|
|
We kicked off our new internal branding campaign last month to showcase the people who help make the region a better place to live, play, and grow. Each of us has a story that helps define who we are and what we do.
Watch Ricki Vang, associate HR business partner, talk about the importance of authenticity, his passion for helping others serve the community, his quest for a greater purpose, and the feeling he gets when a bus whisks by.
 Want to share your story? Email us at TheWire@metc.state.mn.us.
|
|
A thought for the day …
"A great accomplishment shouldn't be the end of the road, just the starting point for the next leap forward."
– Harvey Mackay, American businessman, author, and columnist
|
|
Chair Charlie Zelle and the Council members are hosting the 2024 State of the Region Friday, March 22, in Hopkins.
The event will include remarks from Chair Zelle and Ryan O’Connor, regional administrator, along with a panel discussion of regional leaders facilitated by Tane Danger, a local speaker and emcee.
The State of the Region event will be livestreamed on the Met Council YouTube channel. You will also be able to view a recorded version following the event.
|
|
Notes from Phil Walljasper, deputy regional administrator
I’m pleased to announce we have selected Ned Smith as our new chief financial officer. For the past nine years, Ned has served as the director of pretreatment and finance for Environmental Services. It’s in that role he developed a reputation for being a high-level financial strategist, representing the Met Council in various stakeholder meetings throughout the region. He’s well-known for approaching his work with discipline and has the ability to engage and collaborate with partners in ways that allow all parties to feel heard and comfortable with the final decisions. I’m fully confident he will be a great addition to the executive leadership team.
Please take a moment to congratulate Ned on his new role.
|
February budget forecast released
On Feb. 29, Minnesota Management and Budget released the February 2024 budget forecast, which provides the basis for any supplemental budget or spending bills for the 2024 session. Given that the 2024 session is the second year of the biennium, the two-year budget for the state was passed in 2023 and remains in place. No additional action on a budget is necessary for state government business to continue.
The budget forecast showed that the state 2024-25 fiscal biennium (July 2023 to June 2025) will end with an estimated $3.7 billion budget surplus, an increase of $1.3 billion from the November budget projection. However, there is a predicted structural imbalance of $1.5 billion at the end of the 2026-27 fiscal biennium.
Chair Zelle presents bonding recommendations
Chair Zelle presented the Governor's bonding recommendations for the Met Council to the Senate Transportation Committee on Feb. 26. Bonding recommendations include:
- $37 million for busway capital improvements, which will advance the METRO H Line (Como/Maryland), and any remaining funds would advance the J, K, and L lines.
- $2.5 million for metropolitan parks and trails, which would be matched by $1.67 million in regional funds to the 10 regional parks and trails implementing agencies.
- $5 million for inflow and infiltration grants to municipalities to reduce clear water in the regional wastewater system.
Chair Zelle is expected to make a similar presentation to the House Capital Investment Committee on March 6.
Other recent activities include:
- The Met Council submitted a letter of support for HF3640, a bill that would prohibit discrimination in housing against a person who receives public assistance, including a housing voucher. Metro HRA Director Terri Smith participated in a press conferencewith Lt. Gov. Peggy Flanagan, Minnesota Housing Commissioner Jennifer Ho, Minnesota Department of Human Rights Commissioner Rebecca Lucero, and the authors of the bill.
The next legislative deadline is March 22, when committees in both the House and Senate must act favorably on bills that are not major appropriation or finance bills.
For questions or more information, email Hannah Pallmeyer in Government Affairs at Hannah.Pallmeyer@metc.state.mn.us.
|
|
|
The Coordinating Team for the Met Council’s Climate Action Work Plan has $500,000 available for climate plan-related projects between now and the end of 2024. If you are involved in plan implementation at any level, you may submit a proposal to use a portion of the funds.
While the primary funding sources for plan implementation are department budgets, these grants are available if those sources are not sufficient to cover project costs.
Examples of projects that may be good candidates for these funds:
- “Shovel-ready” projects
- Projects that pilot larger initiatives
- Scoping or studies for larger, long-term projects
- Projects that support the “enabling” actions of the climate plan
- Projects with clear environmental justice components
- Enterprise-wide work that does not clearly fit into a single division’s budget
Applications for projects will be made in two stages. Applicants must fill out 15 questions. The Coordinating Team will review the applications using the following criteria:
- Clarity of the project
- Clear connection to actions in the climate plan
- Clear description of how the project does or does not relate to environmental justice goals
In addition, projects will score higher that involve new work or that enhance existing work, are related to higher priority or “enabling” actions in the plan, and/or are cross-divisional, enterprise-wide actions.
Project proposals do not need official department approval in this first stage. However, we encourage you to talk to your manager before submittal to ensure that efforts are well aligned and not duplicated.
Fill out this form to submit a proposal.
Once the Coordinating Team approves an initial application, they will ask the applicant to provide additional information that describes the scope and process for the project. This will help ensure that the project has sufficient staff time and resources devoted to it as well as a clear scope. At this stage, projects will need approval from a department director or manager.
Questions? Contact Laura Bretheim or your division’s Coordinating Team representative: Lisa Barajas, Community Development; Sam Paske, Environmental Services; Jeff Freeman, Metro Transit; Kathy Matter, Regional Administration; and Amy Vennewitz, Metropolitan Transportation Services.
Round 1 climate grants advance flood-mapping, training in sustainable infrastructure
The Coordinating Team made two grants in late 2023 to support projects that will advance strategies in the climate plan.
A grant of $200,000 will support the creation of a second-generation flood mapping tool. The Water Resources section of the Planning department in Environmental Services is managing the project. A portion of the grant will help fund a new staff position for the first two years to lead the development of the tool. The position will provide technical assistance to local governments who want to use the tool in their comprehensive plan updates. The position would also support other Environmental Services climate and regional water planning projects.
A grant of $45,000 will be used to train up to 120 people across the Met Council on Envision, a holistic sustainability framework and rating system that enables a thorough examination of the sustainability and resiliency of all types of civil infrastructure, including light rail, bus projects, sewers, and other infrastructure. Those identified for this training either lead or provide key expertise when planning, designing, constructing, and/or maintaining infrastructure.
The Met Council will subsequently be able to track the number of staff trained on Envision and the number of projects with Envision-trained project leads and contributors.
|
|
|
 |
|
Q: Will the downtown Saint Paul parking program continue or is it ending?
A: The Met Council is working with Interstate Parking to increase parking options for employees who drive to work. Employees are now able to park in the Jackson Street Ramp, 345 Jackson Street and Citywalk Ramp, 69 E. 7th Street. Plans include adding surface lots at 500 N. Robert Street.
This question was submitted through the Regional Administration town hall Microsoft Form. If you have a timely question before the next Regional Administration town hall on Wednesday, May 1, please submit it using the webform and Communications will work to provide a response here in The Wire or on MetNet.
|
The Information Services (IS) Geographic Information Services (GIS) team will be hosting virtual bi-weekly office hours to provide support and answer your GIS questions. Sessions will be hosted on Microsoft Teams every other Tuesday.
Tuesday, March 5
2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Add to calendar or use this link to join
Tuesday, April 2
2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Add to calendar or use this link to join
Tuesday, April 19
2:00 to 3:00 p.m.
Add to calendar or use this link to join
Email Mary Mortensen at Mary.Mortensen@metc.state.mn.us with questions.
In February, Information Services announced a shift from Citrix to a new Microsoft remote desktop tool for accessing Met Council applications. This change impacts how employees access crucial applications like TXbase, TransitMaster, Hastus, and others.
The transition will occur in four phases, completing by June 30, 2024. All Met Council employees will switch to the Remote Desktop App for accessing applications previously accessed through Citrix.
Met Council employees will see an icon for the new desktop application on your Met Council computer starting March 4. The application will not be functional during this phase.
Starting in April, the next phase will involve testing of the application to pilot teams across the Met Council. A pilot group will use the app regularly and provide feedback to address any issues before enabling the application Councilwide. The Remote Desktop App will only be enabled for pilot users during this phase.
On May 1, the application will be enabled for staff members in Metropolitan Transportation Services and Metro Transit.
The application will be enabled for staff members in Regional Administration and Environmental Services in June, completing the transition for all Met Council employees.
The Citrix application will be disabled on June 30. Starting July 1, all Met Council employees must use the Remote Desktop App. Training information will be provided in April and May.
If you have any questions about the new application or the deployment schedule, contact Jeff Jeska at jeff.jeska@metc.state.mn.us.
|
|
Heywood Well@Work clinic open during construction
During construction on the Heywood campus, patients must use the main Heywood Office and Police Building entrance. The other entrance (the former main entrance to Heywood) on the side of the building will be closed.
Non-transit employees, spouses, and dependents must check in at the building's front desk to access the clinic.
Please note the Heywood front desk is only staffed from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., so you'll need to book an appointment during this timeframe to ensure clinic access. Use only the designated clinic parking spots in the visitor parking lot for your appointment.
Visit our Met Council scheduling page to make an appointment online.
Or make an appointment by phone for your desired location:
- Minneapolis (Heywood Office and police building): 952-967-7468
- Saint Paul (Jackson Street building): 952-967-5474
Visit the Well@Work MetNet page for full clinic details and FAQs.
Labor agreement increases wages for transit workers
The Met Council on Feb. 28 approved a labor agreement with the ATU Local 1005 that increases wages for frontline transit workers.
The ATU Local 1005 represents more than 2,000 bus and train operators, technicians, public facility workers, cleaners, and transit information representatives, among other positions. In early February, 82% of ATU members voted in favor of the proposed contract.
Under the new contract, wages for all ATU-represented workers will increase 13% from July 2023 through August 2025. Effective immediately, the new starting hourly wage for bus and train operators is $27.59 and the starting hourly wage for mechanic technicians is $37.80.
The contract also includes higher wage rates for second- and third-shift workers and more flexibility in part-time operator schedules.
|
|
Employee input provides key insights into business processes as part of Enterprise Asset Management project
The Enterprise Asset Management project, which will replace the TXbase and WAM legacy systems with a single system to streamline asset management, is finalizing the analysis of business processes, thanks to collaboration and input from employees across the Met Council.
The project is one of seven projects that are part of the Business Process Systems Integration (BPSI) program, which is a Councilwide initiative to streamline multiple business processes and their supporting technology systems across the organization. The processes include timekeeping, absence management, asset management, procurement and more, which are currently managed by multiple systems.
Thanks to the significant amount of input received from managers and staff across all Met Council divisions, the Enterprise Asset Management project team is nearly ready to request proposals for a new system.
In addition, the project team has hit the following milestones:
- An Enterprise Asset Management project vision, with long-term goals for asset management
- An analysis of gaps between the current systems and future needs for asset management
- Requirements for asset management that specify the technical capabilities and software functions our management system must provide
- A clear procurement strategy for engaging and selecting vendors
- A scope of work for the Enterprise Asset Management system to provide responding vendors with expectations for delivery
An external consultant, AMCL, helped facilitate the process with industry experts incorporating the Met Council’s unique needs into a best practice approach. As the project moves into the design and implementation phase, AMCL will continue helping us identify process improvements that could help streamline processes and make services better and more efficient.
Next steps
We are in the process of finalizing the request for proposal (RFP) documentation to release soon. Once posted externally, the project team will form a selection panel and an advisory group composed of expert users across Met Council divisions. These groups will evaluate proposals and interview responding vendors. Our goal is to ensure the selected vendor and solution fully meet the needs of employees who use the system. The selection panel decision must be unanimous to move forward.
After selecting a vendor, the project team, we will have a lot of work to do. Configuring the new system involves months of learning more about your needs and exploring potential business process improvements. The project will include building integrations between procurement and timekeeping systems. We will configure training modules and ready data to move to the new system. The project team estimates completing this work sometime in 2026, when the new system will go live for use.
Your input and involvement will be key to implementing the new asset management system successfully. You can expect more communication with users and stakeholders as the project continues into 2025. The project team is striving to make the best use of employee time, while getting significant input from potential users.
Learn more about the Enterprise Asset Management project, and other efforts as part of the BPSI program
|
|
Transit Employee Appreciation Day is March 18
Save the Date: Metro Transit and transit agencies across the country will celebrate Transit Employee Appreciation Day Monday, March 18. Celebrate co-workers by submitting commendations or an Awarding Accomplishment nomination.
Stay up to date with Metro Update
Looking to hear more about the fantastic work your colleagues are doing in other departments or divisions? Check out the Met Council's monthly external newsletter, Metro Update.
Read these stories and more in the February issue:
Submit selfies for State of the Region video
Communications is looking for photos of you and of your colleagues at work.
Residents in the Twin Cities region enjoy a very high quality of life, including clean water, beautiful parks, access to transit, and housing. But how many make the connection between their quality of life and the work we do?
Communications is putting together a video that will show viewers the very tangible benefits residents get every day from you doing your job. We’d like to include shots from across the Met Council. Nothing fancy, no special requirements. Just a selfie taken on your phone as you’re in the field, at your desk, in a truck, or wherever else the day takes you. The video will be played at the State of the Region event on Friday, March 22, and linked in a future Wire edition. Wherever and whatever your work area is, we’d like to represent a variety of Met Council jobs.
Please send photos directly to Carol.Critchley@metc.state.mn.us.
|
|
 Temperamental skies
During their third Boundary Waters canoe trip in 2022, Branden See, senior program supervisor, and his daughter encountered a popcorn cloud storm front. After a couple of hours of waiting it out, the storm started to break up and the dads in the group went for a swim. It was near the water’s edge that the group had a “big sky moment” that made them feel small and in awe of nature.
Looking for your cool photo!
Do you have photos to share? The Wire is always looking for the next cool photo from staff, from a close-up in your flower garden, to scenic vistas up north, to exotic travel adventures, to more artful fare like reflections and silhouettes. The only criteria is that it's a cool photo! Email the editor at TheWire@metc.state.mn.us.
|
|
Michael Jacob
Applications Developer 3
Information Services
|
Primary duties
My work here as an applications developer will be mostly around supporting non-enterprise applications which are mostly in the .NET developer platform. Some of these applications include MetroTransit.org, DataServ, Public Web Services, LEAS/PIA, NSTaR, NexTrip Text Message, and Real Time Signs.
Started
Jan. 29
What has the transition been like starting this new job?
We got a lot done in the first couple weeks including access to source code, databases, and onboarding. I also completed new-hire training and got to meet a lot of people I will be working with! It’s been a smooth transition from a large corporation to working for government and serving the people!
Hometown
Chennai, India
Current residence
Rosemount
Family
My wife, Meryl, and I have a daughter, Anushka, in ninth grade. We also have a cockapoo named Ginger.
Education
I have a Bachelor of Science degree with a physics major and post graduate diplomas in systems analysis and operations management.
Experience
I was with Wells Fargo for 16 years mostly working with software development in .NET. I also have a lot of recent experience in Safe Agile, DevOps, continuous integration and continuous delivery/deployment (CI/CD), and unit testing.
Other interests
I love to play tennis and I have been teaching adults during the summer through the United States Tennis Association (USTA). We reach approximately 1000 adults each summer throughout the metro. I also teach high school kids faith formation at my church. My daughter loves bird watching and we go all over to the state and regional parks. Two weeks ago, we spotted a whet owl!
|
|
|
|
|
