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Home My WebLink AboutDec 2016The Official City Newsletter for Arden Hills Residents December 2016 Truth in Taxation Hearing set The City’s annual Truth in Taxation Hearing is scheduled for: Monday, December 12, 2016 7 pm City Hall Council Chambers Truth in Taxation Hearing Arden Hills construction projects moving ahead Above Arden Hills Council Members Fran Holmes, Dave Mc- Clung, Brenda Holden, and Mayor David Grant partici- pated in a ground-breaking ceremony for Land O’Lakes headquarters expansion on November 17. The project includes a 155,000 square-foot building and parking fa- cilities. With this expansion, Land O’Lakes will house in one facility employees who currently are spread out between two buildings. Above right: Crews create new roads and bridges as part of the Rice Creek Commons infrastructure. Shown here is construc- tion at County Road H and I-35W. Right: Progress is being made on Tavern Grill Restaurant and Bar in Arden Plaza, with a January opening expected. City Hall will close at noon on Friday, December 23, as well as at noon on Friday, December 30. The building also will be closed all day on Monday, December 26, and on Monday, January 2. Holiday hours at City Hall Arden Hills Service Directory 1245 West Highway 96 Arden Hills, MN 55112-5734 www.cityofardenhills.org 651-792-7800 Office Hours Monday through Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.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: Julie Hanson 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 Winter Parks and Recreation News Arden Hills nominated for Business Retention Award The City of Arden Hills was nominated this year for a Political Leadership Award by the St. Paul Area Chamber of Commerce in the Business Retention and Expansion category for the Land O’Lakes expansion project. The City worked closely with leadership from Land O’Lakes and in partnership with Ramsey County and the Mounds View Public Schools to retain the Fortune 500 company and secure an $80 million expansion that promises 200 new jobs in Arden Hills. While the City did not receive the top award, Arden Hills was recognized as one of the three finalists along with Ramsey County and the City of Mounds View. October 31, 2016 • Approved Planning Case 16-024 for a Final Planned Unit Development (PUD) for Phase II of the Arden Plaza Master PUD at 1150 County Road E West, based on the findings of fact and submitted plans, as amended by the seventeen conditions on the October 31, 2016, Report to the City Council. (5-0). Also, two conditions were added about exterior construction and light- ing. See minutes for details. Holiday activities for kids Gingerbread House Making* – Saturday, December 10, 10:00-11:30 a.m., City Hall. Build and decorate a gingerbread house. Holiday Gift Making* - Saturday, December 10, 12:00-1:30 p.m., City Hall Make three different gifts to give to loved ones. * Both are drop-off events for kids in grades K-5. Cost is $15 per child. Registration deadline is Monday, December 5. Sign up for both events and bring a bag lunch to eat in between class sessions. Lemonade and dessert will be provided. Breakfast With Santa - $10 per person (adult or child) – Saturday, December 17, 10:30 a.m.– 12:15 p.m. at City Hall. Enjoy breakfast, games, and picture taking with Santa himself! For kids ages 2-10 and adult chaperones. Registration deadline: December 14. Letter from Santa – $5 – Build Christmas spirit by having a letter from Santa sent directly to your child at home. Registration deadline: December 8. Check out the new Winter 2016/2017 Parks & Recreation Guide for more information about: • Skating and hockey lessons and ice rink information • Before-and-after-school programs • Dance and music classes • Adult activities – including yoga by Tina Kulzer November 14, 2016 • Approved Ordinance 2016-009 amending Chapter 3 of the Arden Hills City Code to create a tree ser- vice license (4-0) • Approved motion acknowledging the application of Catholic United Financial for an exempt permit to conduct a raffle with drawing on March 9, 2017, with no waiting period (4-0) • Approved Payment #1 – Lift Station No. 11 Reconstruction (4-0) • Approved Resolution Certifying 2016 Municipal Election Canvass Results (4-0) Benchmarks A review of City Council action 3 You can make this a “greener” holiday season adapted from ecocycle.org 1. Use LED Holiday Lights LED lights can last up to 10 times longer, use 80 percent less energy than traditional incandescent holiday lights and are ENERGY STAR qualified. They are also more durable and shock resistant than other lights because they do not have moving parts, filaments or glass. Find them at your local hardware store, and don’t forget to recycle your old lights! 2. BYOB(bag) & Skip the Other Fluff It’s basic, but it’s easy and important. The key to bringing your own bag is to not forget them, and bags that stuff into little pouches are great for that. Also, say “no thanks” to all the tissue paper, ribbons and stickers that retailers so often include with your purchase, especially around the holidays 3. Re-charge it! Every year more than 15 billion batteries are produced and sold worldwide, and many are alkaline batteries that are thrown out after just one use because they aren’t recyclable. Replace your alkaline bat- teries with rechargeable ones. Newer models can charge in as little as 20 minutes! It saves you money and helps the environment at the same time. 4. Make Your Gatherings Zero Waste Rather than offer your guests disposable cutlery and plates, serve food on real, reusable dishware. If you must use single-use table- ware, look for compostable products. Compostable products should be BPI or Cedar Grove certified and can be brought to one of Ramsey County’s organics recycling drop-off sites. More information can be found at RamseyRecycles.com (click on organic waste). 5. Stop Junk Mail With the holidays come unwanted catalogs and other mail asking you to buy, buy, buy – but you can stop them. One quick tip: As soon as you receive an unwanted publication, call the 1-800 number located somewhere on the piece and ask to be removed from the mailing list to prevent any future mailings. Learn more tricks at www.ecocycle.org/junkmail. 6. Wrap it & Pack it Eco-Style Consider avoiding traditional wrapping paper. Its high-clay and low-paper content makes it difficult to recycle. Instead, get creative and choose a reused/reusable alternative like comics, posters, maps, blueprints or calendars (all recyclable), fabric, reusable paper or cloth gift bags, or bandanas. If you’re shipping gifts, replace foam packaging or bubble wrap with plastic bags or glossy ads from newspapers (the ink doesn’t smear like newspaper). 7. Choose Recyclable and Recycled Holiday Cards Make sure your holiday cards can easily be recycled by choosing cards without any non-paper embellishments like foil or ribbon, and look for cards that contain post-consumer recycled content. Or, give the trees a break this holiday season by using e-cards from web- sites like www.care2.com, www.jacquielawson.com or www.evite.com. 8. Try an Alternative to Cut Trees Instead of cutting down a tree, decorate a favorite houseplant or buy a live tree that can be planted in the spring. If you do opt for a cut tree, check with your waste hauler about disposal following the holiday. Most offer free cut tree removal for a limited time. After that, cut trees can be brought to the Ramsey County yard waste site’s White Bear Township location (Arden Hills’ site is not open in the winter). No flocked trees are accepted. Visit RamseyRecycles.com for more disposal questions. 9. Plan for Green Dining Plan your dinner party menu to include seasonal, organic food from local farms. Another easy way to make your meal eco-friendly is to make mostly, if not all, vegetarian dishes. When it comes to leftovers, don’t let them go to waste! Invite your guests to bring reus- able containers to take home any leftover food, or let them borrow your own reusable or recyclable containers. An online search for “holiday leftover recipes” will give you a plethora of creative ways to make your leftovers shine. 10. Go for Eco-Deco When planning a party, avoid streamers, balloons and other decorations designed for one-time use. Create centerpieces from what you have, like pottery pieces, glass ornament balls, fresh fruit, pine cones, squash, gourds and potted plants to provide a year-round green. I n s i d e Arden Hills, MN . 55112-5734 ECR-WSS PRST STD U.S. Postage Paid Twin Cities, MN Permit #1962 Postal Customer From the Mayor On an annual basis I do a ride-along with the Ramsey County Sheriff Department. It is a chance to see what is going on in our community, to see what the issues are, any trends, and how things are addressed. As in past years things have been very quiet and we remain a city with relatively low crime. This year I chose a Friday night with a full moon and things were more active. Not all the calls were within Arden Hills but there were some. Based on this year’s experi- ence, I would like to pass along a few items that I learned. One of the things I learned from this year’s ride-along is there are a number of situations where calling 911 could involve gray areas in terms of a decision on when to call. Two of the major categories are medical attention and mental health. Is the person in enough medical need to call 911? Is the person’s mental state such that someone should call? What I want to share with you is, if you are in doubt, call 911. The highly trained 911 staff will ask questions to help assess and clarify what is needed. If a response is need, proper law enforcement, medical services, Ramsey County Mental Health or fire department can be dispatched for further assistance. There was a situation that night, where 911 should have been called much earlier. If you are in doubt, don’t wait until the situa- tion gets worse, call 911 and let them help you. Calling 911 in an emergency is a quick and valuable service. Calling 911 does not have to be used exclusively for emergen- cies. If you have information that you believe law enforcement should be aware of, you can call 911 or better yet call the non-emergency number 651-767-0640. The non-emergency number is answered 24 hours per day by the same staff as 911. Response is based on the situation, not the number you call. In general, most of the calls that we have in our City are minor in nature and not illegal. Noise complaints, especially later at night, come to mind. In such cases, the officer is simply keeping the peace by way of a gentle reminder. I encourage you to be receptive and responsive. The officer is there to help you. As the year draws to a close, it is a good time to consider emptying your medicine cabinets of medications that are no longer needed. For young children, pills can look like candy and pose a serious risk. Unused medications from family members, espe- cially pain killers, can be a starting point for abuse. Unused medications should not be flushed down the toilet due to environ- mental concerns. The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Department (RCSD) offers an anonymous and no questions asked drop off program. During a typical year, over 6,000 pounds are dropped off. Simply take your unused medications (includes unused epinephrine pens with liquid) to the RCSD located at 1411 Kirkwold Drive, Arden Hills. The RCSD located in the northeast corner of Highway 96 and Hamline Avenue and drop-off is available Monday-Friday 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. For more informa- tion see: https://www.ramseycounty.us/ medicinecollection Used needles, syringes and lancets should be disposed of at Ramsey County Hazard- ous Disposal sites. For more information go to: https://www.ramseycounty.us/house- holdhazardouswaste Have a happy, safe, and joyous holiday season. Sincerely, David Grant Mayor of Arden Hills Law and order Your City needs you! Arden Hills currently is looking for volunteers for several of its commit- tees and commissions including: • the Communications Committee, which is looking for writers and graphic design/desktop publishing volunteers • The Economic Development Com- mission • The Parks Trails and Recreation Committee • The Planning Commission Volunteering for a committee or commis- sion is not only a great way to serve your community, it’s also a wonderful oppor- tunity to meet your neighbors and to learn how city government operates. For more information, call City Hall at 651-792-7800 or visit www.cityofardenhills.org and enter the keyword “volunteer.” Construction projects Park and Rec information City nominated for award Holiday recycling