In This Issue
St. Anthony  Park Neighborhood News
May 2016
Environment Committee Advocates for Amenities in Hampden Park
 
For eight years, members of our neighborhood have been working diligently to advocate for improvements for Hampden Park, a south St. Anthony Park fixture located at Bayless Place and Raymond Avenue. After a long Capital Improvement Budget (CIB) process, our community was allocated a considerable amount of money for improvements to the park. Since that process came to completion, members of the committee have been working hard with City of St. Paul staff to create a park that meets the needs and desires of the community. 
 
After many conversations to shape the process, the Environment 
Committee has secured many asset for the park. The park will include pollinator friendly plant species; it is the first project by Parks that is neonicotinoid free! The sumac area will undergo a restoration process and will have bulbs planted around it as another pollinator attraction. You can expect a plaza in the park with public art. The Environment Committee will have the opportunity to meet with the chosen artist, Zoran Mojilsov, to shape the artistic design process. 

Additionally, the Committee advocated for and successfully won a number of amenities for the park that will make it a destination in our neighborhood and a vibrant public space. The park will see a bike repair station. Since the Grand Rounds connect to Hampden Park and the Transportation Committee has worked on Raymond Avenue bike lanes as a part of the traffic calming project, this will offer an incredible community asset. We will also see a solar charging station--the first solar charging station installed in St. Paul! 

We would like to extend a special thank you to Stephen Mastey for all of his patient work on this process from beginning to end. Our Environment Committee also deserves thanks for reviewing the plans and continually offering a neighborhood-specific perspective to the project in order to get the best park for our community. Thank you to the City of St. Paul staff, especially Alice Messer, for taking our community's concerns into consideration. Finally, a huge thank you to Samantha Henningson and Russ Stark for their work in supporting our advocacy.
Stop for Me Campaign

On Friday, May 13th, SAPCC's Transportation Committee led a Stop for Me campaign to raise awareness for pedestrians and the laws regarding crossing at a crosswalk. Volunteers report that although the weather was a bit cloudy and chilly that the event was a success! Apologies to all of our volunteers for rescheduling the event twice due to weather. 

The volunteers walked at the Gordon and Raymond intersection in the early afternoon and at the Hampden and Raymond intersection later in the evening.

John Mark Lucas and Betty Wheeler both deserve a huge thank you for their organizing efforts in this campaign. Thank you to all of the volunteers who came to help out!
Raymond Avenue Median Blooms 

You may have noticed the gorgeous daffodils in bloom for the first time this spring along the Raymond Avenue median. During the second phase of the Raymond Avenue Traffic Calming Project, City of St. Paul staff gave the Transportation Committee the option to have a median on Raymond. The committee took it a step further and requested a planted median. Through the work of Stephen Mastey, SAPCC was awarded a generous grant from the UMN Good Neighbor Fund to plant the median. We now can see the fruits--or blooms--of our labor! Wait for the next stages of the plantings there as they begin to pop up over the summer and into the fall. 
JOTP Info Session on Proposed Changes to Tennis Courts  

Joy of the People, a youth soccer non-profit club located at the south St. Anthony Park Recreation Center, joined the Land Use Committee last week to discuss their plans to change the use of the tennis courts at the rec center to a turf field to train their participants in soccer skills. 

In order to facilitate a community conversation about this topic, they will host an informational session next week to gather feedback from neighbors. For more information click here.

JOTP Informational Session
May 18th, 2016
6:30 pm
South St. Anthony Park Recreation Center
890 Cromwell Ave. St. Paul

If you have any questions or comments about this project, please feel free to direct them to cailin@sapcc.org.
Development Overview SAP


With the Green Line now running through our district, we're a hub for development. Here's an update of developments coming in the neighborhood or already underway:

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Exeter: Exeter is developing five stories of residential, market rate housi ng on the southwest corner of Raymond and University--building upon existing structures already there next to C&E Lofts. They are slated to undergo construction sometime this spring/summer.

2700 Project: This mixed income housing project has almost reached completion! Just on the west edge of our district, this building incorporates commercial space under several floors of residential space above. 

Micro Units: At Charles and Territorial, behind Carleton Artist Lofts, will offer apartments mostly in the range of 350-450 square feet with a few larger units. Brought to you by Arcadia Management (the management company for the Lyric just down the street) and UrbanWorks Architecture, this project will incorporate new sidewalks along Carleton and Charles as well boulevard trees.

Aeon Development: Aeon, an affordable housing non-profit organization, will bring this neighborhood an affordable senior housing building in the spa ce that Pirtek currently occupies at the northeast corner of Vandalia and University.

Ned's Development: The building across the street from Sunrise Bank on Como (and Doswell) has already been torn down in service of this market rate, 24-unit apartment building currently under construction.

SAPCC Supports Organized Trash Collection

At the SAPCC Board meeting on May 11th, the Board passed a resolution recommended from by the Environment Committee supporting Organized Trash Collection. 

The Environment Committee writes: 
"We, the members of the Environment Committee, of the St. Anthony Park (SAP) Community Council, go on record as being in favor of citywide organized trash collection for St. Paul, with the resolution to include advantages and concerns listed below. 

We also encourage the SAP Community Council Board to pass a resolution to encourage the city to establish a citywide organized trash collection for St. Paul.

We see many important advantages in consolidating trash hauling. First, there would be fewer trucks on our roads and in our alleys, decreased wear and tear and therefore reducing street maintenance. Currently, some alleys see six or more trucks a week. Fewer trucks traveling to each neighborhood would mean less fuel used and, essentially, wasted. There would be a concomitant reduction in noise, vibration, and air pollution. Finally, organized trash hauling in a more central way could mean there will be less unauthorized dumping of refuse. All of these benefits add up to an improved quality of life."

The Committee noted a few steps they would like the City to take in approving organized trash collection, including: an arbitration clause to deal with financial liabilities; a system of accountability for customer service assurances; and an investment in Zero Waste initiatives. 



Job Opportunities  
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Met Council


Hampden Park Co-op
Storekeeping
Deli Prep
Cashiering 
Email cnicholson@hampdenpark.coop for more information

Cleveland Neighborhood Association

Holland Neighborhood Improvement Association
Get Involved
Visit or join a Community Council committee! All are open to the community and new members. 

Land Use
--First Thursday of the month 7-9pm
(Held at Jennings. 2455 University Ave. W.)

Board of Directors--Second Thursday of the month 7-9pm
(Held at Jennings. 2455 University Ave. W.)

Transportation--First Monday of Every Month 6:30-8pm
(Held at SAPCC office 2395 University Ave. W. Suite 300E)

Environment--Fourth Wednesday of Every Month, 7-9pm
(Held at SAPCC office 2395 University Ave. W. Suite 300E)

Equity-- date changes
(Held at SAPCC office 2395 University Ave. W. Suite 300E)


 
About Us
The St. Anthony Park Community Council is a non-profit citizen's organization of residents working together to maintain and enhance the quality of life, residential character, economic vitality, and physical development of St. Anthony Park. The Board meets monthly as do our four committees: Land Use, Transportation, Equity, and Environment. Any resident may join the committees. The Board is elected with five delegates and two alternates each from North St. Anthony, South St. Anthony, and Business.
 
Newsletter written by Cailin Rogers. Questions, comments, or suggestions? Email cailin@sapcc.org.