the area, downstreaur
An open trench was dug through one yard and Johanna Blvd, was closed 'to traffic
while the emergency pipe was installed.
At the July 10 Council meeting, a representative from the Rice Creek
Watershed District praised Mayor Crepeau's action; he said if the Watershed,
had tried to do anything, it would have involved a court order and along -=time
delay. Both the Council and the RCW spokesman expressed concern that"the,,fio'rs,
are five separate agencies regulating water in Arden Hills: the DNR,,Rico
Creek Watershed, Ramsey County, Fisheries and Wildlife, and the Corpsof-rngin-
eers. And no matter what any of them decide, it is the Federal. Agency,. (=Corps
of Engineers) that has the final say.
Rice Creek Watershed does have a plan afoot for improvement projects',4n
their area (which is also our area) and they are holding a public hearing on
this subject. It will be held September 6, 19789 at 8:00 p.m. at MotxndsVievr .
High School. Here's your chance to find out just what's happening.
LOST AND FOUND DEPARTMENT: A pair of prescription sunglasses was found on
County. Road F and Old Highway 10, while a watch was found in one of .our City
parks. You can claim either (or both) by calling the Village Hall (633-5676)
and indenti£ying.
Apparently the Blood Drive in July held at the Village Hall -and spons rod
by the Town House Association was a rousing success. They collected 79 pints
of blood and 30 of the donors were contributing for the very first time.
Several people were unable to give however because they did not meet the mini-
mum weight requirement: 110 pounds. From my 51711 height and 30 pounds over-
weight, I have trouble envisioning anyone that divinely small.
The East Side Beverage Company has received a Building Permit to erect
a warehouse in the Commercial area of Arden.'Hills. The building will be ,
around 559000 sq•• ft, located on over 5 acres of land north of the Soo Line
and 'west of Lexington. East, Side Beverage is a beer distributing company, so
a spur of the railroad can feed right into their warehouse. They have 28
trucks that will then distribute the beverage to the customer '
* e e e * e
ATTENTION VANDALS: Your work has been duly noted at the Mutual Service Con-
struction Site and at Ingerson Park. Come on , guys, this is really stupid.
Parents, could it possibly be Your kids? Most of the damage has occured after
10:00 p.m., so let's all keep an eye peeled. This may be "fun" for the kids, ,
but it sure is expensive to repair.
Discussions are going on about the proposed pedestrian -bicycle trail
along the 50' NSP easement which angles northeast from Cleveland and G►lenpaul,1
crosses Stowe, and runs to County Road E. Of course, people are already using
the land as is, but if we want to improve it, there is a possibility of. get-
ting a 60%-90% funding from the State. The question is: should we go ahead
and apply for a State grant to improve this trail?
Many residents of this area appeared at the July 10 Council meeting, each
with his/her own idea of what should be done. Some want the trail left as is;
some want a nice, paved, 8 foot wide walkway. The recommendation of the Parka
Committee is a 6' meandering path of crushed limestone (which packs down hard),
with some sort.of controlled access to keep out motorized vehicles. There
will also be benches, plantings and some fencing. The biggest concern of the
residents (and of the Council, too) is that an improved trail will encourage
-*otorcycles. It was --argued whether or not strict patrolling for a year or two
would significantly reduce this problem. One lady said that the motorized
vehicles on a trail by her home have been reduced in numbers over the years;
the Council said no amount of patrolling ever cleared up Honda Hills.
The Council finally voted to authorize John Buckley to apply for the grant,
and the residents of the area were invited to work with the Parks Department
in laying out the trail and trying to figure out how to keep the motorcycles 4.
e
�t
HELPI HELP! HELP! Charlotte McNeish, our City Clerk -Administrator
Workers for both of the upcoming elections. Please give her a call
if you can help out. And do register to vote before election day l
are available at the Village Hall, and they will even mail you one
can't come in,
e
e
still needs,
(633-5676)
The forms
if you
For Industrial News this month, we have the fascinating case of the Town
Crier Cake & Steak House trash enclosurel It seems the Special Use Permit
plans show the trash enclosure located next to the building, and the Town Crie
would now prefer to have it away from the building to the north. The Planning
Commission recommended approval of the move. The Council hesitated to disagre
ITwith the PC, but could see no good reason at this time that anything should be
changed from the original plans. Anyway, as of July 10, the Council requested
the Building Code Enforcement Officer to see that the trash enclosure is located
'according to the plan approved under the Special Use Permit. The discussion
on this took nearly half -an -hour at the Council meeting.
Controversy is a-brewin' at the Arden Manor Mobile Home Park also, The
owner promised certain projects would be completely done by June 30, and is
bonded to see that they are, The residents are complaining that many things
are still unfinished and that the owner is very difficult to talk to about it,
A discussion was to have been held at the June 26 Council meeting, but the
owner never showed up, although a dozen or so people from the Park (and mel.)
waited several hours for him,
At the July 10 Council meeting, the owner said that most of the delays in
construction have been caused by the heavy rains and he requested a time ex-
tension until September 30 to finish everything. It was explained that the
Council's concern is completion of Arden Manor as per the Amended Special Use
Permit. Some of the things not finished includes the swimming pool, tennis
courts, equipment for the park, the fence along Highway 96, and final land-
scaping. Several residents have lived in partially sodded lots since last fall,
and with all the rain, the mud is terrible.
Anyway, the Council decided to check the contracts that the owner of the
Park has with the various construction companies (swimming pool, fence, etc,)
to make sure that they were dated to be completed by June 30. If it is truly
not the owner's fault that these things are not done, a time extension will.be
granted. The City is not anxious to take over responsibility for completion
of Arden Manor.
School District 621 has asked Arden Hills for help in providing equip-
ment and manpower to renovate the softball field at Moundsview High School and
the softball field and hockey rink at Johanna Junior High School. Our Parks
Director pointed out to the Council that AH extensively uses the ballfield8
at these two schools, plus the ones at Johanna Flementary and Valentine Hills.
Along with Perry Park, all scheduled ball games are held at these fields, thus
freeing our other parks for neighborhood use,_ The -estimated cost -to thev -1
lage of helping the School District would be $900-$1200.
The Council feels that the City has its mown ma.intainance responsibilities
and that it is the School District's obligation to maintain its own fields,
After all, "do they come and help us plow snow?" Besides, Johanna Junior High
School is in Roseville. The Council voted not to participate in the School
District renovation project.
POTPOURR"T t The opening of the Northwestern National Bank branch on F .has
been delayed approximately a month because of the rai,ns.....Research is be.i g
carried out on cable TV to Arden Hills; more later,,,..,Water installation_for
the northwestern part of our Village has been approved; not gixi.te as extensive
as originally planned, but not quite as narrow as the second plan, Of course
there are still people who will get the water and have to pay for it that don't
want it, and there are a few who want it that won't get it, but this new lay-
out seems to satisfy the majority......
Neighbors at the Hamline Ave, -Floral Drive intersection have appealed to
the Public Safety Committee for help with the traffic on this corner. The
drivers coming up off the freeway are moving pretty fast, and it, makes the en-
trance to Floral Drive rather challenging.,....Public Works plans to make an
addition to their current building. They plan to do the Arden Hills thing,and
disguise it with redwood and shrubs... Misre have ,been 6 breaks in the water main
on County Road E by McGuirets in recent years. The cost of repair to the next -
to -last break was $8000; the cost of this last one is not yet known. It is
thought that soil conditions, material used in the mains and heavy traffic on
E are causing the breaks. The City Engineer is investigating,
Who is responsible for the bales of hay that blew onto County Road E-2
by Valentine Hills during one of our wind storms? One resident nearly hit them.
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Rumor has it that Land O' Lakes is interested in building a new home
office in Arden Hills...... Also heard that a northern pike was caught on
during the height of our floods......Sept. 26 is the first day you can f:
an affidavit of candidacy to run for Mayor or Councilman for AH. The fi;
fee is $2.00 and you must be a registered voter......You can get a copy +
Metropolitan Council's free Regional Park Directory by calling the Counc:
291-6464. This directory contains detailed information about the 34 reg:
parks that are currently open for public use .....Our dog catcher is now em-
powered to issue citations for dogs running Loose, He corrals around 6 cogs
per week..... The land northwest of the Townhouses has been rezoned L. -B.
11
it
14 City Council, 7:30 p.m.
16 Public Works, 700 30 p. m .�
23 Rice Creek, 7:30 p.m.
28 City Council, 7:30 P.m -
6 Rice Creek Watershed,
Public Hearing MVHS, 8 J
Before you come to one of these meetings, it's a good idea to verify the
date and time with the Village Hall (633-5676).
The Arden Association is a non-profit organisation existing for the pur-
pose of informing Arden Hills' residents 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' coments on any-
thiag is encouraged. Deadline for the next issues August 18
Secretary -Editors Diane McAllister, 1200 Ingerson Road* 35112. 484-0773 '
Village Hails 633-5676
AUGUST CALENDAR
August 2
Planning Commission, 7:30 p.m. August
3
Human Rights, 6300 p.m.
7
Public Safety, 7:30 p.m.
8
Parks & Recreation, 8:00p.m.
9
Rice Creek Watershed, 7:30 Sept.
10
Finance, 7:30 p.m.
11
it
14 City Council, 7:30 p.m.
16 Public Works, 700 30 p. m .�
23 Rice Creek, 7:30 p.m.
28 City Council, 7:30 P.m -
6 Rice Creek Watershed,
Public Hearing MVHS, 8 J
Before you come to one of these meetings, it's a good idea to verify the
date and time with the Village Hall (633-5676).
The Arden Association is a non-profit organisation existing for the pur-
pose of informing Arden Hills' residents 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' coments on any-
thiag is encouraged. Deadline for the next issues August 18
Secretary -Editors Diane McAllister, 1200 Ingerson Road* 35112. 484-0773 '
Village Hails 633-5676