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HomeMy WebLinkAboutJune 2016The Official City Newsletter for Arden Hills Residents June 2016 City plans next steps for Business Retention and Expansion program Compared to other suburban commu- nities in the Minneapolis- St. Paul metro, Arden Hills is unique in that we have more employ- ees that work in the City than we have residents. Data show there are currently 11,835 jobs and only 9,652 residents. Arden Hills is home to several corporate employers, including Boston Scientific and Land O’Lakes, which account for a large percentage of this total jobs number. How- ever, there are also a number of smaller emerging companies in the manufacturing and medical technology sectors, as well as businesses that have been in Arden Hills for decades, like Flaherty’s Arden Bowl and Lindey’s Steak House. In January 2015, the City launched a collaborative effort with the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce (SPACC) to complete a Business Reten- tion and Expansion (BRE) program. The program is intended to demonstrate the City’s appreciation of busi- nesses, help address immedi- ate problems, and increase businesses’ ability to compete in larger markets. Research has shown that the majority of new jobs in a commu- nity are created by existing companies, and the City recognizes that its economic development strategy needs to include supporting the growth of its nearly 300 businesses. A total of 24 businesses from all different sectors of the economy were visited by City staff, members of the Economic Development Commission, and other community volunteers in 2015. Businesses were asked to complete a short survey with questions on investment plans, workforce, markets, and transportation is- sues. SPACC compiled the surveys to pres- ent an overall picture of the business com- munity. Some of the common issues that we saw were difficulties finding employees with technical skills, a need for improved transit service, and a lack of suitable expan- sion space in Arden Hills. SPACC presented a final report on the BRE program to the Economic Development Authority on March 28, 2016. SPACC also worked with City staff and the Economic Development Commission on an imple- mentation plan for three projects to address some of the issues from the BRE report: • Develop a system for completing regular business visits and choose a specific industry or business district to focus on each year. Compile information and produce an annual report. • Organize a roundtable discussion for commercial real estate brokers in Arden Hills to get a better understanding of lo- cal market dynamics. • Build partnerships with local community colleges, Mounds View Public Schools, Ramsey County, and other State and regional agencies to explore the City’s role in workforce development. The Economic Development Authority was supportive of the recommended proj- ects. City staff has begun work on these items with the Economic Development Commission. by Matthew Bachler, Senior Planner Arden Hills - Employment by Industry 3%3%Total Number of Jobs: 11,835 5%Manufacturing (3,646) Administrative and Support & Waste Management and Remediation Svcs (2,136) Education and Health Services (1,961) Management of Companies and Enterprises (1,266) Trade, Transportation and Utilities (739) Finance and Insurance (568) Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (543) Retail Trade (407) 5% 31% 6% 11% 17%18% Leisure and Hospitality (345) Data Source: MN DEED Quarterly Census on Employment and Wages (QCEW), Q2 2015 Arden Hills Service Directory 1245 West Highway 96 Arden Hills, MN 55112-5734 www.cityofardenhills.org Summer Office Hours Monday through Thursday 7:30 a.m.-5 p.m. Friday 7:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m. Sheriff and Fire 911 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 Jonathan Wicklund 651-278-8077 jwicklund@cityofardenhills.org Acting City Administrator: Sue Iverson 651-792-7816 siverson@cityofardenhills.org Communications Committee Editors/writers: Susan Cathey, Tina Kulzer Council Liaison: Jonathan Wicklund 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 as well. Visit www.cityofardenhills.org for information about archived meeting playbacks. Arden Hills Notes is the official news- letter of the City of Arden Hills, an equal-opportunity employer. 2 Tips for disposing of the big, the bulky, and the unusualNot all recycling is easy. Occasionally you have an unusual item (fence posts? en- gine parts?) to get rid of. Here are tips on how to get this stuff out of your house and into the hands of someone who needs it. Reuse, repurpose, recycle If you have to get rid of a large item, consider these questions: 1. Can it be reused? Is it something that is in good enough condition to donate to a char- ity like Salvation Army, Goodwill or Bridging? 2. Could you repurpose it? Check online resources like the DIY Network and Pinterest. 3. Can you fix it? Attend a Fix-It Clinic or use websites like Fix-It Club or I Fix It to see if you are able to get your item working. Getting rid of it the right way If you have to dispose of large items, make sure you do it the right way. Resources such as Ramsey County’s A to Z Recycling & Disposal Guide show if and where the item can be accepted or if you can dismantle the item into recyclable parts. Ideas for getting rid of seven big, bulky, and unusual items Here are a few of the more common unusual items with some resources and options on how to deal with them. Consider a creative repurposing project. A web search will yield numerous sites with ideas for reusing household items. You also can ask your hauler if it offers one-time, large-item pick-ups or check with your county with any questions. 1. Mattresses and Box Springs- • Check to see whether a local charity can accept mattresses and box springs in good condition. 2. Furniture- • Sell or donate your furniture – use Craigslist or charities. 3. Carpet- • Sell or give away for other uses through Craigslist or other neighborhood sites. • Bro-Tex (www.brotex.com) offers carpet recycling. Your carpet can be used to make many products. 4. Sports Equipment- Bikes- • Donate your bike to a local organization. Bike shops and organizations like Cycles for Change or Free Bikes for Kids take donations for charity. • The metal parts can be recycled. Many counties offer drop-off services at their environmental centers. • Selling items to a used sports equipment store can be an option. Basketball Hoops or Hockey Nets- • Donate to a charity or local organizations. • Remove all non-metal parts and recycle as scrap metal. 5. Tires- • Local tire dealers recycle old tires and will accept them for a fee. • Take them to a county environmental center. 6. Appliances- • If your appliance still works, sell or donate it. • If you are purchasing a new appliance, check with the retailer about taking and recycling your old one for you. • Check with your county to see if appliances are accepted and if any parts must be removed. 7. Large Plastic Items (toys, truck bed liners, kid’s swimming pools, etc.)- • Many can be donated to charities or local organizations. For more information, visit: https://www.rethinkrecycling.com/blog/big-bulky-and-unusu- al-how-deal-7-crazy-items 3 April 26, 2016 • Authorized City staff to begin summer work hours on May 31, 2016, and conclude on September 5, 2016 (5-0). • Authorized the City of Arden Hills to participate in the Minnesota Greenstep Cities program (5-0). • Approved Planning Case #16-003 Master and Final PUD for 1160 County Road E with Conditions (5-0). See minutes for details. • Approved the Lift Station 11 Equip- ment Procurement and Reconstruction Bid (5-0). Note: other minor agenda items were approved. View online minutes from meet- ings for details. Benchmarks: A review of City Council action Call Sara Grant at 651-792-7845 to register for the following events: Backyard Games Club (Free) – Wednes- day mornings in June and July at Cum- mings Park. Enjoy the company of other active adults while playing classic back- yard games such as bocce, croquet, and ladder golf. Pickleball Demonstration Class (Free) – June 20 at Cummings Park. Learn more about this popular sport and test out the newly-added pickleball facilities now available at Cummings Park. Stillwater Summer Cruise ($30) – July 18. Riverboat cruise on the St. Croix River including lunch, followed by a walk through downtown Stillwater. Senior spotlight-- Parks and Recreation newsOn February 9, 2016, the Board of Ramsey County Commission- ers passed a resolution to declare Ramsey County “pollinator-friendly.” The County has since undertaken efforts to educate residents on the importance of pollinator-friendly best practices and gar- ner support of this designation in munici- palities within the County. In response to the County’s efforts, the Parks, Trails and Recreation Committee (PTRC) collaborated with residents and the University of Minnesota to install three bee habitats on City park and civic property. Arden Hills is now an active part of this County-wide environmental effort to increase pollinator habitat and forage, decrease toxicity, and raise awareness of these important environmental issues. Key volunteer expertise The knowledge and generosity of volun- teers figures directly in the City’s participa- tion in this initiative. Arden Hills resident Mike Noonan, along with his cousin Andy Murray, who raises bees on a farm in Rice County, worked with the PTRC to bring two honeybee hives to City property. One hive has been installed in Floral Park to provide natural pollinators for the gar- dens that Dr. Robert Mullin cultivates. It is set in a clearing among trees and bushes approximately 20 feet off the walking trail north of the pollinator gardens. A second hive has been installed at City Hall to promote growth of local bee popu- lations and natural pollinators. The hive is located in the grassy area on the north side of the building and is visible from the windowed lobby area and parking lot. The City plans to install signage at both hive locations to make residents aware of the installations and provide additional educa- tional information. Murray expects to make visits to Arden Hills throughout the summer to check on the bees and maintain the hives. At the end of the summer, he plans to harvest any honey produced and donate a portion of the harvest to the City to do with as they choose. The bees and their hives will then be removed in the fall to their winter home in Arkansas. University bee project In May, a bee nesting block was installed in Crepeau Nature Preserve and is being observed and maintained through the sum- mer by the Minnesota Bee Atlas, a citizen project of University of Minnesota Extension. Signs will be posted at the site. The nesting block will provide a place for wild bees to lay their eggs. The block will be collected in September. The larvae will be raised to adults, and the species will be identified and entered in a state database. According to Program Coordinator Britt Forsberg, “We chose Crepeau for a bee block because it has a large area of high- quality natural habitat and a volunteer who is interested in monitoring the block. We wanted to choose locations where there would be strong existing bee populations as well as having plenty of wild flowers for bees to forage. The native bees will use pri- marily native plants, although some non- native plants like dandelions and clover are important resources for bees.” The study will cover three field sessions (2016-2018), but project staff has only asked sites to commit to one season. “We’d certainly be open to installing a block at Crepeau again next year!” Forsberg said. Bee habitats installed to support County resolution by Tina Kulzer Three City Council seats are up for election this fall—two are four-year terms and one is a two-year term. Anyone interested in filing an Affidavit of Candidacy may do so beginning August 2, 2016. Candidate filing packets will be available at City Hall or at the Ramsey County Elections Office (90 W. Plato Blvd. St. Paul) during the filing period. The last day to file is August 16, at 5 p.m. The cost to file is $2 and must be paid with cash or check. Thinking about running for City office? Postal Customer ECR-WSS PRST STD U.S. Postage Paid Twin Cities, MN Permit #1962 I n s i d e Arden Hills, MN . 55112-5734 Business Retention program outlined Recycling tips for large items Bee habitats installed News from the City Council JDA agreed that all three proposals were excellent and that any one of the pro- posals selected would have given us a first class development. In a unanimous decision, Alatus LLC was selected to act as a master developer and be responsible for overall coordination of a team that will include specialists in each area of development. So why Alatus LLC and not the others? First, Alatus most fully demonstrated an understanding of the vision for the rede- velopment established by the City and the County, particularly with regard to the im- portance of the Town Center and the need to establish TCAAP as a special place. Second, they stressed the need for quality in the residential development compo- nent, the willingness to bring multiple housing developers onto the site, and a belief, shared by the City, that there needs to be a level of distinctiveness within the residential development—we don’t want “cookie cutter” housing choices. These two points have convinced me that Alatus is the group that can give us a development that will make us all proud. I am as excited about the future of the redevelopment of the TCAAP site as I have ever been. To use a cliché… I can see the light at the end of the long tunnel. I want to welcome Alatus LLC to Arden Hills and hope everyone will do so as well. With its help, the TCAAP redevelopment can become the significant How many of us have uttered those words when thinking about any development of the arsenal, or as it is officially known, the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP)? Those of us who grew up in Arden Hills have had that thought many times over the years. I never imagined that we would get where we are today, 427 acres cleaned to residential liv- ing standards and ready to come back onto the tax rolls. While your City Council has not always been unanimous regarding some of the details of TCAAP’s redevelopment, there is one thing we have all fought for—a high quality, unique development, that will fit with the existing City, and give us some- thing to be proud of. The goal of the City Council when it crafted the TCAAP Rede- velopment Code (TRC) was to provide the framework to do just that. It was a major step forward, a necessary step that has allowed us to get to the point of selecting Alatus LLC as our master developer. Earlier this year, the City and Ramsey County through the Joint Development Authority (JDA) released a request for pro- posals for a master developer for TCAAP. In late April, the JDA interviewed three groups vying to be the master developer. Presentations were made by Alatus LLC, Opus Group with Pulte Homes, and Ryan Companies with Lennar Corporation. When the JDA met to select the master developer on May 2, all members of the social and economic opportunity we have long anticipated. Arden Hills is on the precipice of achieving a long-stated vision of redeveloping land that has been part of us for 75 years. I hope you are as excited as I am at that prospect. Warmest regards, Dave McClung “I’ll never see that in my lifetime...” Subscribe to these social media resources to learn about City events, recreation opportunities, and more. www.twitter.com/ardenhills/city www.facebook.com/CityofArdenHillsMN Find us on social media