County Board actions: Swimming lessons, 66th Street and environmental response grants

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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.

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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.  

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66th Street reconstruction moving forward in Richfield

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.

Nine of eleven Environmental Response Fund projects approved for funding

  • 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.

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