Council Member's Message

Minneapolis is a city of plans. We have neighborhood small area plans, larger community plans like the Central Avenue Small Area Plan and the Lowry Avenue NE Corridor Plan, and citywide plans like our transportation action plan Access Minneapolis. Overarching all of these plans is the City’s Comprehensive Plan, a document that shapes how Minneapolis will grow and change.

The City’s Comprehensive Plan provides a common vision for elected officials, City staff, developers, neighborhood groups and other community stakeholders and guides implementation to ensure progress toward that vision. The plan covers issues such as housing, job creation, environmental systems, public health, the design of new buildings, and how we use our streets. Because planning is a dynamic process, we revisit and update our plan every ten years.  To that end, we launched Minneapolis 2040, a multi-year planning and update process, in 2016. Once the Comp Plan update is completed, it will spur updates to Access Minneapolis, the Central Avenue plan and more.

As one of the members of the Minneapolis 2040 steering committee, I have been closely involved in shaping the plan’s vision and priorities. In April 2016 I authored a resolution establishing the goals of our Comp Plan update, with an emphasis on ensuring equitable outcomes in the built, natural and economic environment. To read that resolution, click HERE.

Civic engagement is an essential piece of this process and I encourage everyone to get involved and make your voice heard. I’ve talked with many Ward One stakeholders about Minneapolis 2040 at neighborhood meetings and events, one-on-one and in groups, and will continue to do so as the process moves forward. Please visit the Minneapolis 2040 website to learn more about the process, timeline, and engagement opportunities: https://minneapolis2040.com/.

Council Member's Message

Traffic safety has always been one of the paramount concerns of First Ward residents and businesses. Everyone, myself included, would like to see safer streets and fewer crashes. And to that end, I'm proud of the work we've already done to create a better environment for pedestrians, bikers and vehicles alike. One example is the innovative program we launched this year to upgrade our crosswalks citywide with more visible durable markings. Another is the traffic calming work we continue to do on Johnson Street, including new lane markings and a pedestrian island. We have a curb-separated ped/bike path coming on 18th Avenue and have seen a record number of ADA installations and curb bump-outs across the Ward. However, more needs to be done. 

This September the Transportation & Public Works Committee that I chair will take the first steps to establish a Vision Zero policy, aimed at eliminating fatalities and serious injuries while expanding safe and equitable mobility for everyone. This exciting and innovative approach has the potential to dramatically reshape our response to traffic safety.

Vision Zero was first implemented in Sweden in the 1990s, has had impressive results in Europe and is now being considered in a number of major US cities. It utilizes cross-disciplinary collaboration between traffic engineers, transit planners, public safety and public health professionals, policymakers, and the community to address the complex issues of traffic safety and it employs data-driven strategies and community input to craft solutions.

The first step in the process will be a resolution committing to Vision Zero, followed by the development of an action plan. The goal is the elimination of fatalities and serious injuries from crashes within our city by 2027. Stay tuned for more about this initiative which will greatly enhance work moving forward in our Ward and across the city.

Council Member's Message

Whenever we've seen a change in MPD leadership over the past seven years, whether at the Precinct or the citywide level, I have offered our community an opportunity to meet with the new leadership. This year is no exception, as Acting Chief Medaria Arradondo takes over from former Chief Harteau.  I invite you to check out the details below about our upcoming Ward One Community Forum and join us on August 15. Imani Jaafar, the Director of the Office of Police Conduct Review, and Jennifer Singleton, Vice Chair of the Police Conduct Oversight Commission, will also be joining us.

I'd also like to remind you about the upcoming Eastside BBQ on August 24. This will be the eleventh year of this great event which brings together the community, local businesses, and students and families to celebrate and support our Eastside schools. Come for dinner, meet new people, join in on a game in Jackson Square Park or the Basin, and enjoy the entertainment. All of our Eastside schools will be holding their open houses that day. See the article below for the details. The Eastside BBQ is one of our community's signature events and I hope to see you there!

Council Member's Message

I am pleased to announce that the City Council is poised to undertake the restoration of $10 million in Neighborhood Revitalization Program funds that were frozen in 2010. This development represents positive news for our neighborhoods and their ability to continue their vital community development, livability and outreach work.

As background, back in 2010 in the face of significant residential property tax increases, the City Council voted to shrink the size of the Consolidated TIF District that funded NRP dollars in order to provide property tax relief. I voted against it. I also offered some alternative routes to property tax reduction that wouldn't take NRP dollars away from our neighborhoods. I didn't prevail, but I also held out hope that a basic sense of fairness would lead to these funds eventually being restored.

That day has come. Action will shortly be coming forward to the full council to make our neighborhood funding whole by restoring the original $10 million in funding. I am pleased to have been able to help make this possible and gratified that we are taking an action that affirms the great value our neighborhoods bestow on the City as a whole.

Council Member's Message

As Chair of Transportation & Public Works I have worked diligently for several years to address the infrastructure needs of our City, a task that has become evermore pressing as we've seen increasing gaps between those needs and our ability to meet them. The initial step in addressing this situation was a comprehensive needs assessment, followed by an exploration of the best and most innovative techniques for improvement. Once that work was done, it remained to find the resources to fund this essential work. That final piece was put in place through our generational investment in the 20 year $400 million Streets funding plan which allows us to increase improvements above the baseline service level. All of that being done, I'm pleased to announce that our first action of 2017, with several to follow, is the upcoming Concrete Streets Rehabilitation project in the Waite Park neighborhood.

This project will undertake the repair and resurfacing of concrete streets that were originally constructed in the mid-1960s. This is work that has been a priority for me for some time and that will significantly improve the functionality of these streets for a variety of users and augment the livability of the neighborhood.

As background, approximately 160 of the City’s 1100 miles of streets are constructed of Portland cement concrete. This was a new type of infrastructure in the 1960s and concrete streets were touted to have a much longer lifespan than asphalt streets. However, the tried and true techniques that have been long developed for asphalt street repair are not appropriate for concrete streets, so Public Works has needed to develop special methods for extending their functionality. To that end, the streets around Cavell Park were the subject of a concrete rehabilitation pilot project in 2013. The success of that pilot has made it possible to now undertake extensive work on the Waite Park neighborhood’s network of concrete streets. To put this in perspective, 6 miles worth of work will be done in the Waite Park neighborhood this year, which is double what has been done on concrete streets across the whole city in past years.

The infrastructure that enables people to live, work and play in our City and enhances the livability of our neighborhoods is a core responsibility of municipal government. We've put all the pieces in place and now it's Go Time in the First Ward!

Council Member's Message

As the City Council approaches the final days of budget setting for 2017, I believe it’s useful to highlight some aspects of this complex process. While the overall City budget is large, those dollars get broken down into specific department budgets. Each department is overseen by a Council committee that actively manages that department’s spending priorities and goals. Here is a small sample of the budgetary matters that I have been working on in the course of my committee work:

Transportation & Public Works

Due to our groundbreaking Streets & Parks funding agreement, the Public Works department is poised to significantly accelerate our infrastructure maintenance program beginning in 2017. This infusion of dollars will support the values we as a City have expressed through our Access Minneapolis Plan and our robust new Complete Streets Policy. Beyond that, the Public Works department will continue to have a key impact on sustainability in our City through their work on maintaining our water quality, innovating through stormwater infrastructure, and greening our City fleet.

Community Development & Regulatory Services

We have included significant resources for affordable housing projects and housing stabilization and these resources, such as the Affordable Housing Trust Fund, allow us to leverage additional dollars from outside resources and jurisdictional partners. The budget will also continue to support two important business support programs: B-TAP, the City’s business technical assistance program, and the newly-launched C-TAP, our co-op technical assistance program.

Public Safety, Civil Rights & Emergency Management

In addition to ensuring that we have a solid baseline of funding that supports the operations of the Second Precinct, I am particularly supportive of our funding for a new Co-Responder Pilot. This innovative program will pair Crisis-Intervention-trained police officers with mental health experts while responding to 911/CIT-related calls. This program, which was recommended by some strong community advocates as well as by the Police Conduct Oversight Commission (PCOC), offers significant promise as a de-escalation tool and I welcome its implementation, even as I encourage the Police Department to continue to seek new ways to foster a healthy community relationship.

There are still opportunities to make your voice heard on the City’s 2017 budget. In addition to the Dec. 7 public budget hearing at 6:05 in Room 317, City Hall, you can submit comments on the proposed budget online. All comments submitted online by 3 p.m. Dec. 6 will be entered into the public record and shared with the mayor and council members.

Council Member's Message

In 2014 the City's Public Works Department launched a worker recruitment initiative that was intended to offer concrete and practical strategies to help achieve the City's adopted goal of doing its part in creating opportunity for all Minneapolis residents. Very simply, Public Works leadership wanted to make stable, good-paying jobs within the department more accessible to a broader cross-section of job seekers in the City.

The approach to making this happen was two-fold. First, Public Works partnered with Human Resources to develop a Service Worker Trainee Program. This program reduced barriers to applicants by assisting them in obtaining the required Commercial Driver License (CDL) and one year of laboring experience. Secondly, Public Works included several new components into the recruitment process to reach a broader audience. Outreach included information sessions around the City, multi-lingual outreach in a variety of formats. Also, they partnered with several community job placement services and attended job and career fairs at local technical colleges.

I am pleased to announce that in 2016 we are seeing the first class of graduates from that program. Please see the story below to learn more about how this innovative program is increasing broader and more varied participation of people pursuing the great jobs in Public Works.

Earlier this month, the community celebrated a ribbon-cutting for the new Edison Plaza. On September 17, the community comes together again for a ribbon-cutting to celebrate the new Eastside Food Co-op. These two events, separated by little more than one week, speak volumes about the values and the vibrancy of the Ward One community.

Several years ago now, I began meeting with neighborhood leaders, Minneapolis Public Schools, Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board and other jurisdictions and organizations to discuss how we could nurture an environmentally sustainable green space in the heart of the First Ward. Since those early days, partners have brought together enormous resources to realize the vision of a Green Campus and of Edison High School as the greenest school in the state. From the parking lot renovation and the athletic field redesign to the creation of a community plaza and urban agriculture hub, this area has been completely transformed. And impressive as it is, there are still more improvements to come, including a significant solar installation. (Check out the story below for more details.)

Eastside Food Co-op was also the result of community partners coming together with a vision well over a decade ago and putting in the hard work to make that vision a reality. Now we see a more than $6 million renovation that will allow enhancement of Eastside’s mission of offering fair products at fair prices while embodying cooperative values that build and enhance the community. I hope you will stop by Eastside on Saturday, September 17, 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. to join in on this celebration.

We should be proud to see our community celebrating two such impressive achievements that speak so well to the strength of our schools and our economic vitality. Way to go, Ward One!

Council Member's Message

There are three upcoming events to bring to your attention as the summer winds down and we approach fall. First of all, the Eastside Community and School Barbeque will be held on Thursday, August 25. This annual event is an outstanding celebration of our schools, our students and our Eastside community as residents, businesses and local organizations all come together for food and festivity. It’s scheduled to coincide with the Eastside Schools open houses and offers us all an opportunity to support the youth of our community (see story below for more details).

Next up, I will be hosting a community forum on Tuesday, September 13 at 6:30 p.m. at the Firefighters Hall & Museum (664 – 22nd Avenue NE) to introduce Inspector Todd Loining. Police Chief Harteau recently announced some changes in the leadership of our City’s precincts, including moving Insp. Loining to the Second Precinct, while Insp. Waite has taken over the Fifth Precinct. I have every confidence that Inspector Loining will continue the strong Second Precinct tradition of community partnerships that has been the foundation of public safety in the First Ward.

Also on Tuesday, September 13, the Ward One Office is partnering with East Side Neighborhood Services on their 39th annual health and wellness event, Your Community for a Lifetime: A Health & Wellness Expo. This event, which takes place 10 a.m. to noon at 1700 2nd Street NE, connects community members with important resources and services to enhance their health and well-being.

I hope you'll be able to join me for one or more of these events in September!

Council Member's Message

I’m pleased to share news about two important reports that were released in June: the Clean Energy Partnership report and the 2015 Creative Vitality Index.

The Minneapolis Clean Energy Partnership was established in 2015 as a first-of-its-kind City-utility partnership between the City of Minneapolis, Xcel Energy and CenterPoint Energy. I and the other Clean Energy Partnership board members are charged with collaborating on strategies to help our city achieve the clean energy goals outlined in the City’s 2013 Climate Action Plan and Energy Vision for 2040. The Clean Energy Partnership’s inaugural report details highlights of its first year and the specifics of its two year work plan.

Much of the first year was dedicated to getting the Energy Vision Advisory Committee in place, as well as developing a work plan and metrics. During the course of this first year, rooftop solar installations in the City were up by 40% over the previous year and Home Energy Squad visits were increased by 68 % (see the story below for more information about receiving a free visit). Click HERE to read the two-year work plan.

The 2015 Creative Vitality Index report was also released in June. The findings showed that creative jobs have grown by 10.4 percent, outpacing overall job growth in the Minneapolis economy and the City retains its spot as the sixth highest metro index in the U.S., topping many larger municipalities. Our creative industries represented more than $4.5 billion in sales, a whopping number by any standard.

The 2015 Index included demographic data for the first time, offering some interesting insights into the makeup of our creative economy. For example, analysis found that a slightly higher percentage of women work in creative occupations in Minneapolis, than in the rest of the Metro and the country as a whole, while a lower percentage of people of color are represented in our local creative economy. The data also showed that the average creative worker has a lower hourly wage than other Minneapolis and metro workers. Click HERE to read the entire report.

Council Member's Message

At the end of May the City Council approved the City of Minneapolis’ Complete Streets Policy. This four page document is the result of substantial collaborative work by City staff, policy makers, stakeholder partners and community members to strike a reasonable balance between the various ways people move through and around our City.

In addition to accommodating the efficient movement of motor vehicles, the Complete Streets policy offers a framework for transportation planning that heightens awareness and consideration for walking, transit and biking, while providing acceptable levels of service for all modes of travel. The policy does not mean that every street in the City will have specific accommodations for all modes of travel. It does mean that modal priorities will inform the decision-making in the City's transportation planning. City of Minneapolis Transportation Planner Nathan Koster, who extensively researched national practices, describes the policy as "an exemplary model for establishing a consistent process for evaluating all travel modes as a part of public and private sector projects that influence the public right-of-way."

The Complete Streets Policy, combined with the Access Minneapolis Plan, represents one of the most extensive and forward-looking transit planning frameworks in the nation. The combination of these plans plus the additional resources for basic and advanced infrastructure that the Council recently enacted mean that Minneapolis is positioned to continue its nation-leading efforts for years to come. As a City we are poised to make significant upgrades to the ways in which our public infrastructure supports our residential stakeholders as well as increasing accessibility and increasing our commercial vitality.

Council Member's Messag

At the last Council meeting of April, I was very pleased to vote in favor of a 20 year spending plan that will ensure the future of our City’s roads and parks. This legislation, which passed unanimously, sets a new standard for our City by making a generational investment in our core municipal responsibilities.

Minneapolis’s parks are one of the elements that set our city apart and we need to treasure the fact that we have a system that ensures every citizen has at least one park within walking distance. Here in Ward One, we treasure our local parks and we’re very aware of the ways in which they serve as a locus for youth development and community-building. However, as we have been hearing for several months, many of our parks and recreation facilities are in varying states of disrepair. Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board (MPRB) leaders were weighing a voter referendum that would have resulted in a significant property tax increase over an extended period of time. Instead, the plan crafted by the City Council and MPRB will provide increased funding for needed maintenance, operations and capital improvements with a far less significant impact on taxpayer resources.

This plan also offers an opportunity to tackle one of the City’s most pressing needs: the upgrade and maintenance of our streets. This past March the Council received a thorough report about the current condition of our City streets, as well as upcoming maintenance and reconstruction needs. It was clear that action needed to be taken and I am pleased that this plan will keep our streets functioning at a higher level of condition well into the future.

I hope you will join District #1 Park Commissioner and MPRB President Liz Wielinski and me for a public Town Hall meeting on Monday, May 9, 7 p.m. at Columbia Manor to discuss this plan and its ramifications in more detail.

Council Member's Message

Earth Day and the coming of Spring make April an obvious month to continue to talk about news related to the environment, climate and sustainability, so I hope you'll check out the story below about the award Minneapolis' Clean Energy Partnership received from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last month. I was also pleased to author a resolution in support of Earth Hour and coordinate the turning off of City Hall clock tower lights to honor this global acknowledgement of the benefits of conservation. Click HERE for the text of that resolution.

On another note, I am very pleased to announce the upcoming kick-off event for C-TAP, the City of Minneapolis' new Co-op Technical Assistance Program. I hope many of you will want to join us on Wednesday, April 20, 5:30-7:30, at Open Book, 1011 Washington Avenue S, to learn more about this innovative initiative that is an outgrowth of the City's Business Technical Assistance Program (B-TAP).

I am excited about this initiative because cooperatives play a significant role in our City's economy and, indeed, the economy of our region. I held a series of community forums in 2014 and 2015 to explore the economic and community development impact of cooperative businesses in more depth. The first forum focused on the Northeast Investment Cooperative (NEIC) and its impact on Central Avenue revitalization. The second forum was held in conjunction with the National Cooperative Business Association's 2014 Purchasing Cooperatives Conference and the Annual Cooperative Conference, both of which were jointly hosted in Minneapolis. Our forum, which was hosted at cooperative brewery Fair State, featured Dame Pauline Green, the president of the International Cooperative Alliance and former Cooperative Member of the European Parliament, as well as a number of other representatives from cooperative businesses around the nation. At that time I also authored a resolution declaring "Cooperatives Week" in Minneapolis. Our third forum was a study session focused on grocery cooperatives and their place in the highly competitive Twin Cities grocery market.

The cooperative business model - that people can work together, sharing resources and governance, to strengthen communities - offers significant benefit for all of us in terms of increased economic vitality, social equity and community development. I have high hopes for what we can accomplish through this partnership between cooperatives and the City of Minneapolis.

Council Member's Message

Environmental matters have been front and center on my Council schedule recently. I was pleased to attend Governor Dayton's Water Summit on February 27 and participate in this important discussion about the challenges we face in protecting and improving our water resources. This topic is central for me in a very local context, both as Chair of the City's Transportation and Public Works committee and as Board Chair of the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO), but it's important in a larger, statewide context as well, so I appreciated this opportunity to learn more. I would encourage others interested in this topic to visit the online forum component of the Summit at http://watersummit.ideascale.com/ to explore the topics discussed, make suggestions and ask questions.

The Ward One office also sponsored a recent community forum on the topic of recycling and the waste stream in conjunction with Eureka Recycling. We had a fascinating discussion with our panelists and a very engaged audience that highlighted ways in which our recycling processes could stimulate job growth. See more information about the forum below and on the Ward One website.

Lastly, I will be representing the City of Minneapolis and the Minneapolis Clean Energy Partnership at the 2016 Climate Leadership Conference in Seattle this month. This is a global conference that addresses issues of climate, sustainability and energy in terms of both policy and business solutions. I look forward to reporting back what I learn.

Council Member's Message

As we learn more and more about the truly frightening deficiencies of Flint, Michigan's municipal water supply, many have inquired about the security and safety of our own water supply. The topic is a particular concern of mine as well, given my dual roles as Chair of Transportation & Public Works and as Board Chair of the Mississippi Watershed Management Organization (MWMO).

Minneapolis' drinking water comes from the Mississippi River. We also provide water to seven suburban municipalities, MSP International Airport and Fort Snelling State Park. We invest significant resources to ensure its safety and quality, including testing it hundreds of times a day both in the treatment plants and the distribution system. In addition, we monitor our river source for levels of chloride due to salt in storm water runoff; these levels have been consistently low.

The issues in Flint arose because the water they were pumping from the Flint River was so corrosive that it leached lead from water pipes. In Minneapolis we take specific steps to ensure that our water is lead-free. Since the 1990s, the City has controlled the pH of the drinking water so that it's non-corrosive. We also add a corrosion inhibitor that is designed to form a thin scale inside pipes and fixtures to act as a barrier between the metal and the water we drink. The City also monitors lead concentrations from residential locations. The sampling pool draws from single family structures with lead service lines, lead pipes or copper pipes soldered with lead. Our 2015 sample results were all below the lead action level of 15 parts per billion. For more information about water and lead, click HERE.

The fact that Minneapolis' Water Works does an outstanding job, however, isn't cause for complacency. New technologies and infrastructure, improved processes for mitigating storm water run off, and continuing partnerships with organizations like Mississippi Watershed Management Organization, must continue to be sought and fostered to ensure that our municipal water remains safe for all.

Council Member's Message

2015 was an eventful year for the City of Minneapolis on a number of fronts and I am pleased that some of the initiatives and improvements launched over the course of the past year will have positive impacts on our community and our environment far into the the future:

• Organics recycling was launched in August of 2015 and will be expanded citywide in 2016. This initiative, combined with the one sort recycling that was rolled out 2012/13, represents a significant step in moving closer to the City's Zero Waste goals.
  
• The Minneapolis Clean Energy Partnership Board, of which I am a member, completed its first year of work toward helping Minneapolis achieve its clean energy goals.
• In September the Council approved the Percent-for-Art Ordinance that I authored with CM Glidden to dedicate 1.5% of City-issued net debt bonds annually to public art funding. This ordinance will ensure stable and predictable funding for public art and reinforces our commitment to the creative vitality artists generate in the First Ward and our City as a whole. Click HERE to read more about the ordinance.
• The City's Regulatory Services department rolled out a tiered rental license system that is designed to align costs and inspections to bring more resources to bear on problem rental properties.

2015 was an especially productive year for the First Ward. Many items that have been top priorities for me and for our community came to fruition in a big way, including the sale of the Hollywood Theater and the return of a ladder truck to Station 15. Read about some of the highlights below; we have much to celebrate!

Council Member's Message

Public art was the topic of much discussion this past budget season. The City of Minneapolis has an international reputation for the quality of our arts community and our city government has a long history of supporting the arts through a small percentage of our capital budget. We can't help but be aware of that in Ward 1, given that Northeast Minneapolis is the home of the Northeast Minneapolis Arts District. Artists and the economic activity they generate are an integral part of the vitality of our community. The signature event of Art-A-Whirl is the most visible symbol of that activity, but the creative economy is in action 365 days a year in Northeast, generating millions of dollars of direct economic activity and attracting and supporting millions more through related activity such as design, education and manufacturing .

To ensure that the City continues to support the arts and our creative vitality, Council Member Elizabeth Glidden and I introduced an ordinance at the last Council Meeting of 2014 that would set a minimum standard for the City's annual public art investment. Specifically, this ordinance would ensure dedicated ongoing funding for public art and, equally as important, for the ongoing maintenance and conservation of that art. I am very pleased that we were also able to shift funds in the 2015 budget for public art conservation, which is essential work that ensures our investment in public art is protected and sustained.

On another note, as Chair of the Transportation and Public Works Committee, I am continually struck by the broad scope of the City's Public Works department. Indeed, as many know, Public Works has an immense impact on the daily lives of the citizens of Minneapolis and has a larger share of the City's budget than any other department. Further, the work that they do, from plowing snow and repairing streets to maintaining our water supply and implementing sustainability initiatives like one-sort recycling goes to the heart of the responsibilities of municipal government.

Because Public Works is such a large and diverse department, I am launching an intermittent series of features in my newsletter about different aspects of their work: Public Works 101. Last month I had the opportunity to  tour some of the City's stormwater tunnels with Public Works' staff. It was eye-opening to learn about the important work these crews are doing deep in the earth, so I'm sharing a little about it in my newsletter. Stay posted for interesting insights into Public Works in future issues.

Council Member's Message

One of the First Ward’s most distinctive buildings also houses one of our most distinctive businesses. That’s Clockwork Active Media Systems, which was recently featured on NBC Nightly News for its growing reputation as one of the best workplaces in the country.

Clockwork Active is a digital solutions company that develops applications, websites and tools for businesses and numbers Best Buy, General Mills, Cargill and the YMCA among its clients. Over the past few years Clockwork Active has also received more than 16 “Best Workplace” awards from the Star Tribune, Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Minnesota Business Magazine and other outlets. The company is routinely cited for its family-friendly policies, attitudes of respect for its employees, focus on life-work balance and general atmosphere of hard work combined with fun.

It’s also in a great location. In 2009 the company relocated to 1500 E. Hennepin, the former Rayvic Gas Station. This property had been redeveloped by Andrew Volna, the Ward One developer and entrepreneur who’s currently redeveloping the Hollywood Theater on Johnson Street.

It’s always exciting to see one of our community’s local businesses, in one of our iconic buildings, making national news in such a positive way. But behind this story is a larger narrative about our community and its economic vitality. From the exciting activity occurring up and down Central Avenue as both new and established businesses renovate and expand to the vibrancy of the re-purposed buildings that house our community's art studios, Ward One has increasingly become a magnet for creative industries. At the same time, this economic energy supports our community's diversity, livability and recreational amenities. Ward One is indeed a great place to work!

Council Member's Message

As the City of Minneapolis fall street sweeping operation wraps up, preparations are underway for the coming snow season. All Minneapolis residents should have received a mailing with information about Snow Emergency parking rules and how to avoid a ticket or tow this winter. If you don't have that mailing, you may either call my office at 612-673-2201 for a copy or visit www.minneapolismn.gov/snow.  

Snow emergencies are declared whenever there's enough snowfall to warrant a complete plowing of our streets. Given that the City of Minneapolis has more than 1500 miles of streets, parkways and alleys to clear, this can be an enormous job for City Public Works crews. It's important that drivers follow the Snow Emergency parking rules so plows can do the best job possible of clearing the streets.

The City uses a variety of tools to inform residents, workers and visitors when a snow emergency has been declared:

·         Hotline – call 612-348-SNOW (7669). The hotline includes information in English, Spanish, Somali and Hmong.

·         City website – visit www.minneapolismn.gov/snow. You can also check out the street lookup, which lets you enter an address or neighborhood to see where you can park during a snow emergency.

·         Phone alerts – Minneapolis uses an automated notification system to alert residents when snow emergencies are declared. You can add your cellphone or unlisted landline number to the alert system by signing up atwww.minneapolismn.gov/snow.

·         Email alerts – visit www.minneapolismn.gov/snow/snow_esubscribe to sign up for email alerts.

·         App for Android devices and iPhones – Download the Snow Emergency app to your Android device or iPhone.

·         Media – TV, radio and other news outlets routinely announce snow emergency declarations.

·         Cable TV – Channels 14 and 79 have snow emergency information in several languages.

·         Facebook – visit www.facebook.com/MinneapolisSnowEmergency.

·         Twitter – if you have a Twitter account, just follow us.

·         Videos – informational videos in several languages are available at www.minneapolismn.gov/snow.

If you have other ideas for how to get the word out about Snow Emergency declarations, I’d like to hear about them.

Message from Council Member Kevin Reich

The Transportation & Public Works Committee, which I chair, recently recommended authorizing City officials to enter into an agreement with the Metropolitan Council for the Clean Water Fund Grant Program to provide Minneapolis property owners with financial assistance for repairs to private sewer services. After being authorized by the full Council, this grant program will start February 14.

This should be a welcome resource for property owners facing the need to repair or replace their leaking sanitary sewer services to reduce excessive flow of clear water into the regional sanitary sewer system. Clear water gets into sanitary sewers in a number of ways, including from leaky lateral pipes that run from houses to the street sewer pipe and from foundation drains that are connected to the sewer system. There are significant environmental and financial costs associated with this problem. Inflow and infiltration can cause sewage backups into homes. Clear water that gets into the sewer is then treated and discharged into a river instead of infiltrating into groundwater aquifers. Property owners also pay for the unnecessary treatment of the clear water through their municipal utility bills.

Through the Clean Water Fund Grant program, funds are available to any property owner with sewer repairs on or after July 1, 2013. Property owners can receive a reimbursement for one-third the cost of the inspection and eligible repairs, up to a maximum of $2,000.

Funds are limited, so if you are interested in taking advantage of this program, you should act quickly. Applications will be accepted beginning February 14, 2013.  A link to more information about the program and the process will be available at http://www.minneapolismn.gov/publicworks/sewers/sewers_repairs beginning Monday, February 10. If you have any questions about this grant program, please don’t hesitate to contact my office at 612-673-2201.