2001 September Newsletter - Laserfiche WebLink

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COMMUNITY VISIONING FIRE DEPARTMENT OPEN HOUSE TO BE PROCESS NEARING HELD OCTOBER 13 COMPLETION The Hugo Fire Department Hugo's ongoing community visioning/charette process, which began in March, will host its annual open house is nearing completion. A final draft of the Community Visioning Plan, a guide on Saturday, October 13, 2001 for development in Hugo over the next 20 years, is expected to be presented to from noon until 4 p.m. There the Planning Commission on September 26 and to the City Council at its will be plenty of activities for October 1 meeting. both children and adults, including fire truck rides, tours The City of Hugo selected the Minneapolis architecture, engineering, and plan- of the fire station, and the ning firm of Hammel, Green, and Abrahamson, Inc. (HGA) to manage this opportunity to use a real fire highly public, participatory process, sometimes referred to as a "Charrette" process. It began with a series of interviews with City staff, elected officials, and hose. The first 100 children planning commission members. HGA also conducted roundtable discussions who attend will each receive a and community workshops with Hugo residents. free pumpkin, and there will also be door prizes,free fire pre- Rich McLaughlin,senior urban designer with HGA,who has been involved with vention handouts,and a chance the entire visioning process, states that the plan is oriented around two funda- to meet Smokey the Bear. mental concepts: the natural environmental system of Hugo and neighborhood development. "The first part of the plan addresses what we call Hugo's 'coun- tryside' and includes 'green' areas such as wetlands and active agriculture," This year Fire Department McLaughlin explains. "We then assimilate that into a 'blue' structure, which personnel will be holding a includes all the water systems. And what we want to do is link them so that we booya in conjunction with the can have a healthy ecosystem." open house, with the proceeds going to the department. The McLaughlin goes on to say, "The second component of the plan addresses the Fire Department will also question: How do we construct real neighborhoods? We demonstrate how to benefit from the proceeds of a weave neighborhoods within the 'green' and'blue' structure, and we also start to describe some of the standards that could be used to make up those neighbor- hot dog.and bake sale held by " the Fireflies. . Fire Chief Joe hoods. McMahon encourages the McLaughlin emphasizes that this is what is called a "strategic" or "vision" plan, citizens of Hugo to take meaning it conceptualizes how the city will evolve. "It is a very basic format— advantage of this chance to essentially a stepping stone to the next level, which is a comprehensive plan for meet the people who are the City that includes this vision." dedicated to providing the Hugo's Community Development Director John Rask believes that the most community with emergency significant part of the plan is that it provides"a framework for the expansion and medical and fire services. The redevelopment of what we're referring to as central Hugo—the historical down- Fire Department is located at :own area." Rask also notes that this framework takes into consideration natur- 5323 140th Street North, one al features and reflects the traditional "downtown" design concepts, such as block west of Nadeau's Market. buildings located close to the street with a mix of uses and public spaces.