Citywide Cleanup is Tomorrow!
Did you know that tomorrow is the 35th annual City of St Paul Citywide Cleanup? You can join in the cleanup of our neighborhoods with others in our community. Register here! The cleanups will take place Saturday, April 24th from 9a-11a. Click here to view locations of drop sites for trash you've picked up.
Choose a kickoff site near you to check in and grab supplies. Also, see the list of Cleanup Locations below. Then, full bags of litter can be deposited in or next to any City of Saint Paul Parks garbage can. You can also utilize one of the many drop sites around the city. Check out the map below for a list of kickoff sites and drop sites.
Pig's Eye Park & Soil Recycling
St Paul Parks & Recreation is considering a lease swap with St Paul Regional Water Service. Right now, St Paul Regional Water Services needs space for soil recycling, and they are no longer in need of an area of land in Highland. At this time, the Board of Water Commissioners is proposing to lease the land in Highland (Reservoir No. 1) to Parks & Rec to be used as park land in order to replace the park land that would be diverted in Pig's Eye. The goal would be to leave the City with no net loss of park land.
Pig’s Eye Regional Park is a part of the East Side River District, an area of the river that has ongoing shared uses, including Dakota homeland and sacred sites, industry (shipping with barges and trains), parks and recreation, and natural areas that serve as a bird migration route.
The portion of land that is proposed for soil recycling is in the northern part of the park. What are your thoughts on this? Please see the full resolution here, and reach out to me with your perspective by emailing ward6@stpaul.gov. I hope to hear from you!
Remembering Melody Vang,
Prevention of Child Abuse
April has been proclaimed as the Melody Vang Child Abuse Prevention Month in the City of Saint Paul. Melody Vang, a 2-year old Saint Paul resident, was a victim of child abuse and died from this abuse on January 11, 2021. Child abuse and neglect remain a serious problem affecting every segment of our community. Just this past year, there were 1,673 child protection investigations/assessments completed in our city.
All children deserve a safe, stable, and nurturing environment with built-in community systems that support them and their families. Effective child abuse prevention activities succeed because of the partnerships created between child welfare professionals, education, health, community-based services, and faith-based organizations, businesses, law enforcement agencies, and families. Finding solutions requires input and action from everyone.
The City of Saint Paul will partner with Saint Paul-Ramsey County Public Health and the Saint Paul and Ramsey County Domestic Abuse Intervention Project to incorporate child abuse and domestic violence prevention education in its landlord training classes and crime-free housing classes. The City will also offer education to city staff to also recognize and report signs of child abuse and effectively respond to domestic violence. The City of Saint Paul wishes to remember Melody Vang and the many victims of child abuse by recognizing April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month and proclaiming this as the Melody Vang - Child Abuse Prevention Month in the City of Saint Paul. Read the full resolution here.
St Paul 4-3 Vote Against Alatus Development
St Paul City Council voted 4-3 against the approval of the Alatus Development LLC's proposal for Lexington Station Apartments on Lexington Pkwy N. In their proposal, Alatus had agreed to make half the project's apartments affordable to people earning up to 60% of area's median income. Keep in mind that someone earning 50% of Ramsey County area median income (which is considered "very low income" on the AMI scale) would earn $36,200 in 2020. This yearly earning would require a 40 hour per week job paying just over $18 per hour. This is NOT affordable enough for our people who are living here now, especially not when our minimum wage is still under $15 per hour. We must support deeply affordable housing. Read the resolution and attached comments submitted to the public record here.
Help for MN Renters, Emergency Rental Assistance
RentHelpMN, a program of the MN State Dept of Housing, is now open and accepting applications! The State of MN is helping eligible renters get caught up on overdue rent and utilities dating back to March 13, 2020. There are also provisions for those at risk of falling behind on rent payments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Right now, RentHelpMN is in Phase One, in which people with past due rent who meet eligibility requirements are invited to apply. Visit renthelpmn.org or call 211 (this line has multilingual staff available to answer questions about RentHelpMN, 8:00 a.m. – 8:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday).
Go to renthelpmn.org for more information, eligibility, and to sign up for their email updates.
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