Guest notes from Judd Schetnan

Government Affairs Director

The 2022 legislative session kicked off at the end of January, and as we settle into the fast pace of session and the whirlwind schedule – bouncing between virtual calls and heading to the Capitol for in-person meetings – I want to take a moment to share with you some of the Met Council’s major priorities this year.

While this is a bonding year, with a budget surplus there will likely be a supplemental budget along with policy bills that could make their way through the legislature. The federal infrastructure bill that requires matching state dollars will likely also play a role in the 2022 cycle.

Governor Walz and Lieutenant Governor Flanagan’s Move Minnesota Forward plan includes many initiatives that impact our work at the Met Council. Here are some of the major efforts they are recommending the legislature pass this session.

Bonding

Regional parks and trails grant program – Even though public parks belong to everyone and are a critical component of prospering communities, we know not all people feel welcome in our regional parks system. We’re committed to advancing innovative ways to welcome new visitors to parks across race, ethnicity, national origin, income, ability, and age. That’s why the Governor and Lt. Governor’s plan includes $3 million to improve parks across the region.

Busway capital improvement program bus rapid transit – The plan recommends $60 million in capital improvements for the bus rapid transit network, advancing three projects: the METRO F Line (Central Avenue Corridor), G Line (Rice/Robert corridor), and H Line (Como/Maryland corridor).

Inflow and infiltration grant program – The plan also includes $5 million for grants for cities to repair sewer pipes that connect to the regional wastewater system. These fixes would help prevent groundwater and stormwater from entering the system, which can damage homes and buildings and harm the health and safety of our environment.

Supplemental budget

METRO Blue Line extension – The Governor and Lt. Governor’s budget includes support for the METRO Blue Line extension project, which will continue the route from Minneapolis to the northwest suburbs. The $200 million investment will support staff like engineers and project managers, as well as predesign, design, engineering, environmental analysis, right-of-way for additional property, and preparation for utility work and construction.

Mapping infrastructure climate risk and resiliency opportunities – The budget includes $5 million to create a tool for local and regional planners and engineers to find areas and infrastructure at risk from flooding, severe weather, and even drought. This assessment tool will help prioritize funding to fill major funding gaps that exist for local governments and tribes to protect public spaces and infrastructure from rain events and climate impacts. It also builds on other Met Council efforts like the climate vulnerability assessment tools.

Zero-emissions bus transition – The budget recommends $3.2 million to accelerate the transition to zero-emissions buses. This capital would help cover the extra costs for the new vehicles and charging infrastructure.

Policy bills

We'll also continue to pursue the administrative citations bill and inflow and infiltration bill introduced in 2021. The administrative citations bill would authorize the Met Council to issue administrative citations for transit fare evasion and impose civil fines. The inflow and infiltration bill would authorize the Met Council to use the municipal wastewater charge to provide cities and townships with grants, which would go toward a matching fund for private property owners to repair the privately owned parts of the sewer system.

Thank you, as always, to the countless staff members across our organization who support our efforts at the Capitol, helping to provide background information, answer questions, and develop materials. Please reach out if you have any questions about our legislative priorities, and we will continue to provide updates over the course of the legislative session. The session is set to adjourn in May.

In an upcoming change to retention, video recordings in Microsoft Teams will be automatically deleted after 60 days, unless marked otherwise. To prepare for this change, you may need to take some time over the coming weeks to avoid losing necessary material; either upload the video to Microsoft Stream, manually save the video longer, or finalize the meeting minutes before the video is deleted.

This change does not impact videos that have already been uploaded to Stream; those videos will continue to be available in Stream.

Starting in April, if you haven’t uploaded a video recording to Stream or manually changed the setting and it is older than 60 days, you will no longer be able to access it.

To move the video to Stream:

1. Locate any video recordings for internal Met Council use, such as training videos. Your recordings from Teams are automatically saved to either OneDrive or the Team’s files (located in the channel or SharePoint site).
2. Download the video to your computer.
3. Upload the video to Stream using these instructions.

To manually save a video for longer than 60 days (contact the Service Desk if you need help):

• Before the meeting: Change the recording setting of the Teams meeting.
• After the meeting: Change the saved video’s settings under the detail’s panel.

Please remember to only keep video or audio recordings for their useful life. Avoid unnecessary meeting recordings that do not require official records under the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. If there is a recording of a meeting, only keep the video long enough to finalize meeting minutes or take formal notes. Video recordings cannot be the official record and should be deleted at the end of their useful life.

Review these resources for more on retention and data practices at the Met Council:

• Retention schedules
• Best practices for archiving and storing content
• Data practices information
• TECH 3-3 Document Management Policy

Enterprise Content Management offers training to all Met Council staff on records management best practices and the roles and responsibilities of all employees regarding the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. To schedule a training for your department or for any general inquiries regarding this change, please email the Service Desk at ServiceDesk@metc.state.mn.us.

Read the most recent bulletin (Feb. 3), which includes:

• The Met Council's COVID-19 Paid Administrative Leave Procedure, which assists vaccinated employees if they cannot work for COVID-19-related reasons, was updated to clarify that leave may be used to cover partial days (a singular occasion of less than an entire shift) as needed. However, it is not available for intermittent use (repeated partial day usage) in all cases.
• Despite the U.S. Supreme Court halting enforcement of OSHA mandates in January, most of our masking, vaccination, and testing rules remain in place.
• Please review the definitions of quarantine, isolation, close contact, and vaccination status from the CDC.
• The Met Council adopted the updated quarantine and isolation guidelines from the CDC and MDH. Please review any division-specific guidelines your division leaders have shared in addition to these Councilwide requirements.
• Teleworking staff should continue working remotely until further notice. The Met Council will give employees at least 30 days' notice prior to fully transitioning employees back into the office. No return-to-office date has been set at this time.

Tools to help you find vaccine appointments:

• Schedule an appointment at either of the Met Council's Well@Work clinics. COVID-19 vaccines are available on Mondays and Thursdays by appointment. Masks are required at all times in the clinics.
• Schedule an appointment at one of the state's Community Vaccination Program sites.
• Use the state's Vaccine Locator Map to search for vaccine providers in your area.
• Schedule an appointment on the HealthPartners COVID-19 site or M Health Fairview COVID-19 site.
• Schedule an appointment for a vaccine at a pharmacy near you with the CDC: VaccineFinder.
• Make sure you're reading the regular all-staff COVID-19 email to get the latest on vaccination opportunities, guidelines, and more.
• For more information about the vaccine and how to find an appointment, visit the Minnesota Department of Health vaccine site.

COVID-19 testing:

• Walk in or schedule an appointment for a free test at one of the state’s COVID-19 Community Testing Sites across Minnesota.
• Order a free at-home test kit through the state’s COVID-19 Test at Home program.
• Order free at-home rapid tests through the United States Postal Service.
• Find a testing option near you through the state's Find Testing Locations map.
• If you have a HealthPartners medical plan, access testing through HealthPartners or get your over-the-counter at-home tests covered by insurance. 

Did you know you can co-author documents in Microsoft Teams and Teams automatically retains the past 500 versions of a file?

It’s true! Gone are the days of emailing files and collating changes. With Teams, simply send a link to a shared file for anyone to view, modify, and comment on the content.

Explore these overviews and videos from Microsoft to learn more about collaborating and co-authoring:

• Collaborate on files in Microsoft Teams
• Document collaboration and co-authoring
• Co-author Office files
• Share files and folders in OneDrive (video)

Join upcoming trainings:

• Feb. 24, 11 a.m. to noon: Collaboration and Co-authoring with SharePoint and OneDrive in Teams (live, instructor-led)
• Find additional trainings in the webinars calendar on MetNet for Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams Calling, OneNote, and many other topics

Please email the Service Desk at ServiceDesk@metc.state.mn.us if you have any questions or need assistance. The Collaborative Business Solutions team in Information Services is always happy to assist.

The deadline to apply for the Met Council's MentoringWorks program has been extended to Feb. 28.

Visit the MentoringWorks MetNet site to learn more about the professional development program, watch the recording of the virtual information session, and submit your application to be a mentor or mentee for the six-month program beginning in April. Email MentoringWorks@metc.state.mn.us if you have any questions.

Brian Jorgensen

Pronouns: he/him/his
Senior Communications Specialist

Communications

Primary duties
I’m a writer. I use words to connect with people and, hopefully, compel them to act. I’ll be working with the Communications team to develop key Met Council messages and share them with diverse audiences.

Started
Dec. 20

How does it feel to start a new job when many employees are working from home?
I find inspiration in collaboration. Fortunately, we’re able to connect even when working from home. But I’m excited for when I get to meet more of my new colleagues in person, so I can hear their stories and learn from their experiences. I’m pretty certain my family is even more excited for me to work anywhere but home …  

Hometown
Minneapolis (Northeast)

Current residence
Roseville

Family
I’m married to Sara. We have three children – Mack (16), Sam (14), and Alice (11). We’re all trying to raise a Wheaten Terrier puppy, Murphy.

Education
I graduated from the University of St. Thomas with a bachelor’s degree in journalism/public relations.

Experience
I worked with Words At Work, a Minneapolis marketing communications firm, for many years. I was fortunate to partner with a wide range of clients, writing about many different things for many different types of people. I join the public sector eager to work more directly with my community. I also run a seasonal food concessions business with my family at the Minneapolis Farmers Market on weekends. So, I pretty much have the “writer/hot dog peddler” market cornered.

Other interests
I’m quite prolific at driving kids around town. Sometimes, I get to take a break and enjoy the perks of being outside in a wonderful part of the country. I’m also an avid sports enthusiast and seemingly perpetual youth basketball coach who still tries to play the sport from time to time.