The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will host two public video webinars to discuss departure procedure updates around Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP) on Wednesday, August 14, and Thursday, August 15, 2024. These events will be held online. You may participate from your computer, or you may view the recordings online, at your convenience.
These events will feature presentations from the FAA, including regional leadership and air traffic control as well as representatives from airlines serving the airport.
Topics will include:
- Current management of the Minneapolis-St. Paul (MSP) airspace;
- Future implementation of Area Navigation (RNAV) departure procedures at MSP;
- Input from the Metropolitan Airports Commission (MAC) and the Noise Oversight Committee (NOC) on the design of new RNAV procedures;
- The environmental study process;
- Future opportunity to provide public comment on the planned departure procedures at MSP.
The first webinar will be held on Wednesday, August 14, 2024 from 1- 3 pm and the second will on Thursday, August 15th, 2024 from 6-8 pm.
Registration for these events is listed below:
Wednesday, August 14 Workshop Registration
Thursday, August 15 Workshop Registration
No pre-registration is required to view the event at a later time on the the FAA YouTube channel.
Minneapolis VOR Update (January 2023 - Current)
The FAA is modernizing the national airspace system nationwide by discontinuing outdated ground-based navigational equipment and by implementing GPS-Based procedures to enhance safety and efficiency of airport operations. At Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport (MSP), these actions will help reduce delays while increasing safety due to more efficient communications between pilots and air traffic control.
The MSP Very High-Frequency Omnidirectional Range (VOR) is one of approximately 300 ground-based navigational aids that will no longer be necessary due to the development and implementation of GPS navigation. It is scheduled for decommissioning in mid-to-late 2025.
The decommissioning of the MSP VOR, coupled with updated FAA safety regulations will require the amendment or cancellation of current departure procedures (implemented in 2015) and the development of new Area Navigation (RNAV) departure procedures.
- What is RNAV?
- The current procedures need to be modified to be compliant with current criteria and maintain safety and efficiency at the airport. These current procedures would need to be updated, regardless of the VOR decommissioning.
The FAA is working with aviation stakeholders to safely and efficiently replace the VOR’s function for MSP, enabling departing aircraft to fly routes that enhance safety and efficiency and with a focus on reducing aviation noise impacts.
- The upgraded RNAV departure flight procedures must be in place by summer 2025 when the MSP VOR is decommissioned.
- These upgraded RNAV departure are designed to initially use multiple headings on departure, as is done today, to disperse traffic above the airport’s surrounding communities.
The FAA is discussing these changes with members of the Metropolitan Airports Commission and the Noise Oversight Committee. Community input will be considered throughout the project.
The FAA will update the projects web page as details of the project are developed, including opportunities for community input.
Additional Background
The FAA is decommissioning approximately one-third of the nation’s VOR network. The remaining 600 VORs will remain in place in strategic locations throughout the nation to serve in the event of a satellite outage. You can learn more about the VOR Minimal Operational Network (MON) watching this video or reading this webpage.
For a few months beginning in summer or fall 2024, CenterPoint Energy’s authorized contractors will upgrade CenterPoint’s natural gas infrastructure in the Morris Park and the Wenonah Neighborhoods in Minneapolis along the following streets:
- 30th Avenue S. from 54th Street E. to 55th Street E.
- Nokomis Avenue S. from 54th Street E. to 56th Street E.
- 31st Avenue S. from 54th Street E. to 56th Street E.
- 32nd Avenue S. from 54th Street E. to 57th Street E.
- 33rd Avenue S. from 54th Street E. to 56th Street E.
- 38th Avenue S. from 54th Street E. to 55th Street E.
- 40th Avenue S. from 54th Street E. to 55th Street E.
- 42nd Avenue S. from 54th Street E. to 55th Street E.
- Boardman Street from 34th Avenue S. to 42nd Avenue S.
- 55th Street E. from 30th Avenue S. to 42nd Avenue S.
- 56th Street E. from 30th Avenue S. to 34th Avenue S.
Equix Integrity updates our records on the locations of sewer lines in relation to natural gas lines. Michels Corporation will move inside meters outside by appointment and replace some natural gas service lines. (On 42nd Avenue S. from 54th Street E. to 55th Street E., Michels Corporation will replace a natural gas main, move inside meters outside by appointment, and replace and/or reconnect service lines to the new main.) Q3 Contracting will restore the areas affected by Michels Corporation’s work.
The pipes used in these pipeline replacement and modernization projects are more resistant to corrosion and leakage, helping us continue to provide the safe, reliable service you count on that keeps you comfortable in your home. There will be no assessment or cost associated with our work.
How can I contact CenterPoint Energy?
If you have questions, please contact our Communication Specialist at 612-321-5546 or hannah.gullickson@centerpointenergy.com. We appreciate your patience as we upgraded our infrastructure. Have a great season!
During engagement for the community safety centers, south Minneapolis residents have requested potential social services and resources to address needs around:
- Addiction
- Affordable housing
- Culturally specific navigators
- Domestic violence
- Food insecurity
- Homelessness
- Legal assistance
- Medical help
- Mental health
- Youth services
Now that these 10 community priorities have been identified, the City’s Office of Community Safety is asking social service and resource providers for input on how the delivery of services might happen in the South Minneapolis Community Safety Center when it opens next year at 2633 Minnehaha Ave. The information will help the City understand possible collaboration between services, the likely needs for physical space, and potential costs. The requests for information are posted on the City website until Aug. 9.
Find more information about the community safety center on the City website.
Please email the Office of Community Safety with any questions.
The City of Minneapolis debuted three street concepts (PDF) and five site ideas (PDF) for George Floyd Square.
These concepts and ideas are part of the City’s engagement with community to develop a vision for the square by the end of the year. The vision will include a preferred concept for the design of the streets as well as ideas for the Peoples’ Way property, a former gas station the City purchased in 2023 for community space.
Next visioning workshop
The community has also been providing input on memorials through visioning workshops. Visioning for the memorials will be a focus for the August workshop and will help inform the City’s future role in the memorial process.
August visioning workshop 5:30-8 p.m. Aug. 27; 3736 Chicago Ave.
Read more on the City website.
Minneapolis has a contract with Aira, an app that helps residents and visitors who are blind or have low vision navigate their surroundings using their phone. The person opens the app on their phone and is connected with a navigator who provides visual navigation support. The Aira app uses smart technology to connect users with human agents who are trained professional guides. The agents access the user’s smartphone camera (or Aira glasses) for a live video feed combined with GPS and maps so they can describe these public spaces and help users maneuver through them and also more richly experience what they have to offer.
The service is now available at Target Center, Minneapolis Convention Center, Nicollet Mall, City Hall, and the City’s Public Service Building and Public Service Center. This contract had been in place since 2019 and was recently renewed with the addition of the Public Service Center and the Public Service Building.
Download the free app and use it for free within any of these locations listed above.
Minneapolis Animal Care & Control encourages pet adoptions to help more animals find their forever homes and make room in its shelter. Visitors through Aug. 3 will pair up with a staff member or volunteer to help find the right pet for them.
Staff is seeing a spike in animals at the shelter this summer. Just last week, 130 animals were in its care. Staff say that increasing vet care costs and housing insecurity are likely causing more community members to surrender their pets. This increase in surrenders, combined with a lagging adoption rate, have left the shelter full.
Animal Care & Control is open for adoptions:
- 1-5 p.m. Monday-Wednesdays
- 1-7 p.m. Thursdays
- 1-5 p.m. Fridays
- 11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturdays
Minneapolis residents are not charged adoption fees for cats or adult dogs; they just need to pay for a City license. Puppies younger than six months are $250 regardless of residence. Adoptable cats and dogs are already spayed or neutered, microchipped, and vaccinated.
Read more on the City website.
A new City pilot will provide City funding to subsidize rent for artists and arts organizations in vacant storefronts in the Harmon Place Historic District.
This will ensure stable tenants for property owners and furnish essential space for the local creative community. The physical spaces will help artists workshop, develop and present their programming and artmaking to the public, and build community. This pilot is intended to support creative opportunities and increase vibrancy, innovation and sustainability.
The program is open to Minnesota residents, with a preference for Minneapolis residents.
The first round of applications will be accepted through Aug. 30. Applicants from all disciplines including visual, performing, literary, media, culinary, digital and public arts, design, craft and non-traditional mediums are encouraged to apply.
Staff will host a virtual information session Aug. 2.
Read more on the City website.
The City Trees program is providing low-cost trees to Minneapolis property owners. Since the program began in 2006, the City has helped plant more than 20,000 trees. Minneapolis is one of the country’s greenest cities.
Trees are available year-round to:
- Businesses
- Nonprofits
- Organizations
- Apartment buildings with five or more units
Residents in Minneapolis Green Zones are encouraged to participate and to plant shade trees for the most benefits, including natural cooling during the hotter months.
The Climate Legacy Initiative is funding the City Trees program.
See what tree programs are offered on the City website.
Watch a video and hear from our City Trees team.
The City has appointed 15 community members to serve on the African American Heritage Work Group. They will advise the Minneapolis City Council on efforts to document and honor African American history.
The group will focus on the Minneapolis African American Historic and Cultural Context study. It will include research on 25 sites that are culturally relevant or historically significant to the City’s Black community. Three sites from the study will be nominated to the National Register of Historic Places.
Artists, educators, community leaders and planners are among the volunteers selected for the work group. They will begin meeting in late July.
Read more about the African American Heritage Work Group and sign up for an email newsletter on the City website.
Find out about the Minneapolis African American Historic and Cultural Context study.
CenterPoint Energy is pleased to announce that they received approval from the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission for the innovation plan submitted under Minnesota’s Natural Gas Innovation Act. This plan includes investments in a diverse set of innovative pilot projects that aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and advance decarbonization efforts in Minnesota.
CenterPoint is the first utility in Minnesota to file and have an innovation plan approved. The plan includes investments in made-in-Minnesota low- and zero-carbon gases like renewable natural gas and green hydrogen, as well as emerging technologies such as networked geothermal systems and onsite carbon capture.
CenterPoint’s innovation plan is expected to deliver significant benefits to Minnesota, including:
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Reducing or avoiding an estimated 1.2 million tons of carbon emissions over the lifetime of the projects – equivalent to the annual energy use of approximately 150,000 homes or 14% of total emissions from natural gas supplied to CenterPoint customers in Minnesota each year.
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Creating an estimated 3,000 full-time equivalent jobs over the pilot projects’ lifetimes.
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Leveraging an estimated $17 million or more in federal clean energy incentives (as applicable).
This plan is an additional effort that we can take to help advance Minnesota’s energy future and help support our state’s climate goals, while maintaining readily available and cost-effective energy for our more than 920,000 home and business customers in the state. There is not one solution alone to meet the state’s decarbonization goals, but this plan allows work to accelerate technologies that show promise for a cleaner tomorrow.
With Minnesota's primary election in less than two weeks, the Early Vote Center is extending its hours. Anyone who can vote in Minneapolis on Election Day can vote early at the Early Vote Center, 980 E. Hennepin Ave. See the extended hours on the City website.
Return your mail ballot
All mail-in ballots need to be received by Aug. 13 to count. Many Minneapolis voters have received a mail-in ballot but have not yet returned it. After Aug. 6, the City recommends returning mail ballots in person to avoid a late delivery. Ballots can be dropped off during regular business hours at Minneapolis Election & Voter Services, 980 E. Hennepin Ave., or at the Hennepin County Government Center, 300 Sixth St. S. On Election Day, Aug. 13, completed mail ballots will be accepted until 8 p.m.
Confirm your polling place
Everyone planning to cast their ballots on Election Day, Aug. 13, should check the location of their polling place. Find your polling place on the Minnesota secretary of state website.
See tips to save time voting and read more on the City website.
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