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In this Issue
This month I'd like to highlight a collaborative effort between the Met Council and two of the cities in our district. The Chaska-Carver meeting, is a group which started in 2015 and began as a means of promoting lateral learning between the cities. The cities, which are neighbors, have many things in common. The idea for the meeting originated with my desire to get to know the communities of Carver and Chaska better and the communities wanting to understand the Met Council better. The first of these meetings took place in December 2015.
We usually meet on a quarterly basis to discuss a range of topics from city projects, comprehensive planning, forecasting, Livable Communities Act funding, and transportation funding. I think the meeting demonstrates two important things 1) that we (the Met Council) don't have all the answers and 2) as a region, we can all learn from each other. I think the most important thing that has come from the meeting is improved personal relationships between myself, the mayors and Met Council staff. It is also a chance for city staff to meet council technical staff and to learn from each other in many different areas,
While this is not the only such regularly scheduled meeting I attend in the district, it is the most intimate. This allows for more free-flowing conversation and ensures that all parties questions have a chance to be asked and answered. If you are an elected official in my district and would like to discuss a similar meeting, please let me know.
As always, if you have any issues where I might be helpful, please don't hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
Deb
P.S.
There are a number of bills at the Minnesota Capitol this year that could have
big impacts on regional transit. Feel free to contact me with questions about
them – you can also learn more about the bills and stay up-to-date on the
latest news by visiting our Transit
at the Capitol website.
I proudly represent Belle Plaine, Carver, Chaska, Cologne, Hamburg, Jordan, Mayer, New Germany, Norwood Young America, Prior Lake, Savage, Shakopee, Victoria, Waconia, and Watertown. I also represent 17 Townships in Carver and Scott Co.
Look for this letter to the editor which I plan on submitting this week to many of our local area papers:
To the Editor:
As the Metropolitan Council Representative for District 4, I
am fiercely dedicated to working to advance our region and to represent my
district. When I see something that
could be detrimental to either of those, I feel it is critical to speak
up. Right now, we have an issue that
could impact many people in a very negative way. The Transportation Bill recently passed by
the Minnesota State House of Representatives could have devastating impacts to
those who use transit. While some are
viewing this as a primarily an urban issue, it is important to understand that
these impacts will also be felt in our communities with the brunt taken by senior
citizens and people with disabilities who rely on transit services like Metro
Mobility and Transit Link programs to remain independent.
So how did we get here?
For several years, legislators have ignored systemic funding issues for
transit in our region. State funding for transit has been flat for years, while
costs to provide the service have grown by 3 percent annually. Additionally, as our population ages, the
cost of providing Metro Mobility service has been increasing by 5 to 8 percent
a year. Those unaddressed funding issues
have led to a $74 million funding shortfall for transit services. Instead of addressing those issues, the House
of Representatives bill adds more cuts, ballooning the deficit to $140
million.
A cut of that size will have a ripple effect on other
services. Transit Link is a discretionary program that the Metropolitan Council
funds to connect people in suburban and rural areas to the regular transit
system, including areas served solely by the suburban transit providers. Cuts
of the magnitude passed by the House Transportation Bill would likely force the
Council to eliminate this program in its entirety. This will hit suburban
communities particularly hard. Likewise, Metro Mobility currently provides
rides beyond requirements. In fact, 30% of its rides are not required. A large
deficit will force the Council to limit or discontinue some of these rides to
absorb growth in required rides that might have otherwise used regular route
transit. Additionally, the House bill
requires fare increases across all modes of transit well above the fare
increases already under consideration, making transit services unaffordable to
some riders on fixed incomes.
I do believe that a well-connected transit system is vital to our region’s
people and economy. The House
Transportation Bill eliminates that possibility. Further, it is a mean-spirited approach that
will not only devastate the region’s transit system, it will harm senior
citizens and individuals with disabilities in our communities. At this critical junction, it is more
important than ever that we tell the legislature why well-funded transit
service is important for all our communities, urban and suburban.
Thank you,
Deb
On Monday, March 27, Metropolitan Council Chair Adam Duininck, transit advocates, business groups, and local officials urged the House leadership to withdraw their proposed legislation and pursue a sustainable fix to transit funding in the Twin Cities metro region.
View highlights from the press conference.
Bus, light rail, and Metro Mobility services for the elderly and disabled in the Twin Cities will suffer significant service cutbacks and fare increases under legislation introduced by leaders in the Minnesota Legislature. The House Transportation Omnibus Bill (HF 861) proposes to drastically cut funding for Metro Transit, the largest transit provider in the Twin Cities. After accounting for a proposed fare increase, HF 861 balloons Metro Transit’s budget deficit to more than $125 million over the next two-year funding cycle.
The proposed cuts would result in devastating reductions in local bus and rail service. “If Republicans in the legislature short-change transit, our only alternative will be to shrink the Metro Transit service area and reduce the number of hours the system operates at the same time we dramatically increase fares. The people who rely on transit to get to work, school and personal activities will pay the biggest price as we reduce service hours, routes and destinations,” Duininck said.
Click here to read the entire article.
At least $6.7 billion in investment has been tallied along the existing METRO Green Line and Blue Line and the proposed Southwest and Blue Line Extension Light Rail Transit (LRT) projects, the Metropolitan Council announced.
These investments include new construction such as the Optum headquarters in Eden Prairie, as well as redevelopment or rehabilitation of existing buildings, such as Custom House Apartments in downtown St. Paul and Riverside Plaza in Minneapolis. The total development likely exceeds the $6.7 billion as many developments along the routes have not publicly disclosed their project value.
“Businesses continue making strategic investments along existing and planned light rail lines, demonstrating their conviction that light rail is a valuable asset to local communities along these routes,” Metropolitan Council Chair Adam Duininck said.
Kelly Doran, principal and founder of Doran Companies, says proximity to the Southwest Green Line extension is a major selling point in attracting tenants.
“Clearly, the decision to construct the Southwest Light Rail line is a significant boost to the marketing of The Moline, our multi-family apartment project opening in Hopkins this fall—but even more, to future development in the Southwest metro,” Doran said.
Connecting workers to jobs
There are already 64,300 jobs within one-half mile of the 15 planned Southwest LRT stations and another 16,600 jobs are expected to be added by 2035. Once completed, Southwest LRT will connect workers to job centers such as:
- Park Nicollet Methodist Hospital
- Downtown Hopkins
- Opus Business Park
- Optum corporate headquarters
- Golden Triangle Business Park
- Eden Prairie Center shopping mall.
Southwest Light Rail has the support of the business community, including the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, Associated General Contractors of Minnesota and Minnesota Business Partnership Three of Minnesota’s 17 Fortune 500 companies are located on the Southwest line:
- CH Robinson
- SuperValu
- UnitedHealth Group
- Another six Fortune 500 companies are on the existing LRT lines in downtown Minneapolis.
The Blue Line Extension has 16,200 jobs within one-half mile of its 11 planned new stations and is expected to grow to 20,800 jobs along the route. Target’s Northern Campus in Brooklyn Park is a major job center on the line.
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The Metropolitan Council, together with an array of partners, is providing a major boost to the Community Solar Garden (CSG) capacity in Minnesota. In December, solar gardens began commercial operations at two of the Council’s wastewater treatment plants in the south metro.
A five megawatt (MW) solar garden powered up Dec. 14 at the Empire Wastewater Treatment Plant in Empire Township. A three MW solar garden went online Dec. 19 at the Council’s Blue Lake Wastewater Treatment Plant in Shakopee. In total, these projects represent nearly 20% of solar gardens expected in 2016 through Xcel Energy’s Solar*Rewards Community program.
“These projects will significantly increase Minnesota’s solar garden capacity, while providing reliable, affordable, clean energy for local customers,” said Lt. Governor Tina Smith. “I thank Xcel Energy and the Metropolitan Council for their continued commitment to developing our renewable energy resources.”
“This expansion is great news for our entire region and its residents,” said Council Chair Adam Duininck. “The gardens translate into financial savings for residents, as well as less pollution, including fewer fossil fuel emissions. I’m grateful to the partnerships that make these projects possible – including private utilities, investors, and developers.”
“We’re proud to help the Met Council achieve its sustainability goals by bringing these two large community solar gardens online,” said Chris Clark, president, Xcel Energy-Minnesota. “Solar power is a key element in Xcel Energy’s plan to deliver more than 60% carbon free energy for our customers by 2030.”
In addition to Xcel Energy, Oak Leaf Energy Partners, Cypress Creek Renewables, and Hunt Electric were also partners on this project.
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On Friday, Dec. 9, Lisa Barajas, Local Planning Assistance manager, presented to the Scott County Association for Leadership and Efficiency (SCALE).The presentation, titled “Getting Value Out of Your Comprehensive Plan,” provided an overview of the role of local comprehensive planning, its interaction with regional planning, and the opportunities for local governments to set the direction for their communities. The audience of mostly local elected officials and legislators asked questions regarding the interactions between the Council and other agencies, such as regional parks implementing agencies, as well as some of the resources the Council has produced to assist in local comprehensive planning.
During the January meeting, the 2017 legislative platform was a major topic at the meeting, which included supporting the $11 million bonding request for regional parks, additional funding for suburb-to-suburb bus transit programs and retaining the current funding formula for Legacy Amendment proceeds. At the March meeting, the hosts were the New Prague school district and a discussion was held about body cameras for law enforcement officers.
On Friday, Jan. 20, Council Members Jennifer Munt, Katie Rodriguez and I attended the legislative breakfast Municipal Legislative Commission with city officials in Plymouth. These three Council members were on hand to meet with their city officials, and local legislators at one of three of these breakfasts. Participating cities included: Bloomington, Chanhassen, Eden Prairie, Edina, Maple Grove, Minnetonka, Plymouth, and Shakopee. Each city had some combination of their mayor, city council members and city administrators in attendance.
On Tuesday, Jan. 24 I attended the quarterly Carver Co. leaders meeting in Chaska. In attendance were county elected officials as well as mayors and administrators. The topic of discussion was transportation funding and a resolution to increase revenue using local option sales tax and wheelage tax. I was able to provide some timely information about the regional solicitation process and percentages by category which influenced the direction of the conversation.
Later that afternoon, I spoke to the Shakopee Rotary about what the Met Council does in the region. I presented information about how Scott Co. fared in the latest round of regional solicitation. The rotary made a donation of 10 polio vaccines in honor of my appearance - I'm grateful for their leadership on this issue internationally.
On Friday, Feb. 2, I
attended the regular meeting of the Southwest Corridor Transportation Coalition. On the agenda was Highway 212, which is the
focus of a Fast Lanes application supported by the Met Council. Also discussed
was Carver County’s interest in increasing the county-wide sales tax for
transportation. The group did not support a resolution given that many of the
members are from outside Carver Co.
On
Wednesday, March 22, I attended the MTPD Officer of the Year Ceremony along with Council Members Cara Letofsky, Katie Rodriguez and Wendy Wulff. Law enforcement officers were
honored for their courage, work ethic and a job well done.
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