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In this Issue
Greetings and happy summer! I am the Council member for District 10, which includes Arden Hills, Blaine, Circle Pines, Falcon Heights, Lauderdale, Lexington, Mounds View, New Brighton, North Oaks, Roseville, Shoreview, and Spring Lake Park.
As chair of the Environment Committee and a member of the Community Development Committee, I'm excited to sink my teeth into some of the most challenging issues of our time – affordable housing, transportation, and clean water. If we are going to achieve the Council's mission of fostering efficient and economic growth for a prosperous metropolitan region, we must come up with new solutions that lift all boats.
My goal in sending out this quarterly newsletter is to keep you updated on the work of Council, as well as let you know about upcoming grants, service changes, and other information that you may find useful. One section of the newsletter I highly recommend reading each time is the upcoming events and deadlines. This newsletter contains information about a stormwater management grant deadline, a public hearing, and public comment period.
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While resilience planning to confront, adapt to and mitigate climate change isn’t a requirement of local comprehensive planning, nearly half of community plans - including Shoreview - have a resiliency component.
In its Destination Shoreview 2040 Plan, the city says it is “resilient, responsive and ready,” and focuses on energy efficiency, water quality, water conservation, waste reduction and new infrastructure technology. In February, the city won an award for exceptional performance in the area of sustainability, an honor bestowed by the Minnesota Chapter of the American Public Works Association.
Image: Swale and raingarden in Shoreview (Photo courtesy City of Shoreview).
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Metro Transit has wrapped two buses, dubbed Nature Connectors, with a beautiful painting designed by Minneapolis muralist Greta McLain and created in her studio, GoodSpace Murals. The painting prominently features monarch butterflies.
The buses are now traveling on routes – including Route 83, which starts in Roseville and goes through Como Park – that lead to some of the region’s most popular regional parks as part of an effort to highlight the connection between transit and parks.
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The Metro HRA, Minneapolis Public Housing Authority, and St. Paul Public Housing Agency all opened their waiting lists for applications last month. Over 17,000 households applied for the Metro HRA waiting list, and 2,000 of those will be selected in a random lottery to be placed on the waiting list. The staggering volume of applicants shows the need for affordable housing in the region. |
Regional parks in the metro area got nearly 60 million visits in 2018, an increase of 2.6% over the previous year and the most visits of any year on record. The findings are from the Metropolitan Council’s annual estimates of visits to the regional parks system (PDF).
Kudos to metro area communities that have completed their local comprehensive plan updates. State statute requires metro communities to update their comprehensive plans for growth and development every 10 years for Met Council review. The process helps to ensure that local plans are coordinated with regional plans so services and infrastructure are available to support growth.
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