 For release: April 8, 2014
Contact: Carolyn Marinan, Public Affairs, 612-348-5969
News release
Hennepin County approves Target Field Station
development agreements
The Hennepin County Board of
Commissioners, Regional Rail Authority, and Housing and Redevelopment Authority
gave approval Tuesday to final agreements with United Properties, the Minnesota
Twins and Metro Transit for development around Target Field Station, a
multimodal transportation station located just to the west of the ballpark.
The station is set to open May
17. This set of agreements clears the way for a second platform for light rail
transit, a public plaza connecting to the ballpark promenade, a “Great Lawn”
amphitheater, a 289-stall parking ramp, retail space and a landscaped area
suitable for additional development. See the news release.
Public Hearing on
2014 Hennepin County Consortium Consolidated Action Plan
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners is soliciting
written public comment on the Hennepin County Consortium Draft 2014 Action Plan, which will be
submitted to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in May 2014. The Hennepin County
Consortium includes all cities in suburban Hennepin County.
The 2014 Action Plan will guide the use of approximately $4.2 million in
funding for housing and community development activities in suburban Hennepin
County: $2.5. million through the Community Development Block Grant Program
(CDBG), $1.5 million through HOME Investment
Partnerships Program (HOME), and $189,000 through the Emergency
Solutions Grant Program (ESG). A Public Hearing on the 2014 Action Plan will be
held at 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, April 29, at the Public Works, Energy and
Environment Committee meeting of the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners (Hennepin County
Government Center, A2400, 300 South Sixth Street, Minneapolis). The draft 2014 Action Plan will be available April 14, on the county’s website.
Six Natural Resources
grants awarded
The board authorized six Natural Resources grant agreements
with the following organizations for projects that will preserve critical
habitat and protect or improve water quality in Hennepin County:
- Cleveland Neighborhood Association, Minneapolis, $7,000.
The project will install up to 15 rain gardens within the Cleveland
Neighborhood, which drains to Crystal Lake in Robbinsdale.
- Grace Center for Community Life, Minneapolis, $14,000.
This project will construct a permeable paver plaza in the community park
that the church is creating in its old parking lot. Signage with both active
and passive educational opportunities will be promoted in the park setting.
- City of Richfield, Wood Lake Nature Center, $15,000. The
project will install a rain garden to collect the runoff from the parking lot,
which drains directly into the wetland in the Wood Lake Nature Center. The
project will incorporate educational opportunities for nature center visitors.
- City of Hopkins $15,000. This project will add an
iron-enhanced filter system in a stormwater pond adjacent to Minnehaha Creek,
decreasing phosphorus flows to the creek by approximately 80 percent.
- City of Minneapolis, $6,000. This demonstration project
will divert water from roof gutters and driveways into buffers and rain gardens
instead of flowing directly into storms sewers that lead to Lake Nokomis. This
will greatly enhance infiltration and filtration. These projects will be
showcased in anticipation of a watershed-wide project in 2015 and 2016.
- John Buechler, Dayton, $8,000. Mr. Buechler will establish
10 acres of native prairie on property he owns adjacent to Diamond Lake in
Dayton. This project will reduce runoff volume and nutrients on 10 acres while
improving soil structure, wildlife habitat and plant diversity.
The awarded projects will reduce nutrient loads and protect
water quality in Hennepin County. These grants will implement stormwater best
management practices (including bio-retention, bio-filtration, rain gardens,
conversion of impervious areas to permeable pavers, and the installation of an
iron-enhanced filtration system), promote stormwater reuse, stabilize and
enhance riparian areas and reestablish native prairie. The Natural Resources
grants will leverage $483,000 in Clean Water Legacy Fund grants and $612,969
from local in-kind and cash matches.
Volunteer Recognition
Week
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners declared April
6-12 Volunteer Recognition Week in Hennepin County and saluted volunteers
for their dedicated and continuing service. The board authorized the use of the
Government Center’s Public Service Level (skyway) for the Hennepin County
Volunteer Program Network to share information about the impact of community
volunteers on April 10. On April 17 county employees will participate in a
speed volunteering event. From January through December 2013 more than 3,000
community volunteers served over 140,000 hours in Hennepin County.
Citizen Advisory
Board Members Appointed
Richard Miller of Edina and Pam Blixt of Minneapolis were
appointed to Minnehaha Creek Watershed District Board.
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Look for more news on the Hennepin County website at www.hennepin.us/news.
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