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Planning Commission takes no action

Hancock council may take up Navy St. issue

HANCOCK -- Monday's Hancock Planning Commission meeting yielded no further action on Navy Street.

According to planning commission members, the items to give approval for Navy Street site plans were tabled after the motions failed to pick up a second.

Andy Lahti gave a presentation on his development plans, which included a slideshow detailing the history of the property. Taylor Auguston, whose parcels are directly to the west of Portage Lakeside Condos, gave his presentation using his site plans.

After the two presentations from the proposed developers, one Portage Lakeside Condominium resident said she was not impressed. Nancy Bugni, wife of PLC Association President Glenn Bugni, said Auguston's plans were less concrete than Lahti's.

"Taylor Auguston's plan is the same as it was before," she said. "[It] doesn't show the easements, doesn't show our condo or townhouses. There's a road that's not even accurate. Very insufficient."

Bugni added she liked Lahti's plans and called them professional. Lathi's property is to the east of the west portion of Navy Street, near the Dakota Street and Lake Avenue intersection in Hancock.

Planning Commission Member Adam Griffis said Lathi's site plan would need to get additional approval from the city's Department of Public Work. Unlike Auguston's property, there is road access, but there is no fire truck access at this time.

"It seemed like most of the public pushback on Auguston's plan was from residents of the condo association," Griffis said. "There's just too many questions that we shouldn't have been considering it for approval."

Planning Commission Member and Mayor Kurt Rickard made two motions for approval of the site plans. Rickard said no other planning commission member would make a second, so the approvals were tabled for a future meeting.

"The planning commission members decided they didn't want to do that," he said. "I think the feeling right now by the planning commission is that there's more information that they need. Plus, neither one of them (projects) have very good access."

For Nancy Bugni, the issue has gone on for years. She said Hancock trying to hastily develop with Auguston's plan is a safety concern.

"We need to have an engineering plan that constructs a road with retaining walls and tie-backs for our safety," she said. "This is the bottom line. We're concerned about the safety of all of us on Navy Street. We don't want to have another Ripley."

Bugni added her concerns include the rocky hill above the PLC garages which would be dug into if the Navy Street extension were to be developed. Bugni said she suggests a core drilling study to be done, in order to avert an environmental disaster, like the 2018 Ripley floods.

Rickard said Wednesday's city council meeting will have a work session regarding Navy Street, if councilors vote to have it. The Daily Mining Gazette will have full coverage of Wednesday's Hancock City Council meeting in Friday’s edition.