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THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2024 VOL. 21 NO. 16 www.readthecitizen.com $1.00
BLUE HERON DAYS: New attractions and parade route PAGES 9-12
What we’ll be reading about in 10 years BY LORETTA B. HARDING CONTRIBUTING WRITER
Four sites that are the current focus of future development in Centerville recently received in-person visits from council members, staff and committee members. A future community center in Laurie LaMotte Park, development on the west side of Main Street, a possible roundabout at Centerville Road and Main Street, and improvements to a city well were visited.
A possible community center at Laurie LaMotte Park
CONTRIBUTED
Josiah Cullen (right) and Jared Long (left) are two nonverbal autistic young adults who want to spread joy to others through selling popcorn and goodie bags. Also pictured are their mothers Tahni Cullen (right) and Melissa Long (left).
Two autistic teenagers spread joy through popcorn BY ERIK SUCHY STAFF WRITER
Friends Josiah Cullen and Jared Long have different interests, but what brings them together is spreading joy to others.
Cullen and Long met at ages 5 and 7 as patients at the Partners In Excellence Autism Therapy Center in North St. Paul. Cullen lives in Hugo, while Long lives in Cottage Grove. Both are autistic nonverbal speakers
who communicate by writing on letter boards. Although the two bonded, they lost touch after Jared left to attend public school when almost 9. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Josiah’s mom,
Tahni, who had been homeschooling Josiah, devised a fun project for the two to work on. “During the holidays, we wanted to do something
The city is beginning discussion about the feasibility of a community center following numerous citizen requests. The Centerville Lions have also expressed a desire to partner with the city to help with the project. Laurie LaMotte Park, is not the only location for a community center it’s considered the preferred site. Within its 16 acres LaMotte Park has a warming house, which is in poor condition and could be the site a of a new community site. Expansion of the current parking lot would be necessary to support a community center.
SEE KERNELS OF JOY, PAGE 2
SEE CENTERVILLE TOUR, PAGE 7
The Shores of Oneka Lake adds apartment units, site grows Apartment buildings are set to be added to the proposed Shores of Oneka Lake development. Oneka Fields would include five apartment buildings, each containing 12 units for a total of 60 apartments. This will bring the total units on the property to 279 units. Fenway Land Company proposed a planned unit development (PUD) and a preliminary plat for the apartment buildings to be added to the site’s general plan. The Shores of Oneka Lake general plan was approved by the Hugo City Council in May 2022. It included 218 residential lots that were a combination of single-family homes, villa homes and twin
homes. Recently, there was a PUD amendment to change some of the undeveloped twin home lots into carriage home lots. This brought the total residential units to 219. “When we initially designed the Shores of Oneka Lake and we placed these townhomes/apartments in this area, we also thought that it was a good transition from the existing single-family to some multi-family (homes),” said Mark Guenther, of Fenway Land Company. “It’s a great location for the apartments.” Oneka Fields will include one-bedroom, twobedroom and three-bedroom apartments. They will range anywhere from 850 to 1,450 square feet. Each apartment unit will have its own garage, main entrance and parking space. Additional off-street
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parking spaces will be available for residents and guests. “It is acting more like a townhome product,” said SEE ONEKA FIELDS, PAGE 5
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A design of what the apartment complexes would look like at Oneka Fields. It would feature five, 12-unit apartment buildings.
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