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Jan Callison
Commissioner
6th District
612-348-7886
Allyson Lueneburg
Principal Aide
612-348-6885
Becky Westergren
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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Service Center information
Southwest light rail
Understanding your property tax
This past year, Hennepin County Transportation formed a Pedestrian Safety Committee to review requests that come in from county residents.
A request was made to examine the crosswalk that crosses CR 15 (Shoreline Drive) between Tanager Lake and Browns Bay.
The Committee agreed that additional enhancements were needed and the best solution would be a Rectangular Rapid Flashing Beacon (RRFB).
RRFB's are user-activated beacons that supplement warning signs at un-signalized intersections or mid-block crosswalks. They are activated by pedestrians manually by a push button and use an irregular flash pattern that is similar to emergency flashers on emergency vehicles.
Installation will take place Spring 2016.
Project Child is a county operated program that helps
women who are using harmful substances while they are pregnant. The goal
of the program is to help these women deliver drug free babies and to stabilize
their lives so they can keep their babies outside of the child protection
system.
The Project Child model of care requires strong partnerships with local
medical and treatment providers and has been recognized for its innovation, its
strong collaboration and most importantly for its successful client outcomes.
Please take a moment to view a video highlighting the Project Child program.
Please take a moment to watch the recently completed Southwest station video for Eden Prairie. The video really highlights the importance of Southwest Light Rail to the residents and businesses of Eden Prairie.
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Greetings,
I hope you are enjoying my electronic newsletters, and find them interesting and informative about county activities. In addition to my monthly newsletter, the county sends various
newsletters and notifications available by email or text message. To explore the many opportunities to
subscribe or to change your preferences, visit the subscription webpage.
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
February 9, 2016
Grants awarded to clean up contaminated sites
The board awarded eight Environmental Response Fund grants
totaling $1.2 million to fund asbestos and lead paint abatement and
contaminated soil assessment and cleanup at contaminated sites where the added
environmental costs hinder site improvements or redevelopment. Environmental
Response Fund grants support a variety of projects that promote economic
development by increasing the tax base, creating permanent jobs, enhancing
greenspace and developing affordable housing.
The following projects were awarded:
- City of Golden Valley: $152,000 for contaminated soil
cleanup at the DeCola Ponds Project, to construct new stormwater
management structures in a flood-prone area.
- City of Lakes Community Land Trust: $115,000 for
asbestos and lead paint abatement associated with the renovation of four
houses that will be owner-occupied, affordable housing.
- City of Mound Housing and Redevelopment Authority:
$390,982 for asbestos and lead paint abatement associated with the
renovation of affordable rental housing units at Indian Knoll Manor.
- City of St. Louis Park: $50,000 for contaminated soil
cleanup associated with the expansion of an outdoor recreation center.
- Hennepin County Resident and Real Estate Services:
$250,000 to demolish hazardous and contaminated buildings on the
tax-forfeited former Universal Plating facility site in Minneapolis.
- Minnesota Brownfields, countywide: $200,000 to continue
the Brownfields Gap Financing Program, which provides small environmental
assessment grants to municipalities and nonprofit organizations.
- Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board: $50,000 for
disposal of contaminated soil that will be excavated during construction
of a walking and biking trail on the east bank of the Mississippi
River in northeast Minneapolis.
- Perspectives, Inc.: $61,000 for contaminated soil
cleanup associated with development of a new parking lot that will
facilitate the expansion of Perspective’s adjacent family center.
Read more about
the Environmental Response Fund process and grantees.
Funding increase to help Public Health Clinic work to prevent HIV spread
The board agreed to an amendment to an agreement with the
Minnesota Department of Health, that increases a grant for HIV health education
and risk reduction services by $226,928. The total grant to the Hennepin County
Public Health Clinic now is $1.1 million over five years. In Minnesota,
approximately 7,200 people have been diagnosed with HIV; about 4,000 of them
live in Hennepin County. The Hennepin County Public Health Clinic is the
largest STD/HIV testing and counseling site in Minnesota, diagnosing more
STDs/HIV than any other single site in the state.
Read more about the Public Health Clinic’s work to stop
the spread of HIV.
Federal legislative platform approved
The board approved the 2016 federal legislative platform asking
the Minnesota members of Congress to support the county’s transportation,
health and human services, HCMC, criminal justice and housing and community
development requests.
Read the summary of Hennepin County's federal legislative
platform.
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.
February 3, 2016
Detox/Crisis Stabilization
County staff proposes changes to the detox program in order
to improve services and reduce reliance upon property taxes. Demand for beds exceeds supply and overflow
populations are handled in more expensive settings such as hospitals, jails and
shelters. The model proposed by staff
is two levels of care that would reduce the average length of stay for clients
and that should qualify for funding from Medical Assistance and Prepaid Medical
Assistance Programs, displacing current property tax support. Staff is also proposing to expand capacity by
increasing the number of beds at the County’s detox facility at 1800 Chicago
Ave.
In addition, county staff proposes to develop more capacity
in the area of mental health crisis stabilization. This is an area that provides “short term
residential supervision, observation and support for people who do not require
intensive inpatient psychiatric care.”
Staff proposes adding 16 beds at 1800 Chicago to service chronic,
untreated, homeless clients who are diverted from hospitals and jails. Services would be funded through state and
local dollars and, in the future, through Medical Assistance.
As proposed by staff, occupancy of these new facilities
would occur in the fall of 2017.
February 11, 2016
Asset Management (Transportation)
The
purpose of this briefing was three-fold:
share national trends in the area of asset management, provide an
overview of transportation’s physical assets, and illustrate how data discovery
and integration are being used to manage county assets. Staff has developed and reviewed asset
management approaches in the areas of pavement, wheelage tax, bridges,
drainage, traffic, and roadside assets such as guardrails, retaining
walls. As next steps, it anticipates
prioritizing assets focusing on pavement, bridges and drainage; performing
pavement program analysis and advancing pavement management; and performing
bridge maintenance and preservation analysis, as well as other measures.
February 25, 2016
Roles and responsibilities of the County Board and communication in an emergency
This
briefing covered three topics: the
statutory responsibility of the Board in emergency situations; lessons learned
from emergency situations and responses; and an update of policy changes and
technology enhancements.
March 5 and 6, 2016
Register now for free open data code-a-thon event, Geo:Code 2.0
Geo:Code 2.0 will connect civic-minded community members with
geographers and technologists to create solutions that improve public services,
give residents better access to government data and make a difference in Twin
Cities communities. The event is free and open to people with all backgrounds,
skills and ideas.
The event is scheduled for Saturday and Sunday, March 5
and 6 from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. at the University of Minnesota Robert
H. Bruininks Hall, Room 412 (222 Pleasant Street SE,
Minneapolis)
Event
organizers want to generate a cross section of coders, cartographers, data
visualizers, designers, developers, dreamers, makers, mappers, students and
technologists.
Participants may stop in for a single workshop or stay for the
entire two-day event. Space is limited, so organizers ask all attendees to register in advance.
March 8, 2016
Issuance of capital improvement debt
The Budget and Capital Investment Committee set a hearing to
gather public comment on the proposed issuance of up to $200 million in
aggregate principal amount of general obligation bonds of the county for the
purpose of financing new capital improvements.
The hearing will be held during
the committee’s meeting on Tuesday, March 8, at 1:30 p.m., in room A-2400 of
the Hennepin County Government Center, 300 South 6th Street, Minneapolis.
March 12, 2016
Fix-It Clinics
Get free, guided assistance from handy volunteers on
disassembling, troubleshooting and repairing small household appliances,
clothing, electronics, mobile devices and more at an upcoming Fix-It Clinic.
Saturday,
March 12 from noon to 4 p.m. at Interfaith Outreach and Community Partners in
Plymouth
More events are scheduled in upcoming months:
Saturday,
April 23 from noon to 4 p.m. at Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Rec Center in
south Minneapolis
Saturday,
May 14 from noon to 4 p.m. at the Gramercy Park Cooperative in Richfield
Volunteer fixers who have skills in electrical, mechanical or
electronics repair, wood working, sewing or general tinkering are essential to
making the clinics successful. For more information or to volunteer, contact
Nancy Lo at nancy.lo@hennepin.us
or 612-348-9195.
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