Richfield Redevelopment Projects Move Ahead; School Board Adopts New Budget

The Richfield City Council had a full agenda last week, which mostly centered around its redevelopment initiatives throughout the city:

• The city council met with members of the Richfield Housing and Redevelopment Authority (HRA) and Richfield Planning Commission for a special work session March 21 . The Cornerstone Group, which developed and owns the Kensington Park development on 76th Street and Lyndale Avenue, presented its initials plans for the redevelopment of the site.
• The city council held another special work session with the Richfield Chamber of Commerce before its regular meeting March 22 to hear about the potential for . The council heard presentations on current and future projects from developers, business investors and more. Projects included the building of a new McDonalds at Cedar Point Commons and of an O’Reilly Auto Parts on 66th Street and 12th Avenue.

While these were the big stories around town, here’s what else happened last week:

Government

The city council approved a vacant property ordinance, which requires property owners to register the property with the city. The goal of the ordinance is to allow the city to keep track of properties and be able to take action if they are not properly maintained. For the full story, click .

House Minority Leader Paul Thissen expressed his concerns about and also stated that a Republican .

State Rep. Linda Slocum said in a press release that a .

Schools

The after finding it would likely have more money in the general fund at the end of the next school year. This new budget may also decrease the number of layoffs expected at the end of this year. For the full story, click here.

Sheridan Hills Elementary School collected more than $2,300 for Pennie for Patients over a three week period. To see pictures, click .

Police and Fire

A Richfield man plead guilt to . The man sent threatening letters through the mail to his co-workers at the Embassy Suites in Bloomington, MN.

Richfield Public Safety officers charged a man with , in addition to responding to multiple other incidents throughout the week.

Business

In addition to the talks of new businesses and projects at city council work sessions, Richfield Patch found that set up shop decades ago in the city.

Arc’s Value Village announced that volunteers who log at least 10 hours before April 30 have the chance to .

Sports

Richfield Patch looked back on the great seasons of the Richfield High School girls and boys basketball teams. For the full story, click .

The Neighborhood Files

Richfield Patch highlighted five more homes in its feature and also detailed four homes that were the previous week.