Hazen Star News
Hazen is born - City platted 100 years ago today
If there was a date that marked the beginning of Hazen, then most people would point to Nov. 7.
City approves anhydrous tank
Health Care Marketplace open
By Chris Erickson The Health Care marketplace has been open since the beginning of October, and although applicants faced early challenges enrolling, the process is moving ahead.
SMC increases assets by $600K
Plans for jail, courthouse take shape
The Mercer County Courthouse and Jail expansion could cost upwards of $10 million. County commissioners reviewed designed plans with Scott Fettig of Klein McCarthy Architects October 16 during a regular meeting in Stanton. The Bismarck company president said the project could be completed as early as November 2015.
City may annex Enerbase facility
Vote for center set for Nov. 4 By April Baumgarten Hazen may expand its limits to include a proposed agronomy center, which could generate the taxes needed to maintain roads, city commissioners said Monday. President Mark Nygard reported on a recent Hazen Planning and Zoning Board meeting for Enerbase Agronomy. The Washburn-based company proposed to build an agronomy center east of the closed Hazen Elevator. The nine-acre plot would include a 60,000-gallon anhydrous ammonia tank. The board passed a conditional-use permit and zoning change from agriculture to industrial 3-2. The meeting attracted more than 50 supporters and opponents. Some residents voiced concerns for safety and traffic issues, including who would be responsible for maintaining the road for Enerbase’s traffic. “We have to remember that we have reduced the grain traffic,” Commissioner Jerry Obenauer Jr. said. “Farmers aren’t using the grain elevator anymore. The traffic with grain trucks is supposed to be heavier than the anhydrous traffic.” The company was open to allowing the city to annex the land into the city but hasn’t sent in a formal request, Nygard said. “I think they will probably be more than willing to pursue that,” he said. “If they agree to a voluntary annexation the process is simple.”
‘Not in my backyard’
Rezoning, permit approved for anhydrous tank By April Baumgarten Farmers may be in trouble next year if Hazen doesn’t approve plans for an anhydrous tank near Riverside Park, officials said. But residents echoed one phrase last week at City Hall: Not in my backyard. “I find it very disrespectful that anyone would even consider building a plant of hazardous material in my backyard, in somebody’s backyard,” Mel Gutknecht said. “I have a lot of friends that are farmers and I am not in opposition (of the center). I am in opposition of the location.” More than 50 residents attended the Hazen Planning and Zoning meeting Oct. 16. Proponents and opponents spoke for two hours on Enerbase Agronomy’s requests to build an agronomy center. The board voted 3-2 to change nine acres of land east of the Hazen Elevator from agricultural to industrial. “We have a tendency to want to have a perfect world,” board member Clayton Hoffman said. “We look at what the ag community has done for this area. The elevator is gone. We need to support this community of farmers in the best way possible.”
Water board continues work on Lake Shore
After surveying the land that holds Lake Shore Estates, the Mercer County Water Resource Board has determined water flows into the development.
