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Home My WebLink AboutJuly-August 2019The Official City Newsletter for Arden Hills Residents July/August 2019 The Minnesota Public Facilities Authority (PFA) recently approved $568,809 for the city to install a new water main extending along Highway 10 from Highway 96 to Highway 35 W. The water main needed replacement due to MnDOT construction plan changes. Funding for this project comes from special legislative appropriation of $500,000 and $68,809 from the city. The City Council thanks Senator Jason Isaacson for his leadership in obtaining the funds. The PFA provides financing and technical assistance to help communities build and maintain public infrastructure that protects public health and the environment and promotes economic growth. New Equipment at Cummings Playground If you are going to the Minnesota State Fair (August 22 - September 2), you can park your vehicle at one of several Park & Ride lots in and around Arden Hills and take a bus to the fairgrounds, free of charge. • North Heights Lutheran Church, 1700 Highway 96 W. • Catholic United Financial, 3499 Lexing- ton Avenue N. • The Gathering Place, 3245 New Brighton Road • Bethel University Anderson Center, 2 Pine Tree Drive • Presbyterian Church of the Way, 3382 Lexington Avenue N. Park & Ride lots fill quickly and residents often park on nearby streets. Please heed the No Parking signs located on some of the nearby streets. Violators will be tick- eted or towed. Signs are in place to ensure access for public safety vehicles and mail service providers. Please be courteous to nearby residents and their properties. For Park & Ride locations and hours, visit MinnesotaStateFair.org/transportation. Early voting for the special primary election to replace former Ramsey County Commissioner Blake Huffman opened June 28. Nine candidates running for the seat will be whittled to two in the August 13 primary election. Early voting for the primary election is available by mail and in person at the Ramsey County Elections Office, 90 Plato Blvd. W., Saint Paul. No other early voting locations will be open. Precinct 2 Location Change The Ramsey County Precinct 2 polling location recently changed from Valentine Hills Elementary School to North Heights Lutheran Church. Going to the Fair? Heed No Parking Signs at Park & Ride Lots City Awarded Funds for Water Main Project on Highway 10 The city recently installed new playground equipment at Cummings Park. The equipment is ADA compliant and offers fun for younger and older children alike. Early Voting Underway for District 1 County Commissioner; Voting Precinct 2 Location Changes to North Heights Church Primary election voting on August 13 will be held at the following city precinct locations: P1 Presbyterian Church of the Way 3382 Lexington Avenue N., Shoreview P2 North Heights Lutheran Church, 1700 Highway 96 W., Arden Hills P3 Ramsey County Public Works 1425 Paul Kirkwold Drive., Arden Hills Early voting for the general election opens Sept. 20, with the general election on Nov. 5. Visit cityofardenhills.org/ electionsandvoting for more information on voting hours and locations. Arden Hills Service Directory 1245 West Highway 96 Arden Hills, MN 55112-5734 www.cityofardenhills.org 651-792-7800 Summer Office Hours Monday through Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Friday 7:30 a.m. to 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 612-599-2457 fholmes@cityofardenhills.org Dave McClung 651-332-0352 dmcclung@cityofardenhills.org Steve Scott 651-604-0919 sscott@cityofardenhills.org City Administrator Dave Perrault 651-792-7824 dperrault@cityofardenhills.org Communications Coordinator Dawn Skelly 651-792-7817 dskelly@cityofardenhills.org Communications Committee Council Liaisons Brenda Holden Fran Holmes Council meetings are held at City Hall on the second and fourth Mondays of the month at 7:00 p.m. Meetings are televised live on Cable Channel 16. Meetings of the Planning Commission are televised as well. Visit cityofardenhills.org for information about archived meeting playbacks. Arden Hills Notes is the official newsletter of the City of Arden Hills, an equal-opportunity employer. City News Updates Hot Dog with a Deputy will be Held July 10 at Perry Park The Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office will host its popular “Hot Dog with a Deputy” event in Arden Hills on July 10 at Perry Park, 3700 New Brighton Road, from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Bring the family out to the park for free hot dogs, chips, water, freeze pops, equipment demonstrations and conversations with deputies. Staff and equipment at the event could include Patrol Deputies, K-9, SWAT, Water Patrol, Reserve Deputies, Mounted Unit, Mobile Field Force and volunteers. Gather up your change and come celebrate the end of the 2019 Parks and Recreation Playground Programs at a Penny Carnival on Friday, July 26, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Perry Park, 3700 New Brighton Road. There will be fun carnival games, face painting, a caricature artist and more. Cost is free. The city’s Annual Stormwater meeting will be held at the same time in an educational booth format. Night to Unite Neighborhood Events to be Held August 6 Night to Unite 2019 will take place on Tuesday, August 6. This annual statewide event is designed to forge and strengthen bonds between citizens, businesses and public safety organizations such as the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office. Neighborhoods typically observe this event in various ways including front porch vigils, block parties and cookouts with visits from members of the fire department, sheriff’s office and elected officials. The events are coordinated through the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office. Fall Parks & Recreation Guide Available Soon State of the City Moves to Spring The city's annual State of the City event will be moved to early spring to allow for more information about upcoming city projects. Prior meetings typically were held at the end of September. The 2020 State of the City will include only one meeting due to substantially greater attendance at the morning breakfast event than the evening event. Watch the website and newsletter for more information. Watch your mail for the Fall 2019 Parks & Recreation Guide. Registration for many classes and programs is now open. Visit cityofardenhills.org/recregistration to register. Penny Carnival and Annual Stormwater Meeting July 26 Bark & Rec Day Set for July 27 Join the Arden Hills Parks and Recreation Department for the 5th Annual Bark & Rec Day on Saturday, July 27, 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. at Perry Park, 3700 New Brighton Road. Bring your dog to the off-leash area and make a fun craft your dog will love to wear. Free refreshments and snacks. Thank you to Roberts Management Group for sponsor- ing Bark & Rec Day. All ages and dogs welcome. Cost is free. June 10, 2019 All items approved unanimously by 5-0 vote. • Approved a change to the Customer Service Position Specialist position to a job-share position and appointed Sue Johnson from a full-time Customer Service Specialist to a job-share/ part-time Customer Service Specialist position, and hired Julie Horak as the other employee to the job-share/ part-time Customer Service Specialist position. • Approved a site plan review for Boston Scientific Corporation to reconstruct an existing parking lot to add an additional 387 parking stalls and to make other pedestrian and vehicular safety improvements along existing parking area on Lexington Avenue and Cummings Park Drive. Boston Scientific recently announced that its Minnetonka campus will be shutting down and is transferring all employees to the Arden Hills Campus, which per City Code will require additional on-site parking. Benchmarks: A Review of Recent City Council Action • Awarded the Colleen Avenue drainage improvements contract to Pember Companies, Inc. This contract will conclude the work that was done primarily in 2018 for the pavement improvement project for the streets in the area of this project. June 24, 2019 All items approved unanimously by 5-0 vote. • Approved changing the location of the Precinct 2 polling place from Valentine Hills Elementary School, 1770 County Road E2 W to North Heights Lutheran Church 1700 Highway 96 West, Arden Hills, per a request from Ramsey County Elections regarding the need to change the polling location. • Conducted a public hearing and approved amendments to Chapter 13 – Zoning Code to revise the existing “Floor Area” definition of the City Code to be consistent with the current Minnesota State Building Code. City Storm Drains are for Rain Only. Be a Storm Drain Advocate. Watch for Contamination. The only thing that should be entering our city storm drains is rainwater, because these drains go directly to our waterways. Residents can be an advocate for city water quality and water recreation activities by watching out for any strange colors, smells or materials getting into our street drains or entering our water bodies. If you see anything suspicious, or have questions about something that might be harmful to our waters, call our Public Works Department at (651) 792-7800. Construction crews often use sandbags to protect debris from entering drains. Please do not remove the sandbags. What is an illicit discharge? An illicit discharge is any discharge into the storm sewer system that is not composed entirely of rainwater. Examples include: • Soil or material discharge into storm drains from remodeling, construction or industrial/commercial areas • Illegal dumping, spills and other polluted sources • Vehicle washing wastewaters • Any car liquids from vehicle maintenance or service stations • Auto body/repair facility, or car wash wastewaters • Carpet cleaning wastewaters • Manufacturers’ wastewater • Open sewage/sanitary sewer disrupted connection waste • Fertilizer, grass clippings or yard waste • Laundry or household product waste • Pet waste What is not an illicit discharge? The following non-storm water discharges are acceptable by the city: • Discharges from fire fighting activities • De-chlorinated water flushing or draining • Lawn watering • Uncontaminated water from foundation, sump pumps or footing drains • External building or street washing without detergents or solvents • Air conditioning condensate • Approved a resolution supporting Ramsey County Parks & Recreation’s update to the Rice Creek North Regional Trail Master Plan. The Master Plan is intended to be a guiding document that will identify long- term infrastructure and recreation improvements to the Rice Creek Regional Trail corridor, including reevaluation of park and trail facilities, with public engagement for plan development. • Conducted a public hearing and approved the site plan and final planned unit development for Brausen Family Automotive Repair at 1310 W County Road E. A new convenience store and carwash will be constructed. An expanded garage will add six additional repair bays to the existing garage. The façade will be updated. There will be no modifications to the existing fuel islands and canopy or to the accesses on County Road E. For a complete and detailed listing of recent City Council action, visit cityofardenhills.org and click on View Agendas & Minutes. Postal Customer Inside Popular Annual Financial Report City Summer Events State Fair Parking Storm Drain Advocacy ECR-WSS PRST STD U.S. Postage Paid TWIN CITIES, MN Permit #1962 Made in Arden Hills, a New Newsletter Feature, Highlights Northern Soda Company Made in Arden Hills is a new newsletter feature that will highlight the many companies that manufacture goods in the city. Our first featured company is Northern Soda Company, which celebrates its one-year anniversary in July. Northern Soda Company 3747 Dunlap Street North Arden Hills, MN 55112 Northern Soda Company creates a 1950s-style “Minnesota Made” hand- crafted soda pop. The company mixes, manufactures and cans all of its sodas using real cane sugar. “Our whole philosophy was to go back and make soda pop how it used to be made,” said Davod Zarghami, co-founder. “We use primo ingredients that are carefully selected to create incredible flavor.” Three things to know 1) The company has a “first of its kind craft soda taproom” off of Dunlap Street in Arden Hills that is open to the public every weekend. Taproom hours of operation are: Friday 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Guests are able to mix and match their own 4-pack or cases of soda pop. The taproom features retro arcade games to play, Northern Soda gear to browse, board games, free popcorn, free soda pop samples and tours of the operation floor. Northern Soda also rotates small batch flavors on tap that are made exclusively for the taproom. 2) Factory tours and event hosting are available for birthday parties, corporate events, team building activities, Girl/Boy Scout events and school field trips. This summer, the company will host various events in the factory store, including a movie night, a “make your own soda” day and a bingo event (with prizes). 3) “As a relationship-based company, it’s also very important that we are giving back to the community we serve,” said Zarghami. “We want to be intentional about our service and be active in Arden Hills. Please reach out to us with what you have going on around town.” Company background and growth Northern Soda Company was launched last year by a group of educators in the pursuit of soda pop perfection and consists of a partnership team of five people, who previously worked together at Heritage Middle School in West St. Paul. The company has more than 100 distribution partners, including locally based Flaherty’s Bowl, Sweet Chocolat and Brausen’s Auto. Online ordering is also available. For information, visit northernsoda.com. Arden Hills, MN . 55112-5734