MAPLE PLAIN, MN – A motorcyclist avoided serious injuries when he was involved in a crash on Highway 12 Tuesday afternoon.

At about 2:15 p.m., a motorcycle ridden by Joel Mastel, 60, of Buffalo, was westbound on Highway 12 near the intersection with Hennepin County Road 29 when it rear-ended a westbound truck.

Mastel was thrown from the motorcycle and onto the pavement. He sustained several abrasions and a possible broken collar bone, and was taken by ambulance to Buffalo Hospital.

He was wearing a helmet at the time.

Sgt. Rick Denneson, of the West Hennepin Public Safety Department, investigated the crash.

“Mr. Mastel was fortunate to be wearing a good quality helmet,” Denneson said. “The gouges and scrapes on the helmet show the severity of the impact it took. His situation would have been critically worse had he not been wearing one.”

The driver of the other vehicle was uninjured.

Police departments from Medina and Orono, as well as the Maple Plain Fire Department, assisted at the scene.

The Delano Herald Journal team was at the Final Four men’s basketball tournament. See what Sports Editor Matt Kane saw during the three games by clicking HERE.

DELANO, MN – Delano City Council approved a development agreement for the Harvest Ridge Development Tuesday, seven months after plans for a Kwik Trip – as well as a Caribou Coffee and Einstein Bros. Bagels combination – at the site between Flippin Bill’s and Cemstone along Highway 12 became public.

“I think we’ve come up with a good document that is consistent with other things we do,” City Administrator Phil Kern said.

The project is unique in that it does not include public improvements, as the property will be privately owned and divided into saleable lots and outlots.

Most of the work for the site will be grading to create a lower and upper pad.

There are two forms of financial security in play, though neither is guaranteed to the city, Kern said.

“They are going to start grading the site with an agreement with an end user,” Kern said. “That end user is providing a significant amount of money upfront. That’s what the developer is using to make sure they get paid. This would make us a party to that . . . In the event that something happens, and it gets started, and not finished, and the end user takes action to receive funds, we would be able to specially assess the project and complete what needs to be completed . . . to protect adjacent properties.”

All plans are required to be approved by the city planner, attorney, engineer, and staff.

“I am confident this agreement is essentially complete,” Kern said. “Both parties have been working hard on this the last few weeks.”

See more coverage of Tuesday’s meeting in Friday’s edition.

INDEPENDENCE, MN — A crash at Hennepin County Road 11 at Woodhill Drive seriously injured an Independence man at about 6:30 a.m. Friday.

According to West Hennepin Public Safety Department Chief Gary Kroells, a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Jeremie Berg, 44, of Independence, was westbound on County Road 11 when it crossed the centerline and struck a 2014 Chevrolet Silverado driven by Aaron Wagner, 22, of Delano.

After the initial crash, an eastbound 2010 Mazda CX driven by Lisa Krebsbach, 57, of Buffalo, was struck by Berg’s vehicle.

Additionally, Jordan Renfro, 23, of Medina, had pulled his 1976 Sportster motorcycle onto the shoulder of eastbound County Road 11, as his motorcycle had run out of gas. He and his motorcycle were hit, causing minor injuries.

Berg was airlifted to North Memorial Hospital with serious injuries. Wagner was transported to Ridgeview Hospital in Waconia by North Memorial Ambulance. Krebsbach was not injured, and her vehicle sustained minor damage.

Minnesota State Patrol is assisting WHPSD with reconstruction of the crash, which remains under investigation.

Medina Police, Minnetrista Police, the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office Crime Lab, Loretto Fire Department, and Maple Plain Fire Department assisted at the scene.

DELANO, MN – Delano City Council will consider a preliminary plat for one housing development; final plats for two other housing developments; a preliminary plat for the West Metro Business Park Second Addition; a site and building plan review and conditional use permit for KLN Foods to locate in the business park.

A preliminary plat for a development named Greywood will be considered.

Greywood is planned for 99 acres in southwestern Delano. A total of 239 single-family lots are planned for the development.

The second housing development on the agenda is Liberty Landing, located along Wright County Road 16 between Fox Meadow and the Crow River. Plans call for the development to have 96 single-family lots.

A 49-lot single-family residential subdivision named Highland Ridge Seventh Addition is the final housing development on the agenda.

In response to land-area requirements of two pending business park development projects – Landscape Structures and KLN – the city has initiated a replat of the West Metro Business Park  First Addition, as well as a two-lot preliminary and final plat for the second addition. The second addition will incorporate an additional 11.7 acres of land west of the first addition subdivision, which is 27.5 acres.

KLN has submitted plans for the construction of a 201,000-square-foot processing and warehouse facility in the business park. The development plans call for several future expansions within the next five to 10 years, which would total 273,080 square feet, for a total of 474,080 square feet.

In other business, the council will:

• review a request from the public safety commission to change the name of County Road 30 Southeast to School Drive from County Road 17 to County Line Road.

• review a special event permit application, submission deadlines, and related fee schedule.

• review an erosion control policy and related amendments to the city’s building permit application.

There was plenty of flow on the Delano roster this state tournament, and those who make the decisions for the annual hockey hair team noticed. Check out the video HERE.