Rice and Browns Creek Watershed changes in Hugo

Last week at the Hugo City Council meeting changes to the Browns Creek and Rice Creek Watershed dividing line were approved. See attached map. The areas in pink went from Browns Creek to Rice Creek and the areas in green went from Rice Creek to Browns Creek. I received a letter in the mail informing me of this action a few weeks ago and the whole thing smelled a bit fishy to me so I did some investigating. I was concerned that a large property holder was trying to reclassify their land to be more development friendly as the difference between the two watersheds is that Rice Creek doesn’t have buffer restrictions around delineated wetlands. So, that can be a big deal for someone trying to increase density.

I spoke to Rice Creek and Rachel Zuba at the City of Hugo and was told that it wasn’t a developer for a particular piece of land but that it was in response to a prior watershed delineation of the watershed line that was done incorrectly. They said that it was brought up by John Waller and the previous City of Hugo mayor Mike McCallister. I called Mike and spoke with him about it and it seemed like he was trying to set the record straight and that it wasn’t about any particular property being developed. His property was incorrectly classified and he was aware of this because he was mayor at the time of the previous survey and he wanted to set it straight.

My main concern was how Wild Wings game farm has now been reclassified as in the Rice Creek watershed district. They still need to adhere to current density and zoning requirements in the area, which is long term agricultural (10 acre min lot size) but the lack of a buffer requirement could really be advantageous for them if the decide to sell and develop (which I hear rumblings about).

My other concern with this process is how very few homeowners in the area were actually notified about the change. I was the only one of the immediate neighbors that I spoke with that received a letter about this. That’s what also made me a bit suspicious. The City of Hugo mentioned this as well. If this were a big concern or change to the area the local authorities need to follow protocols and notify all those affected.