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Jan Callison
Commissioner
6th District
612-348-7886
Allyson Lueneburg
Principal Aide
612-348-6885
Dauna Sprowls
Administrative Assistant
612-348-3168
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners consists of one commissioner from each of seven districts. I am proud to represent Deephaven, north Eden Prairie, Edina, Excelsior, Greenwood, Hopkins, Long Lake, Minnetonka, Minnetonka Beach, northern Mound, Orono, Shorewood, Spring Park, Tonka Bay, Wayzata and Woodland.
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Southwest light rail
Understanding your property tax
Hennepin County and the Minnesota Indian Affairs Council (MIAC) are working on restoration of Native American burial mounds on the County Road 101 reconstruction project in Minnetonka. Currently, the MIAC and a contractor for Hennepin County are doing further investigation of the site as well as restoration activities. The work by Hamline University will occur through June depending on weather. They will be recovering artifacts and disturbed remains which will then be restored in burial mounds.
This is a sacred and private site, please be respectful and stay behind any fencing.
The previously planned roundabout cannot be built without disturbing the intact burial mounds. The county is currently working with a consultant and the cities of Minnetonka, Wayzata and Woodland on a redesign of the roundabout area. The county is looking at how to modify the design to introduce a curve providing greater sight lines and adequate width for the safe passage of all vehicles through the County Road 101/Breezy Point intersection.
Current information regarding the project can be found on the county page.
The Southwest Light Rail Transit Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) is available for review and comment. An electronic version of the document can be found on the Met Council page.
The SDEIS is a draft document and part of the ongoing
NEPA/MEPA analysis. Any potential future changes to the scope will be
reviewed and will be covered as part of the NEPA/MEPA process. This would most
likely be in the Final Environmental Impact Study (FEIS), however this will be
determined on a case by case basis.
The SDEIS focuses on 3 key project elements:
1.
Alignment in Eden Prairie south of Golden Triangle to Mitchell Station
2.
Siting of the Operations and Maintenance Facility
3.
Kenilworth Segment where co-location of freight and LRT is proposed
For the NEPA/MEPA
process, it is in the region's best interest to include all elements of the
SWLRT project in the SDEIS.
Volunteers help keep more than
500 miles of roads in Hennepin County free of litter each year through the
Adopt-A-Highway program. Through the program, volunteers pledge to pick up
litter along a two-mile stretch of a county road at least twice a year. These
volunteers collect more than five tons of litter annually.
Signs at each end of the road segments recognize and thank the
volunteers who have adopted that stretch of the road. If you are interested in
adopting a road in Hennepin County, please contact us at transportation@hennepin.us or
612-596-0300. More information is available on www.hennepin.us.
Available road segments in District 6 are:
- Orono - County Road 19 and County Road 84 (two segments)
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Greetings,
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Please feel free to send me your comments through my feedback form on issues that concern you or you would like covered. I value your opinions.
Warm regards,
Jan Callison
May 12, 2015
Transit oriented development funds awarded
The board, acting as the Hennepin County Housing and
Redevelopment Authority, approved transit oriented development grants and loan
agreements. The grants and loans are to support development in areas that
promote and support transit use. The
awards in District 6 include:
- $470,000 to the City of Eden
Prairie for the West 70th Street extension project to support the
creation of a new complete street that will connect the future Golden
Triangle Station on the Green Line extension with Shady Oak Road and
Flying Cloud Drive, and fund the construction of the first phase of its
implementation.
- $300,000 with Beacon Interfaith
Housing Collaborative for the 66 West project to support the creation of
approximately 39 units of affordable housing targeting suburban homeless
youth. The project is located across from the Southdale Transit Center
in Edina.
- $400,000 to Project for Pride
in Living for the Oxford Village project to support the construction of
approximately 51 units of affordable housing. The project is located near
the future Blake Road Station on the Green Line extension in Hopkins.
The HCHRA also reallocated $300,000 from a previous agreement to
fund the recommended 2015 transit oriented development projects. Projects
are selected based on criteria developed and approved by the board in 2003.
Since 2003, the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners and the HCHRA has
approved a total of $25.3 million for 94 transit oriented development projects.
Board approves affordable housing agreements
The board, acting as the Hennepin County Housing and
Redevelopment Authority, approved 11 Affordable Housing Incentive Fund (AHIF)
agreements totaling $2.7 million under the 2015 Affordable Housing Incentive
Program. These projects will assist a total of 1,220 affordable housing units
in Hennepin County, including 154 households/individuals at or below 30 percent
of adjusted median income; 1,059 at or below 60 percent adjusted median income;
and seven at or below 80 percent adjusted median income.
The District 6 project is:
- $200,000 for 66 West (Beacon)
located at 3330 66th Street West, Edina, for adaptive reuse of a vacant
commercial building to create 39 AHIF efficiency units to serve homeless,
unaccompanied youth.
AHIF funding agreements are typically in the form of a 30 to 40
year loan (depending upon other financers' requirements).
The board approves economic development funding criteria
The board approved
criteria and authorized $500,000 for a newly established Economic Development Infrastructure Fund.
The objective of the fund is to enhance the economic competitiveness of
Hennepin County by leveraging private investment, increasing the tax base, and
creating and retaining jobs. The Economic Development Infrastructure Fund will
be used to offset extraordinary costs and infrastructure upgrades associated
with relocating, starting or expanding a business. Requests for funding will be
reviewed based on the following project evaluation criteria:
- Job creation and/or retention
- Need for financial assistance,
including justification for use of Hennepin County resources
- Readiness to proceed
- Tax base enhancement
- Leverage from private or other
public sources
- Alignment with other Hennepin
County priorities and interests
This new fund will help support business recruitment and
expansion in Hennepin County and create/preserve an estimated 160 – 300 jobs.
Agendas and minutes of action taken by the Hennepin County Board are posted under Hennepin County meetings and agendas. For greater detail on the above agenda items and additional board actions, visit county news releases.
In addition to our regularly scheduled board meetings, the board
often meets on Thursday mornings to receive board briefings. These are
informal opportunities to discuss emerging issues. No decisions are
made. Board briefings occur in the board room on the 24th floor of the
Hennepin County Government Center and are open to the public.
May 7, 2015
Absentee voting
Staff reviewed challenges that they are experiencing—and expecting—as a result of the adoption of “no excuse absentee voting” by the Legislature in 2014. These challenges relate to the fact that more voters are choosing to vote absentee (Hennepin County saw a 71% increase in absentee voting in 2014). This heavier volume of absentee voting increases the risk of delay in reporting election results and of processing errors. In response, elections staff is proposing two steps:
- In the 2015 elections, Hennepin County will pilot the processing of the absentee ballots that are received by mail at a central location and also release an RFP for e-poll books;
- For the 2016 elections, Hennepin will handle all absentee ballots that are cast by mail and will make e-poll books available throughout the county. Cities will continue to handle in-person absentee voting.
No excuse absentee voting is more expensive than true early voting. Staff estimates it costs $3.00 more per ballot to process a vote that is cast by absentee ballot.
May 21, 2015
Open appointments
Staff reviewed with the Board the process for making appointments to various boards and commissions. Topics of discussion included the interview process, the method of communicating vacancies to the public and the expectations for staff who serve as liaisons to the various boards and commissions.
Youth sports grants
This program, which began in 2009 and is administered by the Minnesota Amateur Sports Commission, uses some of the revenue from the Twins ballpark sales tax to expand youth sports activities. (A similar amount of revenue is used to expand library operating hours.) Certain modifications to the program were presented: establishment of a maximum amount for facility grants; creation of a separate program for playgrounds; changes to the list of equipment that would be ineligible for funding; and changes to the scoring criteria for awarding grants. Also discussed were the possibility of funding training/development for coaches and swimming lessons.
May 26, 2015
Shady Oak Road closed north of Highway 7 on May 26. The purpose of the closure is for road realignment, construction of a detention pond, signal work, and underground utility work. The road is anticipated to be closed for approximately 12 weeks. As a reminder, downtown businesses will remain open. Find out more about the project on the county page.
June 2, 2015
Hennepin County has developed a natural resources strategic plan to help guide the county and its partners in responding to natural resource issues and developing internal and external policies, programs and partnerships that improve, protect and preserve natural resources. This is the county's first comprehensive strategic plan focused on the protection and preservation of natural resources.
The county will be providing opportunities to give feedback on the plan through meetings and online surveys throughout June and July. The first opportunity to learn about the plan and provide feedback is at the next Hennepin Natural Resources Partnership Forum on Tuesday, June 2 from 1 PM to 3:15 PM at the Ridgedale Library in the RHR room.
For more information, contact Randy Anhorn.
June 3, 2015
Hennepin County will host a Health and Safety Fair on Wednesday, June 3 on the North Plaza of the Hennepin County Government Center. More than 25 health and safety resources will be available during the fair from 11 AM to 1 PM.
This event is just the first of many Summer on the Plaza events.
The series runs from June through August during the lunch hour on Wednesdays,
Thursdays and Fridays. Performers include singers, drummers, dancers and
educators.
A schedule can be found at www.hennepin.us/summerontheplaza. June events
include:
- Wednesday, June 3 - National
Safety Month Health and Safety Fair - 25 exhibitors on health and
safety topics
- Thursday, June 4 - Jessska
- Singer/songwriter
- Friday, June 5 - Tower Bell
Foundation – Instrumental music from historic bell tower
- Wednesday, June 10 - Rock of
Ages – Rock and roll band
- Thursday, June 11 – Jaztronauts
– Four person jazz ensemble
- Friday, June 12 - New Ulm
Summer Band – 5th – 7th grade band students
- Wednesday, June 17 - 2nd Annual
Black Expo – vendor exhibits, speakers and performers
- Thursday, June 18 - Master
Gardeners - presentation and questions
- Friday, June 19 - Wayzata
Summer Band – 6th, 7th and 8th grade band students
- Wednesday, June 24 – Fairlanes
– A cappella quartet
- Thursday, June 25 - Hennepin
History Museum - exhibits about the history of Hennepin County
- Friday, June 26 - HubCap
- Two person band featuring keyboard and drums
June 30, 2015
Help prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species (AIS) in Hennepin County by becoming an AIS detection volunteer. Volunteers will learn how to look for signs of AIS at a training session on June 30 from 6:30 PM to 9 PM at the Hennepin County Sheriff's Water Patrol in Spring Park. The training will focus on early detection of AIS where management options may still be available.
Ideal volunteers are people who already spend time on or near lakes in Hennepin County, including people who fish, boat, live by or walk near lakes.
For more information, contact Tony Brough.
July 9, 2015
The Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District Board is seeking applications for one board of managers vacancy. The Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District provides for the management of the water and related land resources within the area tributary to Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek. The board meets at 7:00 PM on the first Wednesday of every month at the Eden Prairie City Hall. A member is expected to devote an average of 16 hours per month to watershed district work. For more information please visit the county page.
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