Friday, January 4, 2013
The biggest stories of the past 12 months.
To be sure, 2012 saw its share of challenges. But it also saw much of the community’s long-term vision start to become a reality. Here are some of the biggest stories to shape Hopkins over the past year. Cottageville Park Plans Start to Take Shape Residents started to see changes around Cottageville Park in April 2011, when Minnehaha Creek Watershed District tore down buildings on properties south of the park. But 2012 was the year that the community started coming together to decide how the newly expanded park should be used. The discussion culminated in a plan first presented in mid December. That plan includes features, such as a green roof pavilion and remade landscape, that could push the redesign cost up to $5.8 million. Eighth…
Thursday, November 1, 2012
The $3 million will help business deal with the impact of the Shady Oak Road expansion.
Hennepin County has formally approved the transfer of money that will help local businesses manage the expansion of Shady Oak Road. The County Board on Tuesday agreed to transfer $3 million in Community Works project funds to the Hennepin County Housing and Redevelopment Authority. The transfer is part of an agreement to alleviate some of the pain from the Shady Oak Road expansion. The tentative plan for the money is similar to an arrangement discussed in March. Under that plan, someone would buy two properties, demolish one building, build a new structure, renovate another and then rearrange the tenants. (Check out the PDF above to see how the project could look. Click here for a more-detailed look at the plan.) That would require the …
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
A city proposal to redevelop the properties hasn’t alleviated all concerns.
Hopkins council members signed off on preliminary plans for the Shady Oak Road expansion amid the protest of three people who spoke against the project Tuesday. Rick Nelson, owner of Nelson’s Meat Market and Bakery, was critical of a plan the city put together to save as many businesses as possible—worrying that it still wouldn’t leave sufficient parking. “The project, the way it is right now, I’m just not sure it’s going to work with the business owners,” he said. City leaders have been searching for a way to help businesses ever since word came down that the road would be narrower than expected. That would bring the road within a few feet of some Shady Oak businesses—just enough to remove essential parking without giving them the money …
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City of Hopkins - City Hall
1010 1st St S, Hopkins, MN
/articles/video-hopkins-approves-shady-oak-plans-despite-ongoing-worries
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Thursday, March 15, 2012
City leaders are searching for a way to help businesses because of a road project that would make it impossible to do business on some properties.
After considering three or four possibilities, planners are zeroing in on a redevelopment plan for businesses hurt by the Shady Oak Road expansion project. City leaders have been searching for a way to help businesses ever since word came down that the road would be narrower than expected. That would bring the road within a few feet of some Shady Oak businesses—just enough to remove essential parking without giving them the money that would have helped property owners move. At Tuesday’s City Council work session, Kersten Elverum, the city’s director of economic development and planning, called the search for a way around this a “project within a project.” The entities are still a ways away from a firm plan—and the affected property owners …
Norman Teigen
9:35 am on Saturday, January 5, 2013
Good summary, I think. You might also have included a summary of the City's budget and information about the City's financial condition. The news is good. For 2013 I think that the City Council and city staff might try to become even more involved in keeping the citizens of Hopkins informed about issues and developments. The Oakes Park lift station issue suggests that there was a deficiency in … more ›