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It's a wrap! The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners just completed the final board meeting of the year on December 12 with the approval of the 2025 budget. This nearly $3.1 billion budget prioritizes deep investments into our safety net hospital (HCMC), public safety, behavioral health, affordable housing, our workforce, and unsheltered homelessness.
As the Vice Chair of the County Board and Chair of the budget process, I am proud to have helped shepherd this budget to completion. Thank you, to our staff and administration for helping to bring this to summation. The wins that we marked this year are many and wide-reaching. Here are some of the moments and accomplishments that stood out:
• The State Legislature passed the Packaging Waste and Cost Reduction Act – which is a key piece of legislation for us to reach our Zero Waste Goals; we lobbied intensely for this.
• We passed Capital Improvement Project investments in the District Five communities of Bloomington, Eden Prairie and Richfield that reached an astonishing $198,822,400 in the next five year plan.
• My office brought forward an action to reduce the county's water usage and replace outdated systems across our facilities. We have reduced our water use by over 45% in the last decade, and we are confident we can reach a further 20% in the following ten years.
• Municipal consent was received from all partners to allow for the advancement of the METRO Blue Line Extension Light Rail Transit Project, and continued growth of anti-displacement work from local government, state and federal partners.
• The United States Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH), Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) certified that Hennepin County is meeting their benchmarks for effectively ending homelessness among veterans in Hennepin County.
• The board dedicated $19.5 million in capital funding to create or preserve affordable housing, supporting 23 projects with a total of 1,493 affordable rental units; 38% of new rental units will be affordable to households at or below 30% AMI.
• We passed a board action to develop a regional youth crisis stabilization center to fill a critical need at our Behavioral Health Center, 1800 Chicago Avenue in Minneapolis.
• We granted $25 million dollars in total awards to community organizations, non-profits, and local government units to help reduce disparities across the county.
• The board declared Hennepin a Safe County for the transgender, gender nonconforming, lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer, intersex, and allied community.
Thank you for partnering with us at Hennepin County throughout 2024, and we look forward to the work at hand for 2025!
Happy Holidays, and happy new year!
Sincerely,
Debbie Goettel
What's happening at Hennepin County, and across the district:
Make sure to follow me on Twitter! @HennepinDebbie
Read the Board Action Request here which establishes a water use baseline and design strategies for Hennepin County, brought forward by Commissioner Goettel.
 Hennepin County now accepting applications for community advisory boards
The Hennepin County Board is recruiting volunteers for 43 advisory and watershed district board positions through its annual open appointment process.
Each fall, the board accepts applications from residents interested in volunteer service positions on advisory boards, commissions, councils and special task forces. Board members will advise commissioners and help set policy on a variety of topics important to the county.
Community advisory board openings:
- Adult Mental Health Local Advisory Council
- County Extension Committee, U of M Extension
- Human Resources Board
- Library Board
- Racial Equity Advisory Council
- Special Board of Appeal and Equalization
- Three Rivers Park District Board of Commissioners
- Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Board
Watershed board openings:
- Minnehaha Creek Watershed District
Application process
- Now through December 31 – apply at us/advisoryboards.
- Starting January 2025 – the county board will conduct interviews.
- First quarter of 2025 – the county board will appoint volunteers to the positions.
Carry your library card anywhere with the new Hennepin County Library app, available for Apple and Android devices. Use the Hennepin County Library app to discover new titles, plan your next visit, and browse recommendations. You can also:
- Instantly access your library card barcode
- Search the collection
- Place and manage holds
- Manage multiple accounts
- Check library hours and locations
- Discover library events
Whether you’re browsing from home or scanning your barcode in-person at the library, the new app makes it even easier to connect and explore.
Download the free app by searching “Hennepin County Library” in the App Store or Google Play.
Hennepin County has invested in transit-oriented communities (TOC) for over 20 years. The understanding of TOC, and what the Hennepin County program has funded has evolved over this time. Since 2020, the county has placed greater emphasis on supporting a range of projects that contribute to vibrant, walkable, mixed-use, and human-centered communities. These projects include community institutions providing critical services and programming, and developments that offer affordable commercial space for local small businesses.
In 2022, the county created a one-time program dedicated to funding such efforts, the Community Investment Initiative (CII). CII was designed to advance economic recovery and increase long-term economic opportunity in Hennepin County communities most significantly impacted by the pandemic.
Through the CII program, the county invested $6.88 million in 13 projects across Hennepin County, with 85% of that funding awarded to projects in communities that have historically faced disinvestment. Combined, the projects will include 496 affordable commercial spaces. Housing and Economic Development staff designed the CII program to be a flexible approach to developing affordable commercial space via business incubators, commercial ownership, land trusts, cooperatives, or lower rents. While the CII program was made possible through one-time pandemic recovery funding, the county will continue to prioritize investments in neighborhood-serving small business, cultural, and community assets.
Five community-driven development projects embodying these goals have broken ground in recent weeks: the Indigenous Peoples Task Force’s new arts and wellness center Mikwanedun Audisookon, Artspace’s NKB Lofts, Pillsbury Creative Commons, the Unity Project and NEON's Collective Kitchens.
Read more about the county’s investments.
Each year, Hennepin County receives around $5 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for suburban housing and development projects and services.
To guide the use of the funds, Hennepin County works with cities, residents, and other partners to set goals and priorities for affordable housing and community development in suburban communities as part of a five-year plan. These priorities also help shape broader affordable housing efforts by the county and partner cities.
The next five-year plan is now under development. You can help us understand your personal housing experiences and priorities by taking a quick online survey.
Take the survey now
Read more about the county's federal funding for housing on our webpage.
Hennepin County works to support the local business community with no-cost consulting and group-learning in Elevate Hennepin. It also invests in business districts in cities and towns across the county by supporting affordable commercial real estate, beautification, and access via transit, bike, and walking.
Check out a video of Hennepin County’s wholistic approach to supporting local businesses.
As some of our passionate Hennepin County staff and partners noted, this holiday shopping season is the ideal time to celebrate all the local business community gives back to us as residents.
Mark your calendars, November 30, 2024, is Small Business Saturday and we’re celebrating everything local business owners do with the annual Love Local campaign.
Share your favorite local business, business district with Hennepin County and inspire your neighbors to shop local by using the hashtag #LoveLocalHC all from Small Business Saturday through this season.
Check out what’s happening across the county or zoom into your district to see what’s happening closer to you. To learn more about each project, just click on the line or dot on the map.
2024 Transportation Activities Webmap
2024-2028 Transportation Capital Projects Webmap
Other resources:
Metropolitan Council weekly construction update
MnDOT- Metro Area State highway and bridge projects
The amazing Richfield Winter Market! Make sure to join!
Market Map & Vendor List (by date)
Join Bloomington Parks and Recreation along with community partners this winter for the 21st Annual Winter Fete celebration. See a list of activities taking place, and note that all Winter Fete activities are free unless otherwise noted.
A FREE Eden Prairie winter community event celebrating outdoor recreation! Bundle up and drop by to participate in a variety of fun outdoor activities for all ages.
Where: Staring Lake Park
When: Saturday, January 11 at 12 p.m.- 4:30 p.m.
See more details here.
From World Series and WNBA Championships to Olympic gold medals and Big Ten titles, and from legends like Herb Brooks and Patty Berg to today’s stars like Suni Lee and Anthony Edwards, the state of Minnesota is blessed with a rich sports legacy. Since Friday, Nov. 29, visitors have the opportunity to learn more about Minnesota’s history on the field, diamond, court, ice and beyond as the Minnesota Sports Hall of Fame Experience opens to the public in downtown Minneapolis.
The temporary installation highlighting Minnesota’s sports history will recognize the many individuals, teams and key moments that have contributed to our state’s sports legacy. Featuring a pictorial history of Minnesota sports from award-winning Minnesota Star Tribune photographers.
Where: Dayton's Holiday Market, 700 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN 55402
Hours: Mondays-Saturdays 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sundays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.;
*During Holidazzle on Dec. 18-21, the exhibit will be open from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Learn more here.
Check out events happening at a Hennepin County library near you. Filter for specific geographic areas, age groups, and different types of events to find something unique to you and your family!
Learn more at Hennepin County Library events.
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Whether it's a housing crisis, energy assistance question, or child protection concern, we are here to help you navigate these and other issues.
Please call our office at 612-348-7885 or contact us to seek assistance or ask a question.
Contact
Commissioner Debbie Goettel
Hennepin County District 5
Bloomington | Eden Prairie | Richfield | SW Minneapolis
612-348-7885
Graham Faulkner
Policy Director
612-596-7078
Kate Nelson
District Director
612-348-7885
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