FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Carolyn
Marinan, Communications, 612-348-5969
County board actions
County Board votes included Youth Sports grant funding for swimming lessons, reconstruction of 66th Street in Richfield and environmental response grants.
Grant will provide funding to connect underserved youth with swimming lessons
The board action today authorized a swimming lesson pilot
project to provide swimming lessons for underserved youth and communities in
Hennepin County. The pilot project will be a partnership with the USA
Swimming Foundation, which is the philanthropic arm of USA Swimming which is
the national governing body for competitive swimming, and funded with $35,000
from the Hennepin Youth Sports Program. USA Swimming Foundation’s “Make A
Splash” initiative aimed at providing every child with the opportunity to learn
how to swim has already provided more than 4 million children with swim lessons
by working with their local partner network of more than 750 qualified lesson
providers across the nation.
The board approved a budget agreement with
the cities of Richfield and Edina for $59.5 million in improvements to 66th
Street -- County Road 53 -- from Xerxes Avenue South in Edina to 16th Avenue South in Richfield.
The project will include reconstruction of the roadway, sidewalks, curb and gutter , and replacement of Richfield’s water main and sanitary sewer. In
addition, the project includes the construction of boulevards and protected
bicycle facilities for the length of the project, and construction of
roundabouts at the intersections of 66th Street at Lyndale Avenue South and
66th Street at Nicollet Avenue. It will also require the replacement of the
existing railroad crossing surface on 66th Street east of Pleasant Avenue and
the installation of a new railroad crossing warning system. The majority of the construction will take place
during the 2017-18 construction seasons.
- The county agreed to fund nine Environmental
Response Fund projects that will total more than $1 million. The grants will
provide for the renovation or construction of as many as 404 affordable and 269
market-rate housing units. The funding will create economic development by
increasing the tax base, create permanent jobs, enhance green space, create
public recreation space, and create affordable and market-rate housing.
Projects include:
Minneapolis
- Bossen Field - $209,740 for contaminated soil cleanup during park
improvements.
- City of Minneapolis - $129,565 to assist with asbestos and lead-based
paint abatement at single and multi-family affordable rental homes at multiple locations.
Fort Snelling
- Fort Snelling Upper Post - $81,510 for completion of asbestos and
lead-based paint surveys and subsurface soil assessment in preparation for the renovation
of historic buildings into future affordable housing units.
Richfield
- Lyndale Gardens Shoreline Development - $117,436 for contaminated soil
cleanup associated with construction of a public recreation space including
performance, urban agricultural, and walking features.
- Lyndale Gardens Residential Development - $115,400 for contaminated soil
cleanup associated with the construction of multi-family, moderately priced,
market-rate residential units
Brooklyn
Center
- Brooklyn Center Economic Development Authority - $60,000 for assistance
with required contaminated groundwater monitoring at teh former Howe Fertilizer site, associated the redevelopment of a long-vacant
brownfield property with light-industrial facility.
St. Louis
Park
- Morrie’s Dealership - $45,045 for contaminated soil cleanup associated
with replacement of vacant commercial buildings with a new automobile dealership.
- Parkway 25 - $60,000 for contaminated soil cleanup associated with
development of new multifamily, market-rate housing units and ground-level
commercial space.
Countywide
- Hennepin County Lead Hazard Reduction Program - $200,000 for lead-based paint assessment and removal at affordable housing units throughout Hennepin County.
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Look for more news on
the Hennepin County website at www.hennepin.us/news.
Discover how we're making a difference in our communities at www.hennepin.us/stories.
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