Council Member, Second Ward
2021 Election. Election Day is Tuesday, November 2, but people can still vote
early at the Early Vote Center at 980 E Hennepin Ave. Please see
https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/voters/ and vote.minneapolismn.gov for the most
complete information about this year’s election. Voters will be asked to wear
face coverings when coming to vote in person at the polling places. The City
will offer disposable masks and will follow additional health and sanitation
protocols in all polling locations to protect both voters and City employees.
On the Ballot. The offices of Mayor, City Council, Board of Estimate &
Taxation, and Park & Recreation Board are on the ballot this year. There are
also be three questions that propose amendments to the City Charter: government
structure, public safety and rent stabilization. Information about the ballot
questions can be found at https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/voters/ballot/ where
you can also find a sample ballot to review before you vote. Due to the timing
of State and City redistricting, City Council members elected in 2021 will
serve a two-year term. In 2023 an election will be held for another two-year
term for council members. No other City offices will be on the 2023 ballot.
City Council terms will return to a normal four-year cycle with the 2025
municipal election.
Redistricting. After every census, the country, state, and city have to adjust
district and ward political boundaries. In Minneapolis, a Redistricting Group,
made up of 24 Minneapolis volunteers, is working on the new maps and is seeking
input to have new maps in place before the City Council election in 2023. There
are several ways to participate in the process including attending one of the
following meetings: 4:00pm Wednesday, November 17, 4:00pm Wednesday, December
15, 4:00pm Thursday, February 24, 2022, and 4:00pm Wednesday, March 9, 2022.
2022 Budget. The Council has nearly completed its process of reviewing
department budget recommendations and will soon be conducting hearings and
considering amendments to the Mayor’s proposal. As I am reviewing the budget
details, I am also reaching out for feedback from you, and all my constituents,
as I am considering amendments. Final approval is scheduled for December. In
November there will be some more departmental presentations on the Mayor's
Proposed Budget followed by two formal Public hearings: one on Tuesday,
November 16th at 1:30pm and the other on Wednesday, December 1st, 6:00pm. The
Council will consider amendments after that last hearing and also at their
meeting on Friday, December 3rd. Final budget approval is set for Wednesday,
December 8th.
Public Health State of Emergency Extended. With the Delta variant spreading
and COVID-19 cases increasing in Minneapolis, the Council has approved
extending the COVID -19 state of local public health emergency through November
7, 2021. This will allow the City to conduct the election with safety
precautions in place.
COVID-19 Vaccinations. The strongest defense against the delta variant is
through vaccination. Get a free COVID-19 vaccine at a Minneapolis Health
Department clinic. Walk-ins are welcome, and the vaccinations are free. You
don’t need insurance, you don’t need an appointment and you don’t need an ID.
Let me know if you would like more information about locations.
Federal Grant for COVID-19 Response. The Council has accepted a grant from the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), for over $4 million through
May 31, 2023, to address COVID-19 health disparities among high-risk and
underserved populations. This will help the city work with community partners
to implement strategies that will decrease disparities and the overall rates
and impact of COVID-19 as well as expand services for people at higher risk.
Health Literacy Grant. The City Council has accepted a $2 million grant from
the United States Department of Health and Human Services for a two-year period
to support advancing health literacy about COVID-19. The Health Department will
use the funds to partner with 6 community-based organizations to get messaging
out where it is most needed.
Evictions Protections. As of October 12, under the State’s phased ending of the
eviction moratorium, all lease terminations and eviction protections for
non-payment of rent have been lifted except for eligible renters with pending
COVID-19 rental assistance applications. To apply for help paying rent and
utilities please see
https://www.housinglink.org/List/emergency-rental-assistance, if you are a
renter, or the Zero Balance Project (at
https://www.housinglink.org/List/emergency-rental-assistance) to be initiated
by rental property owners and managers. Completed applications in either
program will protect you from eviction for non-payment of rent. Work with your
landlord to select only one program to use.
Right to Counsel. The City Council and Mayor have approved the Right to Counsel
ordinance I coauthored. The purpose of this ordinance is to codify in law that
renters facing eviction will be able to expect to be represented by an
attorney. We know that renters who face eviction stand a much better chance of
being able to stay in their homes if they have legal representation. I hope to
have the new ordinance passed and in effect before the eviction moratorium is
lifted in October. This will also help inform the 2022 budget – I will be
advocating for the City to allocate sufficient resources to meet this new Right
to Counsel commitment.
Minneapolis 4d Affordable Housing Incentive Program. The City is now accepting
applications for the Minneapolis 4d Affordable Housing Incentive Program, which
helps property owners obtain property tax reductions for agreeing to keep
rental units affordable for 10 years which provides a 40% tax rate reduction on
qualifying units. The reduction is prorated so if you enroll 50% of the units
in the building your reduction would be about 20%, etc. Participants also get
free or low-cost energy assessments and City cost sharing for solar energy
installations and energy efficiency improvements as well as $100 per affordable
unit, capped at $1,000 per property, and payment of recording fees and first
year State of Minnesota Low Income Rental Classification (LIRC) fees.
Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis with a final
deadline of January 7, 2022.
Help Paying Utility Bills. Minnesotans can get helping pay for current and
past-due bills for electricity, gas, oil, biofuel and propane, emergency fuel
delivery, and repair/replacement of homeowners’ broken heating systems. By
submitting one application through the Energy Assistance Program, households
could qualify for payments to cover both water and energy bills and qualify
them for the Minnesota Weatherization Program. You can request an application
by calling 800-657-3710 and press “1.”
Emergency Rent Assistance. The City Council has accepted over $10 million in
Emergency Rental Assistance funding from the U.S. Treasury to help cover costs
of rent, utilities, and related costs for low-income renters experiencing
housing instability due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We also approved a contract
with Hennepin County for Emergency Rental Assistance Program Processing Support
for up to $2 million to administer the Emergency Rental Assistance Tenant
Application Program.
Homeowner Financial Assistance. We are partnering with the County and the
Minnesota Homeownership Center on a new program called, the Hennepin
Homeownership Preservation Program (HHPP). The program will provide limited
financial assistance for past-due mortgage and utility payments will be
available to homeowners who are below 50% of area median income (AMI), were
economically impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, and have completed foreclosure
counseling. The City is also lending support to City Lakes Community Land Trust
(CLCLT) with their Project: Sustained Legacy which focuses on assisting
existing homeowners facing the potential loss of housing remain in their home.
CLCLT invests in debt restructuring for a sustainable housing payment and/or
significant rehabilitation in exchange for the homeowner enrolling in a
perpetually affordable housing model that will sustain a home’s affordability
to future purchasers. Call 612-594-7150 to learn more about CLCLT’s program. To
learn more about HHPP call 651-236-8952.
Minneapolis Homes. The City Council has approved spending $14 million to help
create 104 affordable homeownership units in Minneapolis: 62 new construction
and 42 acquisition and rehabilitation. I was very glad to see that 70% of the
homes will be perpetually affordable through a shared equity homeownership land
trust model and that 70% of homebuyers will be Black, Indigenous, People of
Color (BIPOC). Current or former residents dating back to 2007 of certain
neighborhoods in the Near North, Powderhorn, Northeast, Phillips, and Camden
communities that were most impacted by redlining and the more recent 2008-2012
foreclosure crisis will have a preference for the purchase of half of the homes
created through a newly adopted preference policy. Also, 20 of the homes
financed will be built to a net-zero or passive housing standard and be models
for how to use innovative design to address the climate crisis.
School Based Clinic Service Expansion. The Council, with my enthusiastic
support, has accepted a grant of $900,000 from the Minnesota Department of
Health, to provide funds from November 15 through June 30, 2023, to increase
the School Based Clinic work force of medical, health education and mental
health to “catch up” on preventative care and be better able to address their
increased health needs due to COVID. In addition, we will establish new clinic
services for students attending the co-located FAIR and Wellstone Minneapolis
Public high schools.
Guaranteed Basic Income Pilot. This month more details about the City’s
Guaranteed Basic Income (GBI) pilot program were approved. Under the pilot, 200
participating families will receive $500 per month for 24 months to support
household financial growth and stability. Applications will be open on the City
of Minneapolis website before the end of 2021, and payments will start arriving
with families in early 2022. City staff is working with the Federal Reserve
Bank of Minneapolis to evaluate the program to help inform future decisions
about program expansion or modifications. The program will be funded with $3
million in American Rescue Plan Act funding. Eligible households must have an
annual income at or below 50% of the Area Median Income for Minneapolis, have
been financially impacted by COVID-19 and live in the 55403, 55404, 55405,
55407, 55411, 55412, 55413, 55430, or 55454 zip codes.
Gun Diversion Program. In October, the University of Chicago published
“Principles of Prosecutor-Led Gun Diversion Programming” that highlights a
Minneapolis program that was started in 2017 with the leadership of Deputy City
Attorney – Criminal Mary Ellen Heng and the Criminal Division team. We have
been partnering with the University of Chicago on an in-depth study of our
program and we expect the full study to be published later this year. The
program, called Pathways, has served some 124 offenders with 60 of them
completing the program with 43 are currently in progress. The diversion program
funded by the City, led by the Attorney’s office, and run by Urban Ventures has
been able to successfully drop the typical 75% reoffence rate below 27% for
participants. The program includes developing skills to handle strong emotions
and learning about trauma and how to address it.
De-escalation Training for Ward 2 Residents. I will be co-hosting, with the
Office of Violence Prevention a de-escalation training for Ward 2 community
members to help build skills around the prevention of and intervention in
mental health crisis and wellness recovery. The training will be put on by the
Barbara Schneider Foundation and features scenario-based actors who bring the
trainings to life. The training is a total of six hours and is covered over a
period of two days (3 hours each day) and will be held over two Saturdays on
December 4th and 11th. The Barbara Schneider Foundation has many years’
experience training on mental health crisis response for first responders, law
enforcement, social service providers, health care systems, and others (some of
you may remember or participated in a scenario training the Barbara Schneider
Foundation did for City staff a few years ago. Each training can have between
12 – 25 people. If you are interested please let me know or contact Nancy, from
my office, 673-2202.
Catalytic Converter Ordinance. A Council Committee has approved a new ordinance
regulating the sale of catalytic converters and would prohibit the sale or
purchase of a used catalytic converter that is not attached to a vehicle by
anyone other than a bona fide automobile repair garage; whose license permits
the installation, replacement, maintenance, or removal of catalytic converters.
Traffic Control Officers. The City has launched a pilot program to explore the
possibility of Traffic Control rather than the Minneapolis Police Department
(MPD) responding to parking problem calls 24/7. Traffic Control already
responds during the day. The goals of this pilot are to free up MPD time and
resources spent on parking calls, improve service, and reduce duplicate
services, while responding to urgent parking complaints on time. Traffic
Control is adding an overnight (11:00pm-7:30am) shift Mondays through Fridays
besides its regular hours. Staff will respond to urgent 911 and 311
parking-related complaints submitted during those hours. Currently, both
Traffic Control and MPD respond to calls about parking problems. This pilot
will determine the resources needed for Traffic Control to take all of these
calls 24/7. Report a parking-related complaint by calling 311 during business
hours (7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday) or by submitting your complaint on the
City website.
Police Officer Early Warning System. In October, the Council voted to accept a
grant from the Pohlad Foundation for an Early Intervention System (EIS) in MPD,
that I have concerns about this. Although I have been a long-time supporter of
effective Early Warning or Early Intervention System (EIS) for law enforcement
staff, I favor housing the program in the Civil Rights Department where we have
staff and an advisory group focused on police oversight In 2016, then-mayor
Hodges put $124,000 in ongoing dollars in her 2016 budget for an EIS, including
one full-time employee. It is unclear what has happened to the cumulative
$744,000 that was intended to be spent on an Early Intervention System in that
time, but it appears none has been functioning. I am also concerned that the
program is being crafted as a voluntary employee health and wellness system.
That is at odds with what we've heard from the Department of Justice, which in
2015 criticized the Mpls EIS program as "perceived as a wellness program,
suggesting a human resources function as opposed to a systemized accountability
and risk management tool." I strongly support creating a truly functional Early
Intervention System, as a systematized accountability tool. But given the
limits on the Council's oversight of the police department under the current
Charter, I believe that we should only release these grant funds once we see a
plan for how they will be spent, and what this system will look like.
Green Cost Share Program. In October, the Council has received a very exciting
report on the tremendous success of our Green Cost Share program. This program
was created in 2013, and significantly ramped up after the Council voted to
increase our utility franchise fees by half a percent to fund work to fight
climate change. Since then, almost nine hundred Minneapolis homes and
businesses have participated, installing energy efficiency and renewable energy
improvements that will save 14,500 metric tons of carbon and $60 million in
lifetime energy bill savings. And these benefits are targeted to the
communities that have been left out in the past. Over half of the funds have
been spent on environmental justice, including in our Green Zones. One of my
key priorities is to dramatically increase funding for this critical work. For
all of the success we've seen, we know that this program is oversubscribed
every year. Every year we get more requests for projects than we can fund. This
program is the seed of a Minneapolis Green New Deal, and we should do
everything we can to help it grow
New Organics Drop-off Sites. The City is opening three new organics (food and
other compostable waste) drop-off sites this fall in partnership with Hennepin
County and the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board. These are intended to serve
residents who live in apartment buildings where organics pick up is not
offered. This includes one new drop-off site in the new Towerside Park in
Prospect Park, as well as drop-offs at Holmes Park and Elliot Park. Two more
drop-off sites will open in spring 2022. You can learn more at an upcoming
educational session online from 6-7:00pm on Monday November. 1 and Tuesday
November 9: Join session.
Water Conservation. The City has lifted the even-odd water sprinkling
restrictions as the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has moved the
Mississippi River Headwaters watershed to the drought watch phase and relaxed
the goal of reducing water use. While still well below normal, Mississippi
River flows have been steadily recovering since mid-September. At the same
time, Minneapolis and the City’s wholesale customers’ water use declined and
have met target levels.
Street Sweeping. Fall street cleaning began in October and will continue into
November During the four weeks of the comprehensive fall street sweep, crews
will clean about 1,000 miles of city streets. To make sure crews can do the
best job possible, temporary “No Parking” signs will be posted at least 24
hours in advance so streets will be clear of cars when they’re swept. Anyone
who parks on the street will need to follow posted parking rules or their cars
may be ticketed and towed. You can learn more about fall street sweeping and
how to find out when your street is scheduled for sweeping at on the City’s
website.
Leaves and Brush Collection. If the City collects your garbage, the pick-up day
in the week of November 15 is the last 2021 collection for leaves, brush and
other yard trimmings. Yard waste must be in compostable bags – paper (Kraft) or
compostable plastic – or unbagged in a reusable container 32-38 gallons in
size, at least 26 inches high, with sturdy handles. Anyone who has questions
about leaf and brush pickup can call 612-673-2917 between 8:00am and 4:00pm.
Bring Your Own Bag. On Oct. 1, a City ordinance requiring a 5 cent fee for each
carryout bag provided by a store goes into effect. Enforcement had paused
temporarily when the pandemic began. Carryout bags include any plastic,
compostable, paper and reusable bags provided by the store. You can avoid
paying the fee by bringing your own bags with you to the store. This fee is
only charged when a store provides a new bag to a customer at checkout. You’re
welcome to reuse any bags you already have.
October is Pedestrian Safety Month. Walking and rolling are great ways to get
around our city, but we all have a responsibility to make it safer every month
of the year. When driving please expect to see pedestrians everywhere,
including at night; be sure to look for and yield to pedestrians when turning;
come to a complete stop for people in crosswalks and allow for them to cross;
never pass a vehicle stopped at a crosswalk and slow down and travel at a safe
speed (the speed limit is 20 mph in Minneapolis & Saint Paul unless otherwise
posted).
Draft Neighborhood Traffic Calming. The City is also working to support
pedestrian safety with more street investments to support traffic calming and
visibility for pedestrians. Draft neighborhood traffic calming procedures were
released last week and will help Public Works fairly, transparently, and
equitably prioritize traffic calming improvements. Engagement will begin this
fall to discuss the draft and a website will be launched within the next week.
New Shared Mobility Program Sought. In October the Cities of Minneapolis and
Saint Paul, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board and the University of
Minnesota agreed to issue a joint solicitation for vendors to receive licenses
under a new shared bike and scooter program starting in the spring of 2022. The
joint solicitation requests proposers provide a variety of shared mobility
vehicles in the public right of way including classic bicycles,
electric-assisted bicycles and motorized foot scooters.
Bus Rapid E Line Proposed. In September, Metro Transit released the E Line
Draft Corridor Plan which provides information on the proposed station
locations and corridor-wide recommendations for routing, bus service, and bus
priority treatments along what is now the #6 bus route, which includes some of
the Ward 2 in the University and Prospect Park neighborhoods. The comment
period ends October 31 Metro Transit will use feedback when developing a
Recommended Plan in the spring of 2022 to bring to the Metropolitan Council for
approval later in the year. Construction is targeted to begin in 2024, while
construction of some stations will be coordinated with other projects and may
be built sooner. The E Line is planned to open for service in 2025.
University and Fourth Streets Reconstruction. I was very glad to see the most
recent design for University and Fourth Streets that I believe will result in
safer and more comfortable streets for people walking, biking, and taking
transit. This project will include a two-way protected bikeway on the south
side of University, which I have strongly supported for years. It also includes
a protected bikeway on 4th Street. This project is proposed to include a number
of innovative designs including a protected intersection at 15th and
University, and several 'floating' bus stops. It's a great opportunity to show
what a true Complete Street looks like. Once this project (and the one-block
connection to the existing Oak Street protected bikeway) is complete, it will
be possible to bike nearly all the way around the University of Minnesota
without leaving a protected facility. I'm very thankful to Public Works staff
for their years of work on this. The original designs from the county did not
include the two-way bikeway on University, and I know that staff fought for the
City's position - and that effort has culminated in a project that I think will
be seen as a local model for how to build a people-friendly street.
Highway 55 from 32nd Street to 13th Avenue South. The State will perform
concrete rehabilitation, bituminous milling and surfacing, accessibility
improvements, signing, signals, lighting, bridge repair and other associated
construction upon, along, and adjacent to Trunk Highway 55 from 32nd Street to
13th Avenue South. The City is entering into a cooperation agreement and the
Council is likely to approve an estimated amount of $40,448 for signal
construction and lighting improvement costs associated with the Trunk Highway
55 project. The work is anticipated to be completed in 2022. I hope that we can
leverage this opportunity to improve the crossing along this corridor,
especially for those pedestrians and bicyclists.
Public Works Contract Settled. I was happy to see that the City was able to
successfully negotiate an acceptable contract with our Local 363 union. This
union represents many workers in our Public Works department including those
who provide essential services like street repair and solid waste and recycling
removal. These workers have done an amazing job throughout the pandemic and I
am glad that we were able to find a contract that works for them.
Credit Rating Upgrades. I am pleased to report that both the S&P Global and
Fitch Bond Rating agencies have revised the outlook for City ahead of
significant bond sales in October of $125.515M in General Obligation Bonds and
$15.9 in Taxable General Obligation Housing Improvement Area Bonds. S&P has
issued a AAA rating with a revised, stable outlook from a previous negative
outlook. Fitch has issued a rating of AA+ with a positive outlook from a
previous stable outlook. This upward movement in the ratings reflects the
City’s continued resilience during a challenging period and the confidence in
the financial planning and economic conditions for the next few years. Rating
agencies have applauded the City’s detailed five-year financial forecast as
this level of planning is significant in the current fiscal and economic
context. S&P states that the City has been able to create a multiyear roadmap
for dealing with various, concurrent challenges that are unique in character
and scope, allowing for a structured response that aims to address these
challenges while preserving the city's reserves and fiscal health.
New Director of Regulatory Services. With my strong support, the Council has
approved the appointment of Saray Garnett-Hochuli to the position of Director
of Regulatory Services for the unexpired term ending January 3, 2022. I believe
she has done an outstanding job as interim directory and I hope she can
continue serving in that capacity next year as well.
Neighborhood Parks and Street Funding. The Council has amended the Parks
Streets ordinance that was passed in 2016 and provided funding for improvements
to both over a 20-year period. As stipulated in the Article, funding for
Neighborhood Parks was to remain flat for the first 5 years of the plan
(2017-2021), before increasing to address inflation beginning in 2022.
Following a review of a consultants’ report and the Council has approved an
increase in annual funding for Neighborhood Parks from $10.5 million to $11.5
million (a $1 million increase) beginning in 2022, plus assumed 3.34% inflation
each year afterward through 2026. This action only concerns the Neighborhood
Parks funding as funding levels for Street Infrastructure currently include
inflationary assumptions.
Upper Harbor Plan. The City Council has approved the Upper Harbor Coordinated
Plan creating parkland, public infrastructure, housing, production space,
community-supporting commercial space, a community hub and a community
performing arts center. I believe that significant improvements were made to an
earlier plan that preserves better public access to that park areas and the
river, long term public ownership of the theater area and dedicated funding
from the leases to help prevent displacement and create wealth for current
residents on the North Side. The?estimated $350 million?development of the
Upper Harbor will occur over many years in multiple phases with the expectation
at the end to include 19.5 acres of new parkland and river access, 520 units of
housing, 45,000 square feet of commercial space, a 7,000 to 10,000 person
performing arts center, a health and wellness-oriented community hub, 160,000
to 180,000 square feet of production space to support an estimated 300 living
wage jobs and new parkway, bicycle and pedestrian trails and related
infrastructure.
Hiawatha Facility and Roof Dept. I was very disappointed in October when a
narrow Council Majority successfully changed what had appeared to be a
resolution to the City facility relocation plan at the Roof Depot site in East
Phillips. They reversed a previous action that I have long supported that would
have saved the historic Roof Depot Building, moved the new City facility to
another location and created a pathway forward for the East Phillips
Neighborhood Institute (EPNI) to earn development rights for a proposed Urban
Farm Project. Instead, the Council Majority and Mayor, without the support of
myself and 5 other Council Members, have approved moving forward with the
construction of a new water yard facility at the Roof Depot site, that includes
demolition of the existing building, and then setting aside roughly 3-acres of
land for possible future private and hopefully community supported
redevelopment.
Recovery and Rubble Removal. This month we are coming to the end of the
emergency rubble removal program initiated last October. Seventeen of the
eighteen properties identified in the program with more than 75% damage posing
a serious and immediate danger to community are complete. The final one, 2815
E Lake St, is in the permitting process. Our program helped clean up 7 of the
18 sites and private insurance funded the other 11. We spent $953,628 of the $2
million budget and property owner insurance payments contributed $39,400
towards the rubble cleanup. The City waived the special assessment for the
cleanup of these properties, amounting to $914,228 and was successful in
securing $1.2 million for 4 property owners to assist in the rebuilding
process. We have also waived fees for demolition and land use applications from
each of these properties and expedited approvals for rebuilding. Special thanks
go to Ken Staloch, Suado Abdi, and Jennifer Rudlong-Smith, from our Community
Planning and Economic Development Department, who worked directly property
owners. With the program coming to an end, staff is recommending that we
reappropriate the remaining rubble removal budget back to our small business
lending program. This move will allow for the City to meet the growing demand
for 2% Loans and allow us to quickly lend the funds out to small businesses.
Rebuilding Progress. As of this October the City has issued permits for over
$175 million in unrest related rebuilding. These are permits across the City
and show that many property owners and businesses are rebounding. The City
estimated around $350 million in damages as a result of the unrest in 2020 and
the permit activity shows substantial progress to recover from those damages.
As with the rubble program, Development Services has waived land use
application fees and created an expedited process to review and issue permits.
The City continues to work with community-based organizations and provide
direct support to assess needs and are monitoring many planned commercial and
housing developments on the corridors and working to deploy federal funding,
especially to our designated Cultural Districts.
Malcolm Yards Affordable Housing. The State and City have approved funding for
the Malcolm Yards Housing project in Prospect Park at 495 Malcolm Ave SE. The
City has approved a Tax Increment Financing (TIF) Plan, Affordable Housing
Trust Fund allocation and the use of Housing Revenue Bonds to support the
project and the state has awarded Redevelopment Grant funds for demolition and
public infrastructure improvements on the 2.37-acre site. In addition to
shorter term construction jobs, the project is anticipated to create three
permanent jobs, increase the tax base by $225,979 and result in a 143-unit
apartment building with all the apartments considered affordable for families
making at or below 60 percent of the defined Area Medium Income. It will have
11 efficiencies, 117 one-bedroom, and 15 two-bedroom units affordable to
households between 30% and 60% of area median income. Hennepin County will
provide 16 Housing Support assisted units to this project, which are set aside
for those experiencing long-term homelessness and people with disabilities. The
project will remain affordable for a minimum of 30 years.
Towerside District Energy System. After years of work, the Council has
unanimously voted to finance the Towerside Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage
district energy system. This is a major victory for our climate, for the
Towerside area, and for Prospect Park. The plan includes a $2 million
subordinated loan from the City’s Common Bond Fund reserves, and additional
resources from the McKnight Foundation. I see this as a clear, concrete way for
us to make good on the commitment we made through our Climate Emergency
Declaration. I also see it as a tremendous model for future large-scale
developments. We know that natural gas is the largest single source of carbon
pollution in Minneapolis, and this kind of system can heat and cool every
building connected to it with carbon-free energy.
Walgreens on East Lake. The plans for a new Walgreens store at 3121 Lake St E,
have been submitted and reviewed by the City Planning Commission. The
commission approved the site plan to allow for the reconstruction of a drug
store The Planning Commission adopted the staff recommendations to require more
windows and better materials that were proposed with one change to allow for a
mural where the blank wall exists on the rear elevation, facing south. I was
glad to see that the new Walgreens will meet the City’s minimum window
standards on all three street-facing sides and that the exterior materials will
be improved, particularly on the south side facing residential. This action
will bring them closer to what was previously approved for the site. They plan
to start construction next year.
Minnesota School of Barbering. The City has approved loaning $190,000 from our
Commercial Property Development Fund (CPDF) to help Lamberto Veragara purchase
the Minnesota School of Barbering property located at 3613 Lake St E. Lamberto
is a graduate of the school and owner of LV's Barbershop located at 3006 27th
Ave S that has been operating for 11 years, and was damaged during the civil
unrest following the murder of George Floyd in May 2020. The purchase of 3613
Lake St E will allow LV's Barbershop to own its space as well as of the School.
Office Hours in the Ward. In-person office hours have resumed. Cam will be
holding open office hours on Mondays from 9:30 – 11:00am as follows:
* First and Third Mondays at Dogwood Café at4021 E Lake St.
* Second and Fourth Mondays at Black Waffle and Coffee at 1500 Como Ave SE.