Contact: Carolyn
Marinan, Communications, 612-348-5969
County board actions
Votes Tuesday build plans for the possibility of a nuclear emergency at Monticello plant, support water conservation and quality projects, repair damages from excessive rain last year and reallocate federal block grant funds in Brooklyn Park.
Grant will fund soil and water conservation projects
The board approved agreements with the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) to provide non-competitive, formula-based grants to the county totaling $234,431 to deliver soil and water conservation services. One $83,827 block grant will be used to support local government water planning, enforce the Wetland Conservation Act, inspect septic systems and administer volunteer water monitoring programs. A program and operation grant of $40,604 will be used to provide technical assistance and cost-sharing funds to landowners to implement conservation practices. The state board made new funding available this year that includes a $100,000 organizational capacity grant to increase conservative services provided throughout the county, and a $10,000 buffer implementation grant to carry out duties to implement the state’s new law that requires vegetation buffers along rivers, streams, and ditches.
Learn more about soil and water conservation grants.
The board
accepted $308,000 in Disaster Recovery Assistance Program funds to repair
damages from excessive rainfall in June 2014. The Minnesota Legislature
authorized the Disaster Recovery Assistance Program (DRAP) and appropriated
cost-share funding during the 2015 first special session. The board also
approved cost-share policy that prioritizes use of current and future program
funds. The funding will be used by:
- The City of
Bloomington, $70,000, to restore and stabilize multiple stream banks in the
Lower Valley area along Nine Mile Creek.
- The City of
Champlin, $188,000, to stabilize the shoreline and restore the slope along the
Mississippi River at multiple locations.
- Hennepin
County Regional Railroad Authority, $50,000, to repair erosion and restore the
slope at multiple locations.
Learn
more about disaster recovery plans.
The county board approved receipt of a $240,000 allocation from the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. The funding enables Hennepin County to maintain a pre-designated county emergency facility in Rogers, which is outside the plume exposure pathway in the case of a radiological release at the Monticello nuclear plant. This reception center, located at Rogers High School, is a place for residents of Sherburne and Wright counties to come for evaluation in the event of an emergency at the nuclear plant. Two $60,000 allocations to be received in state fiscal year 2015 and 2016 are used primarily for costs associated with training and exercising volunteer staff. County staff time and associated costs are also related planning activities, some equipment and for attendance at meetings and conferences.
Learn more about the Radiological Emergency Preparedness program
At the request of the City of Brooklyn Park, the board
agreed to reallocate $50,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds within
Brooklyn Park, from the Village Creek Streetscape Improvement project to a new
project, at Zanewood Recreation Center. The reallocation of funds will
facilitate improvements to the recreation center serving low-income
neighborhoods immediately adjacent to the facility.
Learn
more about the reallocation request
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Look for more news on
the Hennepin County website at www.hennepin.us/news.
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