Hugo Bits & Pieces
"Gateway" Oneka Square Revived
Withdrawn from consideration in June, a 30,000-squarefoot "Oneka Square" retail, restaurant and offi ce project - seen as a marquee "gateway" for Hugo's south border - has been revived.
A sketch plan for Oneka Square, envisioned for the intersection of Highway 61 and 120th Street, got a favorable initial response when it was unveiled before the City Council at its June 5 meeting.
Due to time constraints, a second discussion was scheduled for the next council meeting, but developers Terry Thompson and Jason Brown abruptly withdrew the project before the meeting instead.
Brown and Thompson, however, presented their Oneka Square plans to the council again on December 18, including "improved traffic flow" and other "minor changes," according to Community Development Director Bryan Bear.
Council opinions differed, however, on details such as whether the project's anchoring 17,000-square-foot retail space or its parking lot should be located closest to the Highway 61 roadway, as well as the number and species of trees that would have to be removed.
Council Member Mike Granger also warned the developers that they might face objections from the county on how Oneka Square would affect already-heavy traffic flow on Highway 61 near an adjacent Holiday gas station. The council, whose comments were advisory-only, took no action on the project pending further refinements by the developers.
Sunset Shores Final Plat Approved
Another delayed project, a proposed 39-lot, 143-acre Sunset Shores residential development between 120th and 125th streets southwest of Sunset Lake, did get a final OK from the council, however.
Final approval had been tabled at the council's December 4 meeting while staff explored the feasibility of extending a right-of-way easement to accommodate a street from a culde sac near the proposed development's northeast boundary to 125th Street.
At the council's December 18 meeting, Bear noted that while the slope of land along the easement would not preclude a safe roadway extension inside the development, a sharp curve on 125th Street could be hazardous at the intersection of the two roadways.
Addressing the project's developers, as well as city engineering staff, Council Member Chuck Haas, who requested the right-of-way feasibility analysis, said, "I've been persuaded that the cons (of extending the cul de sac) outweigh the pros. I appreciate the time you took to take a good hard look at it."
Sunset Shores' final plat and development agreement were then approved on a unanimous voice vote.
Hospital District Windfall
Hugo City Hall got a $17,383.1 check from the old Memorial Hospital District December 18 - some 10 years after the hospital board decided it should be dissolved.
The hospital board has stayed in operation while Memorial Hospital's service area has been replaced in the Hugo area by the Fairview System, hospital board chairman Mike Roth noted.
During that time, the board has acted to retire bonds and take care of other financial and logistical details, Roth said. Meanwhile, pending final accounting reconciliations, funds have been retained and held on account by the board from local municipalities' tax revenue over the years, Roth added.
He then presented the council with a check for Hugo's share and requested that the money be spent on health-related items such as defi brillators for the Hugo Fire Department.
Mayor Fran Miron replied that the money had already been included in Hugo's 2007 operating budget, although earmarked to offset Fire Department tax funding.
Commission Vacancies
The council also acted to fill recent vacancies on three influential regulatory panels - the Rice Creek Watershed District Board, the Hugo Planning Commission and the city's Parks and Recreation Committee.
Following a decision by RCWD Board Member Jim Leroux to retire after his term expires on January 17, the council endorsed a letter to the Washington County Board nominating Hugo residents Dave Schumann and John Waller.
The county board will make the fi nal decision. Both Schumann and Waller are members of the RCWD water advisory committee. Schumann also serves on the Hugo Planning Commission.
Schumann's Planning Commission term will expire on December 31, and the council also voted to reappoint him to that post following review of a required City Hall planningcommissioner evaluation form.
The term of another Planning Commission member, Victoria Hoffbeck, also will expire December 31, but the council voted not to reappoint her following her evaluation-form review.
Acting city attorney Nick Vivian, who fi lled in at the council meeting for Dave Snyder, specifi cally asked council members not to discuss details of Hoffbeck's or Schumann's evaluations.
The council also decided to interview three unnamed candidates for two vacancies on the Parks and Recreation Committee on January 8. One of the vacancies was created by the recent resignation of committee member Charles Kirk, who was originally appointed in 2003.
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