IS IT THE MEGA MALL?
“I am wondering what they are building at the intersection of Cochrane Road and Highway 101. I have heard that it is a 66-acre outdoor shopping mall, and will include a Whole Foods store. That’s the rumor.”
RED PHONE:
You are partially correct, caller. It will be a 66-acre outdoor shopping mall east of Highway 101 and Cochrane Avenue, but there are no plans for a Whole Foods store. However, included in the 650,000-square-feet of retail space (2.5 times larger than Cochrane Plaza) are Target (which will increase its size from 80,000 square feet at the existing Cochrane Plaza store to 125,000 square feet in its new location), Petco (with pets and fish), Circuit City, Cost Plus, Staples, Sleep Train, a drive-thru Starbucks and a Starbucks/Pizza Hut in Target, Chilis, Red Robin, Jamba Juice and Cold Stone Creamery. These businesses are all part of phase one, with a completion date set for July 2007.
Garrett Toy, Morgan Hill’s director of business assistance and housing services, wrote a column in the Sept. 22 Morgan Hill Times business section and beat us to the punch on this answer. But, hey, we’re still ecstatic about the Circuit City.
public works doesn’t seem to be working correctly
“Morgan Hill Department of Public Works notified every mailing address on the street on which I reside (Carriage Drive) that parking would be restricted Aug. 29 for road work. Barricades were placed on the street stating the restriction along with a warning that all cars would be towed. Hundreds of people were inconvenienced, the city spent valuable time and money for the notification, and nobody ever showed up!
I attempted to contact Mori Struve, Deputy Director at Morgan Hill Department of Public Works and was informed he was in a meeting. I left a voice mail message on Aug. 29 at 3:30pm that as of yet has not been responded to. Today I spoke with Mr. Struve’s assistant, and I was informed that Mr. Struve went home at noon the previous day for medical reasons. Mr. Struve’s assistant also said she had no insight into the debacle, or even whether it was the city or an outside contractor that dropped the ball, and she doubted if Mr. Struve knew either because he was working with a consultant.
City Hall states that the elected officials have no oversight, Public Works has no explanation, and I can’t find the ringleader of the circus. Beyond me wanting an explanation and an apology, I want to know how big the problem is, and who is responsible.”
RED PHONE:
Mori Struve, Morgan Hill’s public works deputy director, explained the street work in question by our reader relates to pavement crack sealing. He said the work is most efficiently done with vehicles off the street so the contractor can have full access to find, clean and fill pavement cracks.
The crack sealing work was scheduled and noticed for Carriage Drive on Aug. 29, but unfortunately the contractor doing the work had last minute equipment problems and had to skip this area. The contractor returned Sept. 1 and completed the work.
Struve apologized for any inconvenience caused to any Morgan Hill resident. He said it’s the city’s typical practice to re-notice residents in the event of work being delayed.
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