At 11 a.

Saturday, April 07, 2001

At 11 a.m. Monday, shovels will be poised to scoop that first bit of dirt from the soil of Austin’s Murphy Creek housing development.

The groundbreaking will be attended by the developer, Podawiltz Development Corp. of St. Cloud, and members of Apex Austin and the Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Austin, both partners in the project. Also present will be representatives of the Hormel Foundation, the Greater Minnesota Housing Finance Agency and the Austin City Council.

Local representatives at the state level have been invited as well. All indications are Gov. Jesse Ventura will not be at the groundbreaking, although Mayor Bonnie Rietz invited him when he visited Austin in late January.

The final platting of Murphy’s Creek was approved at the April 2 City Council meeting in a 6-1 vote. Second Ward Councilman Pete Christopherson was the only dissenter, in keeping with his opposition to tax-increment finance (TIF) districts. On Feb. 20, the council approved TIF District No. 12, which includes the Murphy’s Creek development.

At the April 2 council meeting, Kermit Mahan, director of the Housing and Redevelopment Authority of Austin, said Midwest Diesel plans to construct additional buildings on the property that will screen diesel smoke and noise from the development site. Concerns about children, who eventually will occupy the townhomes and single-family homes in the development, playing in the creek were raised.

"It’s a place to play, but a dangerous place," Second Ward Councilwoman Jeanne Poppe said.

"In any area, where there is water is where it is attractive to play," First Ward Councilwoman Mickey Jorgenson stated.

Third Ward Councilman Dick Lang said he was confident with the engineering and discussions the HRA, Apex, the developer and the GMHFA have engaged in.

"It looks very promising," he said.

The groundbreaking will take place in the 2400 block of Fourth Street SW, in the Lone Oaks subdivision near Midwest Diesel.

Call Kevira Mertha at 434-2233 or e-mail her at newsroom@austindailyherald.com.