 Greetings!
We hope our newsletter serves as a resource for connecting to Hennepin County activities and staying updated on county news and services. Visit our website to find more ways to connect with the county.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns. I value your opinions.
Have a happy and safe Independence Day,
The board voted 5-2 to terminate the joint powers agreement establishing the Counties Transit Improvement Board (CTIB) and impose a half-cent sales tax in Hennepin County supporting the county’s transit and transportation projects.
The four other CTIB counties — Anoka, Dakota, Ramsey and Washington — all must do the same for CTIB to dissolve and the new tax to take effect in Hennepin County.
Should CTIB dissolve, the current quarter-cent CTIB sales tax will end on September 30, 2017, and the county’s half-cent sales tax will begin on October 1, 2017, for a net quarter-cent increase on taxable goods and services in Hennepin County.
A $20 excise tax on new car sales will replace a like CTIB tax, as well.
Annual county revenue from the sales tax could be as much as $125 million initially. This is projected to be enough to cover the local share of capital and operating costs for the county’s current and future transit lines through 2036.
These lines include the current Blue Line, Green Line and Northstar Commuter Rail, and the future Southwest LRT (Green Line Extension), Bottineau LRT (Blue Line Extension), I-35W South BRT (Orange Line) and Riverview Corridor.
Sales tax revenue also has the potential to cover county transportation projects and improvements, for example, road and bridge work planned in the county’s Capital Improvement Program, if designated in the future by the board after a public hearing.
Read more about the action.
See the sales and use transportation tax implementation plan.
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The board approved negotiation of the sale of Century Plaza, a former county human service location, to DEHL Properties. The developer proposes to renovate the six-story, 297,650-square-foot building into office and flexible space to complement the Minneapolis Convention Center and downtown hotels. The county selected DEHL Properties out of four responses to a request for proposals issued in January. Hennepin County officially closed the 1930s-era building in May as part of a multi-year effort to re-locate human services closer to where people live, work and attend school.
Learn more about the sale of Century Plaza.
Learn more about Hennepin County’s regional human service centers.
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Read the Star Tribune's coverage of Hennepin County's three year quest to identify a man found dead in a railroad shed in Rosemount.
 The Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) is placing a gypsy moth-infested area in the Lowry Hill Neighborhood of Minneapolis under quarantine beginning July 1 after a neighborhood resident reported a large insect population. The quarantine will be in place until early next summer. Read more from the University of Minnesota here.
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June 12
Regional Effort Will Deliver Emergency Alerts in Multiple Languages
The board approved a $165,000 agreement to broadcast and stream emergency preparedness information using Twin Cities Public Television channels. Funding will provide for a regional effort, one of the first in the nation, to deliver emergency alerts in multiple languages: Spanish, Hmong, Somali and English. Regional programming will also deliver information to help residents prepare for a variety of emergencies. Hennepin County Emergency Management will administer the program on behalf of regional emergency managers in partnership with Twin Cities Public Television, ECHO Minnesota and other public and private partners.
Learn more about this partnership.
Learn more about emergency management.
Child well-being director appointed to lead new child protection focus
The board appointed Michelle Farr to guide county staff carrying out the county’s new child well-being focus. This approach focuses on preventing child maltreatment by prioritizing children’s physical, emotional, social, relational health and development.
Hennepin County selected Farr for this position following an extensive national search. She brings 30 years of related experience to the county, most recently serving as deputy director of entry services with the Washington, D.C., Child and Family Services Agency.
Hennepin County has undertaken significant efforts to advance recommendations laid out in October 2016 by the Child Protection Oversight Committee.
In an effort to stabilize the child protection workforce and allow for reasonable workloads, the county has hired nearly 50 additional child protection workers this year. By the end of 2017, the county plans to hire more than 60 additional staff.
Hennepin County has also launched several efforts aimed at improving quality, creating community partnerships and reducing disparities to enhance the system in meeting the needs of children.
The Child Well-being Advisory Committee will meet for the first time Wednesday to review progress on child well-being initiatives.
Read more about Farr’s appointment.
Read more about the county’s new child protection focus.
The board accepted $2.5 million of federal grant funding to expand HIV/AIDS services and employ a staff member who will oversee Positively Hennepin, the county’s HIV strategy.
The new strategy implementation coordinator, Jake Maxon, most recently served in the Obama White House Office of National AIDS Policy. In his new role, Maxon will build partnerships between the county, healthcare providers and leaders, HIV advocacy and service organizations, and communities that the HIV epidemic directly affects. Building these partnerships will help achieve Positively Hennepin’s vision of a county where residents living with HIV have healthy, vibrant lives; there are no new HIV infections; and all have equitable access to HIV prevention and care.
Hennepin County has received federal Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program funding from the Minnesota Department of Human Services since 2000. This additional grant funding will continue to expand medical and support services to address disparities in HIV health-related outcomes.
Read more about this action.
Read more about Positively Hennepin.
The board accepted $550,000 from the McKnight Foundation for community and economic development along the METRO Blue Line Extension (Bottineau LRT), a 13-mile expansion of the existing METRO Blue Line. Grant funding will allow Bottineau Community Works partner cities to provide services to support small businesses, engage community members and activate public spaces along the corridor. Funding will provide technical assistance and community capacity building around issues of density and transit oriented development.
Read more about this funding award.
Read more about Bottineau LRT Community Works.
The board awarded the following two school recycling grants totaling $90,000:
- Minneapolis Public Schools: $40,000 to improve recycling and start organics composting at Anderson United Community School, Seward Montessori, Southwest High School and Webster Elementary.
- Richfield Public Schools: $50,000 to add recycling stations outside buildings and athletic fields, improve organics and recycling collection and install bottle-filling stations to reduce waste from plastic water bottles.
Learn more about the grant awards.
Learn more about school recycling in Hennepin County.
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 District 3 Profile
Tricia Wright, Financial Inclusion Fellow, Office of Commissioner Marion Greene
To share more about the work of Hennepin County, we profile a county employee who lives in District 3, or an employee who makes a positive impact in our shared community. Each month spotlights a person from varying departments.
Click here to see how Tricia makes Hennepin County tick.
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You're invited. In addition to our regularly scheduled board meetings, the County Board often meets for updates on Thursday mornings. These are informal opportunities to discuss emerging issues. No decisions are made, and topics are subject to change. Board briefings occur in the board room on the 24th floor of the Hennepin County Government Center and are open to the public. Call my office to confirm briefing time and location.
Thursday, July 13:
- 10:30am -11:30am: Solid Waste Management Master Plan
Thursday, July 27:
- 9:30am -11:30am: Health Strategy
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Summer 2017
Target Field Station events
- July
13: outdoor movie: "Inside Out," 7 p.m.
- July
11: trivia night, 7 p.m.
- July
20: Candid Canines Film Festival, a new Minneapolis Aquatennial event featuring
40 minutes of submitted dog videos, 4 - 9 p.m. (multiple showings)
- July
25: trivia night, 7 p.m.
- Map
Location: 335 North Fifth Street, Minneapolis, outside Target Field’s Gate 6
Government Center South Plaza events
- Tuesdays:
piano performances, noon - 1 p.m.
- Wednesdays:
food trucks, yard games and more, 11:30 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.
- Thursdays:
Minneapolis Downtown Farmers Market, 6 a.m. - 6 p.m.
- Map
Location: 300 South Sixth Street, Minneapolis
See more details and the full list of Go
Outside events.
Learning is Fun at the Library
- Keep the kids’ minds active and
strong this summer with summer learning at Hennepin County Library. During
summer vacation, neighborhood and regional libraries offer learning
opportunities in science and nature, arts and crafts, games, computers and
technology, and of course book clubs and discussion groups. Spend the summer at
the library.
- Ask about summer learning at your
local library, or visit
the library website.
Photography Courses with
Hennepin County Library
- Whether you are taking a world
tour, seeing the great American sights or enjoying a Minnesota staycation,
Hennepin County Library can help you memorialize your experiences. Library
cardholders get free access to online courses on Lynda.com, a
resource to learn creative, technical and professional skills. Create an
account to access the “Mobile Photography Weekly” courses, to learn about
composing, editing and sharing your photos online, and more.
Learn
more about this cultural event.
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