Feature

Greenway Heights Provides Affordable Family Housing on the Greenway

by Dollie Crowther

Folks across the city are very excited about a new development in the Philips East Neighborhood designed with larger families in mind. Greenway Heights is a 42-unit, affordable, family housing project located at 2845 Bloomington Avenue. It was constructed in 2014 on a vacant lot on the north side of the Midtown Greenway. This location provides access to a variety of public transportation options, jobs, services, and recreational opportunities. The vacant site was acquired by Powderhorn Residents Group (PRG). The project is a joint partnership with Phoenix Development and PRG, Inc. It’s a four-story development with a mix of two, three, and four bedroom units. It has underground parking, an outdoor play area, and six surface parking spaces. The City of Minneapolis provided Housing Revenue Entitlement Bonds, Affordable Housing Trust Funds, Neighborhood Revitalization Funds, and Tax Increment Financing. The tax credits provided private equity to the project. Additional public assistance was provided by Minnesota Housing Finance Agency, Hennepin County, and the Metropolitan Council for a total development cost of more than $8.8M.

Trends

Program Helps Small Businesses with SAC

by Mary Ubl and Renee Wiger In early 2014, the City of Minneapolis and Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) began to offer a deferred payment plan for small businesses starting out or expanding. The program assists businesses with 10 gross SAC (sewer availability charge) units or less. One SAC unit is equivalent to $2,485 and can become very expensive for a small business. The businesses are able to defer 70% of their required SAC fee and payments are stretched over a five year period. So far, interest rates have been below 3%. Participants say not having such a large payout at the time of development or expansion is a great help.  This program supports Minneapolis businesses such as restaurants, coffee shops, microbreweries, salons, and more.  So far, 15 establishments have signed up for the SAC deferral program and we anticipate additional growth as more small businesses learn about this program.

Updates & Outcomes

Free IT Career Training in Cedar Riverside

by Pat Behrend

Mayor Betsy Hodges and Minneapolis Employment and Training are partnering with Creating IT Futures Foundation and EMERGE Community Development to bring a dedicated, nine-week
IT-Ready career program to young adults, ages 18-24, in the Cedar Riverside neighborhood in October.

In early 2015, Minneapolis Employment and Training held listening sessions in Cedar Riverside and heard community leaders concerns about the number of young people in the neighborhood who lack employment skills and jobs. As a result of this and IT Ready’s interest in Cedar Riverside, the idea of a very targeted training program began.

“IT-Ready has been a tremendous success in our region,” said Deb Bahr Helgen, Director of City of Minneapolis Employment and Training.“ This training opens up doors to living wage jobs and great career paths in the IT industry. I’m very excited to have the IT-Ready training come to the Cedar Riverside community.”

The IT-Ready program, is hosted by EMERGE and funded by the City of Minneapolis Employment and Training, the Pohlad Family Foundation, and Creating IT Futures Foundation.

To learn more about the program and help spread the word, visit the Creating IT Futures website. 

The Team That Gardens Together, Works Well Together

by Julie Casey

The Business Licensing division has a unique way to team build.  Several members of the division started a “Garden Intervention Group.” The group regularly goes to division employees' homes and assists the homeowner with gardening work. The group members who already have gardens provide plants from their own gardens to keep costs down for the recipient. Labor is provided by everyone. The night usually ends with sharing dinner. The group has worked on four gardens and plans on two or three more this year. The gardens that have been completed look wonderful! Members are Joan Hammell, Julie Casey, Kris Stichter, Beth Roberts, Beth Dominguez, Jennifer Baird, and Aster Nebro but everyone in the Licensing Division is encouraged to drop in and participant at any time.  

Creative Citymaking Asset Mapping

by Haila Maze

On September 12, artists E.G. Bailey and Shá Cage brought a DJ, hands-on mapping, t-shirt making, sidewalk chalking, buttons, bubbles, and more to the West Bank Block Party to engage members of the community in identifying important strengths and positive qualities of the neighborhood.

Bailey and Cage, part of the City's Creative CityMaking initiative, are one of five artist teams working in collaboration with staff  from the City of Minneapolis and Intermedia Arts. Their project, through CPED’s Long Range Planning Division, is focused on working with the community to identify important assets that the community values but may not show up on a standard city map. The City’s goal is to proactively reveal assets in racially concentrated areas of poverty in Minneapolis as we look to engage in asset-based planning (as opposed to reacting to problems). This project will contribute to purposeful understanding and action on equity, inclusion, and the pursuit of a people-first city. The artists will be creatively mapping those strengths in ways that the City and community can use to develop plans, policies and leverage opportunities and connection.

Over the next few months, the artists will continue to explore the assets of “Cedarside” with the community – an innovative way to share the deeper story of the community through the arts. Check out their video announcing this exciting project or follow the project (and see more photos) on Twitter @cedarsidemn.

Nicollet Mall Artworks Removed for Renovation

by Mary Altman

This summer, Kristen Cheronis, art conservator, and Bob Kost, a landscape architect with SEH (Short Elliot Hendrickson Inc.) oversaw the removal of eight artworks from Nicollet Mall to make room for construction. The endeavor, including over 100 artist-designed manhole covers, 96 pieces of art class from the bus shelters, 250,000 pounds of granite artwork components, a 17-foot high sculpture clock, and three large bronze birds. The 10 block project involved multiple cranes, eight subcontractors and seven storage locations. TVLand worked with Cheronis to move and store their statue of Mary Tyler Moore. The two-month long removal process also involved detailed coordination with Public Works as well as the utility companies working on Nicollet Mall. Many of these artworks will be returning to the “new” Nicollet Mall in 2017, along with three new works being commissioned by the City. 

A Day in the Life of A Development Coordinator

Featuring Rosa Sosa

by Megan Smith

Rosa Sosa is one of four Development Coordinator I's for the Development Review Customer Service Center. With both desk and counter duties, Development Coordinators are responsible for a wide variety of tasks. At the counter, they direct customers and take in applications (for things ranging from wrecking applications, business license applications, and health plans, plan revisions). Desk duties include keeping track of plans and managing communication with customers throughout application and approval processes; routing plans to the appropriate City planners and plan reviewers; writing comments for permits and plans; and recording the planning process.

In her position, Rosa says a positive, smiling attitude is always necessary, and she places high importance on ensuring that her work environment is friendly and comfortable. Something that distinguishes Rosa is her ability to assist Spanish-speaking customers. A native Spanish speaker, Rosa is able to interpret for Spanish-speaking customers who visit the Customer Service Center, simplifying and clarifying the licensing and permitting process.

For Rosa, one of the most rewarding parts of her position is forming relationships with her customers and being a part of the development of businesses in Minneapolis.  

Technology, Information & Innovation

Telling CPED’s Story Using GIS

by Shanna Sether

ESRI (Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.) hosts a GIS user conference every year to unveil new technology and enhancements, showcase exceptional examples by users, and build capacity and collaboration by connecting users and technical experts. This year’s mantra at the ESRI User Conference in San Diego, CA, was ‘Geography Everywhere’. One of the most fascinating and relevant sessions to CPED’s work was devoted to telling stories using ESRI story map applications. With a MapIt license, users are able to create interactive maps and applications for anything from walking tours to growth forecasts to tracking development with slide functionality that compares area over time. ESRI will be rolling out a crowdsourcing application at the end of 2015 which will allow the public to add and upload photos with comments and engage with social media. The link above will connect you to a gallery for inspiration, tutorials and application builders to create your own story map. 

Employee Profile

Carrie Flack

Carrie Flack has worked with the City for close to 15 years. She was recently promoted to the position of Multifamily Housing Finance Specialist with the Residential Finance team. On a typical day, Carrie works with City colleagues and developers to pull together public funding sources necessary to close on affordable housing projects. She also assists with the various components of development projects throughout the construction process. Carrie says she loves being a part of the City’s work in making sure there is housing available for ALL of the needs of our community. She also really enjoys working with her colleagues across the City. She’s found everyone to be passionate about the work and says it’s incredibly rewarding and inspiring to see how everyone comes together to get the job done.

When she relocated here 15 years ago, Carrie says she couldn’t think of any other place that would offer the urban challenges and experiences found in the City of Minneapolis. She’s enjoyed every project she’s worked on… and there have been many!

When not working, Carrie attends the various events that come with having a 10 year old daughter and 14 year old son. Also, dressing as Mary Poppins for Halloween is a favorite this time of year (see photo above).  

Employee Profile

Rhonda Edwards

Born and raised in Minneapolis, Rhonda Edwards felt the most logical career path for her was working for the city she knows and loves. She has worked for the City for 21 years, first in the Street Department, then the Sanitation Department, and now for The Development Review Customer Service Center as a customer service representative II, where she has been for 15 years. She works at the intake counter, issuing permits (for projects that range from basement refinishing to customers starting new restaurants), and triaging customer challenges at the front desk.

Whatever the day, Rhonda greets each customer with a smile and positive attitude to create a comfortable environment. Rhonda’s favorite part of her position is working with a variety of customers and the relationships she’s made with them. From non-native English speakers, who she spends extra time with to help them understand the process, to frequent regulars, including some that she’s worked with for the 15 years she’s been at Development Review.

When she’s not in the office, Rhonda enjoys competitive barbequing with her husband, spending time with her grandkids, biking, and scheduling her evenings around her favorite reality television shows. 

Save The Date: All Staff Meeting

The All Staff Meeting is just around the corner. 

Thursday, October 29
Central Library, Pohlad Hall
300 Nicollet Mall
Minneapolis, MN 55401

7:30am-8am (optional)
Networking and light refreshments

8am-9:30am (mandatory)

CPED’s Leadership Team has been working on an Organizational Development initiative. We will use our time together at the All Staff Meeting to talk about this initiative’s goals and objectives as well as invite everyone to participate in the conversation. The All Staff meeting will be a part presentation, part interactive, engagement session. We really want everyone to attend and participate so please adjust your calendars now and note the time change. 

Learn About Your Total Compensation

Your pay from the City includes more than your hourly wage or annual salary. The City offers employees a comprehensive benefits program that includes compensation for pension, health insurance and more.

Usually employees receive total compensation statements in the fall to give a complete picture of the dollar value of those benefits, but the total compensation statements will not be produced this year because resources have been devoted to the COMET upgrade.

To find the total value of your benefits, here are the tools.

1. Your paycheck stub in COMET

Use the new COMET system to view your paycheck stub and see the dollar amounts the City pays toward benefits.

To see this information:

• Log into COMET’s HR system.
• Under “Payroll and Compensation,” click “View Paycheck.”
• Click “View Paycheck” for the most recent check.
• Read through the “employer paid benefits” section.

Look under “hours and earnings” to see your sick leave and vacation leave earnings.

Watch this tutorial to learn more about the information you can find on your paycheck in COMET.

2. Benefits summary in COMET

You can use the new COMET system to review your benefit information. For a summary of your benefits:

• Log into COMET’s HR system.
• Under “Benefits,” click “Benefits Summary.”

Your summary will show benefit plans available to you, the plan description, and your coverage and participation status. Use the benefits summary to verify your current coverage and start to evaluate the decisions you’ll make for your 2016 coverage during open enrollment in November.

3. Employee benefit resource guide

This new resource guide describes available benefits and instructions to access them. The tool was developed through work of the Benefits and Labor Management Committee to help employees access benefits resources available to them.

4. HRA/VEBA account balance at wageworks.com

City to Launch New Permitting, Licensing, Inspection System in 2016

City employees are ramping up efforts to launch a new system next fall to manage permitting, licensing and inspections in Minneapolis. The Enterprise Land Management System, or ELMS, will combine and replace several unsupported and outdated systems currently in use at the City including:

• Kiva (the permitting, licensing and inspections system).
• Digital Health (the health inspections system).

Moving to the new system will take time with testing, training and rollout. However, ELMS will improve collaboration and data-sharing among employees in Regulatory Services, Public Works, Health, Finance, and Community Planning and Economic Development. ELMS will integrate with multiple City systems including COMET, Enterprise Address System, Geographic Information Systems, Govern, Document Management and 311. 

Learn more about the ELMS project.