2003 April Newsletter - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Project Update from City Engineer,David Mitchell IN 61 and 1401h Street Traffic Signal 165th Street between Henna and Ingersoll . A construction contract was awarded to Avenues; and 170th Street(County Road 4) HIJU ) Hardrives Construction on March 17. between Henna and Ingersoll Avenues. Progress Preliminary discussions with the contractor indi- on the project has been slow and has'been further cate that they will begin hampered by poor soils and spring runoff. The working on this project contractor is currently working on the crossings soon after spring weight at 157th Street and 170th Street with hopes of restrictions are removed completing these crossing in the next few weeks. from area roadways. This 165th Street has been opened after the installa- is expected in early May. tion of the box culvert,but will be closed again We expect this signal to be for additional work when either 157th or 170th operating before August 1. Street are re-opened. Highway 61 will remain open during the con- struction activities. Drivers may experience Trunk Utility Improvements some delays when they travel through this inter- The contractor installing trunk utilities to serve section. areas east of TH 61 and north of 152nd Street, including the Peloquin Industrial Park,continues Judicial Ditch No.2 to encounter construction problems with getting Rice Creek Watershed District has begun work to utilities under TH 61. The City continues to replace four culverts on Judicial Ditch No. 2. work with the contractor. We hope to resolve Three of these culverts are in Hugo: on 157th this issue in the near future and restore the areas Street,between Harrow and Homestead Avenues; along TH 61. RURAL AND OPEN SPACE COMMITTEE CONTINUES TO MEET The public is The Rural and Open Space Committee had its third meeting in late February and continues its mission of welcome to developing methods to preserve open space and the rural heritage of Hugo. Also present at the February meeting were Metropolitan Council representative Marc Hugunin and Rice Creek Watershed District attend all Administrator Steve Hobbs. Hugunin shared findings from the Metropolitan Council's Rural Issues Workshops held last year,which he chaired and which dealt with many of the same issues facing the meetings of the Committee. Hobbs is an expert in transfer of development rights programs,one of the growth manage- ment tools under consideration by the Committee,and he helped Committee members consider the vari- open spcae ous issues and details that such a program would entail. Other topics discussed included the use of deed restrictions and the financial consequences of develop- committee. ment in rural areas. At their next meeting in April the Committee hopes to look at land classification— using maps and other information to get an idea of which areas are worthy of preservation. Committee Call City Hall at 651- member Chuck Haas notes that the Committee has a great deal of work ahead of them. "This is going to 762-6300 for meeting take some time,"he states. "We will probably spend several more months on transfer of development dates and agendas. rights alone,and we will also be reviewing the cluster housing ordinance and looking into other alterna- tives that the County and State have put forward." Haas also reminds us that the Committee is basing their work on a 30-year historical commitment to rural and open space preservation in Hugo. He adds, "The citizens of Hugo continue to re-affirm that mandate." The public is welcome to attend all meetings of the committee. Please call City Hall at 651-762-6300 for meeting dates and agendas.