In lieu of a cancelled in-person community meeting on the future of Ayd Mill Road, the City’s Public Works department recorded a PowerPoint presentation as a narrated video of the slides and is recommending residents complete an online survey.

Please watch the Ayd Mill Road Community Presentation video, which shares information about the history of Ayd Mill Road, the condition of the road, and alternatives that have been considered for repair and maintenance of the road, including the proposed 3-lane plan. After watching the video or viewing the PowerPoint slides of the presentation, you may complete the City’s feedback form by March 31, 2020, so the City can gather public concerns and questions about the recommended proposal for Ayd Mill Road. 

• Video Presentation

• PowerPoint Slides

• Feedback Form - closes on March 31, 2020

Public Works currently anticipates sharing traffic modeling and summarized feedback through an engagement opportunity on Monday, April 6, 2020. More details will be posted on the City’s webpage for this project: https://www.stpaul.gov/departments/public-works/projects/ayd-mill-road

The Summit Hill Association is taking several precautions to maintain safe operations during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

• Regular board and committee meetings are being held via Zoom teleconference—see the calendar for meeting times and log-in information.

• Our Executive Director (Monica Haas) is maintaining office hours from her home —the District 16 office at the Linwood Recreation Center has contact information posted as well as information available from recreation center staff.

• Gerten’s has extended the ordering deadline for our spring plant sale from March 27th to April 17th.

For Coronavirus (COVID-19) updates, precautions, and resources visit the websites for the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) or Ramsey County Health Department.

The Summit Hill Association received the following update from Lunds & Byerlys on Feb. 27:

Dear Summit Hill Association:

We are fully committed to creating a vibrant mixed-used development on our Grand Avenue property that respects the historic attributes of the neighborhood and helps meet the community’s need for groceries, housing and parking.

We have temporarily paused our planning for this site as other projects have required our available resources at this time.

Community input is an important and valuable aspect of our planning process and when we have updated project details to share – likely within the next 9 to 12 months – we look forward to engaging with the neighborhood and Summit Hill Association.

Thanks.

Aaron Sorenson
Senior Communications Manager
Lunds & Byerlys

Ordering deadline extended to April 17th

Spring is just around the corner and the Summit Hill Association is having their spring plant sale. The plants are provided by Gerten’s and will be available for pick up May 1 and 2 at Linwood Community Center. 

The proceeds from the sale go to helping second-graders in the community learn to plant and helping beautify our neighborhood. 

Annuals, perennials, veggies, and beautiful baskets are available, in addition to Gerten’s gift cards. 

It’s time to start planning and ordering your flowers and plants for your gardens, planters, and great gifts! Orders are due Friday, April 17th.

*March 27th deadline extended to April 17th by Gerten’s. Plant delivery at Linwood Recreation Center remains scheduled for May 1st/2nd.

The March SHA Board Meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at the Linwood Recreation Center, 860 St. Clair Avenue. All Summit Hill residents are invited to attend!

Winter. The perfect time to read a good book — and the only thing better than reading a thought-provoking book is discussing it afterward with friends and neighbors over pizza!

The SHA Book Club meets on March 11 to discuss The girl that fell from the sky, national bestseller by Heidi Durrow . This book is a story of Rachel, the daughter of a Danish mother and a black G.I., becomes the sole survivor of a family tragedy after a fateful morning on their Chicago rooftop. Forced to move to a new city, with her strict African American grandmother as her guardian, Rachel is thrust for the first time into a mostly black community, where her light brown skin, blue eyes, and beauty bring a constant stream of attention her way. It’s there, as she grows up and tries to swallow her grief, that she comes to understand how the mystery and tragedy of her mother might be connected to her own uncertain identity. This searing and heartwrenching portrait of a young biracial girl dealing with society’s ideas of race and class is the winner of the Bellwether Prize for best fiction manuscript addressing issues of social justice.

So grab a copy from the library or fire up your Kindle, and then mark your calendars for 7:00 PM on March 11 at the Linwood Recreation Center.  As always, pizza and beverages will be available.

After scores of in-person interviews, online surveys and telephone conversation, the Future Is Grand Task Force is close to finalizing the set of recommendations it plans to present in its letter to the St. Paul City Council.

The Task Force consists of volunteers representing business owners and residents from the Summit Hill Association, Macalester Groveland Community Council, and the Grand Avenue Business Association. The group has spent the better part of 2019 reaching out to residents, building owners and businesses along and around Grand Avenue to capture their thoughts and insights about the current state and future prospects of this vital corridor. It has established a Consensus Document that lists six primary recommendations the city might want to consider in its efforts maintain a strong and successful Grand Avenue.

The Task Force has made available a number of documents that summarize the information its findings and initial considerations. They include:

• The Consensus Document;

• a more in-depth data dive that includes comments from businesses and residents;

• a summary highlighting the potential actions that could be taken by both the government and the private sector;

• and an illustration of the trends that are playing a role on the state of Grand Avenue.

Anyone interested in providing comments on the recommendations included in the Consensus Document can forward them to the SHA via this link.

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The Summit Hill Association was honored to welcome Saint Paul Mayor Melvin Carter and District 2 Councilmember Rebecca Noecker to its annual membership meeting, held October 23 at the Mount Zion Temple on Summit Avenue.

During the meeting, Mayor Carter outlined his vision for the future of St. Paul and discussed some of the issues and opportunities surrounding the city. Councilmember Noecker discussed her work on behalf of District 2 and shared her passion for the future of the Summit Hill neighborhood.

A standing-room-only crowd filled the meeting room to hear from our special guests and vote on issues of interest to the association. The members elected three new members to our Board of Directors and approved updates and revisions to the SHA bylaws.