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Hennepin Happening
Welcome to the District 5 January newsletter! Scroll down to read more about
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 County passes new conservation guidelines
Our office led an effort to pass an energy policy BAR establishing a payback guideline of 15 years or less for energy conservation projects. Hennepin County has been actively reducing its energy consumption since the early 1990s, which has included a wide array of energy and cost-saving initiatives (for example,replacing fluorescent lights with LEDs). But as the county has tackled a lot of the low hanging projects, continuing to meet our energy conservation goals in an 8 year payback window was becoming more challenging. Changing the payback guidelines from 8 to 15 years will allow the county to pursue better energy conservation projects and allow us to stay on track towards our goal of a 20% energy reduction by 2020.
Legal aid for domestic abuse victims included in county budget
Our office worked hard to include $83,000 in this year's budget to provide legal services to qualifying victims of domestic abuse. The Hennepin County Attorney’s Office has a Domestic Abuse Service Center (DASC) that currently assists victims of domestic abuse. DASC provides services to more than 11,000 victims of domestic abuse each year. Only 15% of victims of domestic abuse have representation in court. Priority will be given to petitioners with the most need, typically where children have been abused, where the respondent has a lawyer, and/or where the victim has language or cultural barriers.
Saturday, January 5 | 10:00am - 1:00pm
Bloomington Civic Plaza | 1800 W Old Shakopee Rd, Bloomington
Meet department members and fill out an application on-site. You can also apply at blm.mn/jobs. Some interviews may also be conducted on the spot!
Summer seasonal positions
- Public Works street, traffic, facilities and utilities laborers
- Public Works parks laborers (all 40 hours/week)
Golf course positions (part-time; hours vary)
Cashiers
-Food/Beverage associates
-Ranger/starters
-Driving range attendants
-Seasonal groundskeepers (40-45 hours per week)
-PT Seasonal groundskeepers (evenings, weekends, short shifts)
Parks and Recreation summer positions
-Lifeguards
-Admissions/Concessions Attendants
-Aquatics Assistant Coordinators
-Summer Adventure Playgrounds Instructors/Leads
-The View Instructors/Leads
-Mini View Instructors/Leads
-Camp Kota positions
-Inclusion positions
-Adaptive Softball positions
-AV Techs
Internships
-Assessing
-Engineering
-Environmental Health
 Saturday, January 19 - Sunday, January 27
All over Bloomington
The annual Bloomington Winter Fete welcomes winter to the city with a week full of outdoor activities. Kick off Winter Fete by attending the Fat Tire Bike Race in the Minnesota River Valley. Be sure to attend other great events during this winter celebration, which include ski jumping competitions, the Ice Harvest Festival and the Pond Dakota Winter History Festival.
This year, Winter Fete activities will take place throughout the City from Saturday, January 19, through Sunday, January 27, 2019.
All Winter Fete activities are free unless otherwise noted, and fun for the whole family! In case of inclement weather, call the weather line at 952-563-8878 for up to date cancellation information.
Check out the entire list of events here.
It has been my distinct privilege to spend this last year working with so many talented and passionate people on so many different issues. Here are a few of my favorite moments.
 Renovation at Oxboro Library. Our community meetings provided staff with valuable feedback and direction on the project. We're looking forward to reopening the library this coming spring.
 I received an award from the American Heart Association at a joint meeting with the Bloomington Bicycle Alliance and Richfield Bike Advocates. It's easier to support investments in bike and pedestrian infrastructure when you have groups like these educating and organizing for a more active and sustainable Hennepin County. Thank you the Association and all of our bicycle advocates.
 Elevate at Southwest Station apartments broke ground in Eden Prairie just a few weeks ago. The county teamed up with the City of Eden Prairie, the Metropolitan Council, our residents, and many others to bring a mix of market-rate and workforce housing units into our cities. This is just the beginning of the economic boost the light rail is bringing to our communities.
 The 11th annual Hennergy Awards was a huge success. Eight awards were given to county buildings and people staffing them for reducing their energy consumption, saving tax dollars, and moving us towards becoming a greener, more sustainable county.
 Dar Al Farooq Center opened their doors to the greater Bloomington community and invited us to join them in breaking fast during Ramadan. It was a wonderful opportunity to connect with a thriving place of worship. Keep an eye out for events like this coordinated by the Bloomington Human Rights Commission.
 Spent a lovely morning at the farmers market sampling momos, popcorn, and handing out the latest Hennepin County bike map.Setting aside time to just chat and connect with people is one of the most worthwhile things I do as your commissioner.
 Broke ground for the Mall of America transit station renovation. The transit station there is busiest transit hub in the state, and it will benefit tremendously from the renovations. It will be finished near the end of 2019.
Check out the renderings of the finished station here.
 Beacon Interfaith Housing Collaborative brought over three hundred people together from dozens of places of worship to support housing for everyone in Minnesota. I'm proud to support their cause.
 We had several coffee meetings around the district, turning up numerous constituent cases we were able to help resolve. Call the District 5 office at 612-348-7885 if you want to set up a meeting for your community.
 At the groundbreaking ceremony for Southwest Light Rail. From left to right, Commissioners Linda Higgins, Marion Greene, Peter McLaughlin, US Senator Amy Klobuchar, Metropolitan Council Chair Alene Tchourumoff, Commissioner Jan Callison, and myself.
 Eden Prairie Library closing for renovation
The library will be closed for renovation beginning Monday, January 7, and will reopen in fall 2019. The project will offer new and flexible spaces for learning, gathering, and accessing technology and the library collection. The project will also address significant infrastructure and building system improvements needed for code compliance and longevity and prepare the site for electric vehicle charging stations and potential future solar power.
Learn more about the Eden Prairie renovation project.
35W and Eden Prairie's Flying Cloud Drive are in the midst of major construction projects. Skip the traffic jams and sign up for updates on the projects impacting your commute.
You can also visit the Hennepin County website for updates on road maintenance projects and all other road construction.
Housing crises, energy assistance, child protection, emergency situations; we are here to advocate for you when it comes to navigating local and county services, and we want to help. Please call our office at 612-348-7885 with any questions or for assistance.
Contact
Commissioner Debbie Goettel
Hennepin County District 5
Bloomington | Eden Prairie | Richfield
612-348-7885 | debbie.goettel@hennepin.us
Casey Krolczyk
Principal Aide
612-348-7885 | casey.krolczyk@hennepin.us
Michael Ohama
Policy Director
612-348-7885 | michael.ohama@hennepin.us
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