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Lift Station

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Oakes Park Lift Station: How’d We Get Here?

Patch sat down with City Engineer John Bradford to better understand the process that led to the controversial project.

The decision to put a lift station in Oakes Park sparked swift criticism from neighbors who both disagreed with the decision to put sewer infrastructure in a park and felt they’d been left out of the planning process. Hopkins Patch sat down with City Engineer John Bradford to better understand the process Hopkins and the Metropolitan Council used and why they made the decisions they did. That process is specific to the lift station in its details. But in its broad brushstrokes, it echoes the steps for any project undertaken in the city. Whenever a community undertakes a major project, it will face many of the same challenges. “The idea is how do we best use public money, how do we get the infrastructure the city needs—and you can’t make …

In this Article:

Oakes Park, Public Servant of the Week: City Engineer John Bradford, City of Hopkins - City Hall, and 7 more ›

Norman Teigen

8:40 am on Thursday, June 14, 2012

Nice piece of reporting, James. I, too, think that the City Council and the staff have handled this situation with due care for the best interests of all. Public policy law requires that public matters be done in the open. I think that your reporting indicates that this has been accomplished. Our little city has its own history and identity but at the same time it is part of the larger community…   more ›

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Neighbors Still Feel Left Out of Oakes Park Discussions

At a Wednesday community meeting, residents said they haven't had sufficient opportunity for input.

(CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article gave an incorrect location for the current lift station. The existing lift station is across the street from Cottageville Park on the northwest corner of Blake Road and Lake Street.)   Oakes Park neighbors are still speaking out against the city’s decision to allow a lift station in the park even as the Metropolitan Council proceeds with its planning process. The Met Council hosted a meeting Wednesday that was intended to offer residents a chance to learn about the project and discuss the design. But several residents still wanted to address the city’s decision to locate the new lift station there in the first place. Echoing concerns voiced at a March 23 City Council meeting, residents …

In this Article:

Oakes Park Lift Station Plan Angers Neighbors, Puzzle-like Deal Moves Cottageville Park Plan Forward, Cottageville Park, and 2 more ›

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Critics Continue Fight As Oakes Park Lift Station Advances

The Met Council is hosting a meeting Wednesday to discuss the wastewater pumping station’s design, but dedicated opponents are still working to kill the project.

Metropolitan Council members will be seeking input on the design of an Oakes Park lift station Wednesday, but some Hopkins residents continue to fight a sewer project that appears to be all but a done deal.  “I think the City Council made it clear that they don’t care how we the residents feel,” said C. Braun. Braun and 2011 mayoral candidate Garold Healy estimate they’ve hung about 100 flyers asking residents around the park to speak out against the decision to put a lift station, or wastewater pumping station, in Oakes Park. They’ve also continued asking people to sign a petition against the project. The lift station is part of a complicated trade in which the Met Council gives Hopkins additional property for Cottageville Park in …

In this Article:

Oakes Park, 2011 Hopkins Mayoral Candidates, Puzzle-like Deal Moves Cottageville Park Plan Forward, and 5 more ›

Met Council Plans May 30 Neighborhood Meeting for Lift Station Project

The meeting will offer residents a chance to learn about the Oakes Park project and provide their input.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Met Council Plans May 30 Neighborhood Meeting for Lift Station Project

The meeting will offer residents a chance to learn about the Oakes Park project and provide their input.

The Metropolitan Council invites residents to a neighborhood meeting May 30 to learn about a lift station planned for Oakes Park.  The lift station, or wastewater pumping station, is part of a complicated trade in which the Met Council gives Hopkins additional property for Cottageville Park in exchange for the Oakes Park property. The meeting will offer an opportunity to: The meeting takes place from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at 43 Hoops Basketball Academy (1002 Second St. N.E.). Hopkins planners have high hopes for the Oakes Park lift station project, but residents around the park haven’t been as receptive to the idea—arguing in March that the Cottageville expansion was coming at their expense.   Stay up to date on all your local news. Sign up …

In this Article:

Oakes Park Lift Station Neighborhood Meeting, Oakes Park, Puzzle-like Deal Moves Cottageville Park Plan Forward, and 4 more ›

Friday, March 23, 2012

Oakes Park Lift Station Plan Angers Neighbors

The lift station is part of a land swap with the Met Council that will expand Cottageville Park.

Residents around Oakes Park are fighting back against a plan to build a sewage lift station in the park as part of a complicated trade-off that would expand Cottageville Park—an improvement that Oakes Park residents say would come at their expense. “This is my home. I face the park. I face directly where this will be. I don’t want it. I oppose it, and I’m also very angry,” a Kassie Court resident said, handing over a petition with 122 signatures opposing the project. The dispute arose at Tuesday’s City Council meeting when members considered an agreement with the Metropolitan Council to build a lift station needed to replace the aging facility currently located near Cottageville Park. The city sees the Met Council's need as an opportunity …

In this Article:

Oakes Park, Puzzle-like Deal Moves Cottageville Park Plan Forward, and Cottageville Park

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