 Council Member Jenkins at the Tierra Encantada Ground Breaking with staff, contractors, Senator Amy Klobuchar and Mayor Jacob Frey
Dear Neighbors,
This has been a busy few weeks for the city council as a whole and the Ward 8 team specifically. There has been much debate surrounding the rideshare ordinance passed by the Council requiring the dominant rideshare companies, Uber and Lyft, to pay their drivers a fair wage (our minimum wage). I supported the ordinance because I believe all workers deserve a fair wage for the work they provide. However, considering the new data that was collected and distributed by Minnesota’s Department of Labor and Industry, I offered a motion to reconsider the original ordinance which passed unanimously.
This measure provides the Council the opportunity to craft a policy that supports workers and allows us to maintain the current level of service provided by these entities. Also, it allowed the Council to extend the effective implementation date to July 1st, giving more time to craft a better ordinance. It also allows other rideshare companies to gear up to step into the marketplace and create more options for drivers and riders. Our state legislature is working to craft a bill to cover the entire state and this extension will provide time to integrate our work. All said, I am optimistic that we can get to a solution suitable for all.
Last week I had the opportunity to connect with some of our representatives on the national level. Senator Amy Klobuchar was in town to help break ground on the expansion of Tierra Encantada located at 411 E. 38th Street, a Spanish immersion childcare center in beautiful Ward 8.
I also attended an event hosted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar celebrating the resources that she’s been able to secure for the 5th District. I am proud to announce that $850K will be going to support housing development and related projects along the 38th Street corridor. Over the weekend I travelled to Washington D.C. and had the honor of connecting with Senator Laphonza Butler who is the third Black woman to ever serve in the United States Senate.
Lastly, the entire Ward 8 team visited Pillsbury House + Theater to learn about their expansion project called Pillsbury Creative Commons. This beautiful vision will completely transform the block between 35th and 36th along Chicago Ave. To learn more, visit www.pillsbury.cc.
Love,
Andrea
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 Council Member Jenkins with Senator Laphonza Butler in DC
 Yesterday, Council Members honored the 50th Anniversary of the Gay Civil Rights Ordinance with some of the original authors, and local organizations that support the LGBTQIA+ community. Read more about the historic ordinance and celebration here.
 Public Works crews are gearing up to start the City’s comprehensive street sweeping program to clear away what has accumulated in the streets over the winter. The City has scheduled Tuesday, April 16, for the first day of sweeping. Beginning Monday, April 15, drivers should watch for hot pink temporary “No Parking” signs to avoid a ticket and tow.
Starting April 16 for approximately four weeks, sweeping crews will take care of more than 1,000 miles of city streets. To make sure the crews can do the most complete job possible, temporary “No Parking” signs will be posted at least 24 hours in advance to make sure streets are clear of parked vehicles. Drivers need to follow street sweeping parking rules or they may have their cars ticketed and towed to the Minneapolis Impound Lot.
Find your street on the schedule
You can see when your street is scheduled to be swept by visiting the interactive street sweeping map. It will go live Friday, April 12, with this year’s schedule.
Learn more about street sweeping.
The 2024 season for Minneapolis Solid Waste & Recycling collection of leaves, brush and other yard trimmings has started. Customers can now set properly prepared yard waste at their alleys or curbs next to their garbage carts weekly by 6 a.m. on their pickup day.
Customers can set yard waste out in a reusable container, compostable bags (paper or certified compostable plastic – look for the BPI logo), or bundled with string or twine.
Other requirements
- Reusable containers must be 32-38 gallons in size and 26-32 inches high with sturdy handles. Reusable containers are lifted and emptied by hand; they must be easily managed. Yard waste is not allowed in City-provided containers.
- Each container, bag or bundle must weigh less than 40 pounds.
- Bundled brush and branches must be less than 3 inches in diameter and cut to less than 3 feet long.
Bags marked “biodegradable” or “degradable” don’t meet the State law requirement and are not accepted.
Solid Waste & Recycling crews can’t pick up dirt, soil, sod, stumps, trees, or branches wider than 3 inches in diameter or longer than 3 feet.
Raking leaves into the street is against the law and bad for our lakes, creeks and river.
For questions about leaf and brush pickup, customers can check the City website or call Solid Waste & Recycling at 612-673-2917 Monday-Friday.
Protecting pollinators
Bees often nest in broken stems of plants, and butterflies overwinter in leaf piles. The City encourages gardeners and landscapers to leave yard waste untouched until daytime temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees (mid-April or early May) to protect pollinators.
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The Minnesota Department of Transportation is repairing the Stone Arch Bridge over the next two years. Starting at 5 a.m. Monday, April 15, the St. Anthony Main side of the Stone Arch Bridge will close through spring 2025 to allow construction crews to begin preservation work. The downtown side of the bridge will stay open until spring 2025.
During the closure, people can walk or bike across the Mississippi River on the new protected pathways on the Third Avenue Bridge. See the MnDOT website for detour details.
More about this project
Crews will repair and replace stone, replace the mortar on the entire bridge, and make other repairs as needed. Stone repair and mortar replacement will slow deterioration and improve the condition of the bridge. Construction is anticipated to be complete by spring 2026.
For more information, visit the MnDOT project webpage. If you have questions or concerns regarding the Stone Arch Bridge project, please contact the MnDOT project team.
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 The City plans to use a National Park Service grant to help address the underrepresentation of African American history among local and national listings of historic places. The City will also use an award from Minnesota’s Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund.
The work will include a context study and the survey of 25 properties associated with African American history in Minneapolis. A context study is a document that describes people, places and events related to a common theme.
The Minneapolis project builds on work that began in 2021 to better understand the people, places and events that are important to the African American community and that helped shape the history of the city.
Minneapolis has approximately 150 listings on the National Register of Historic Places, only three of which are associated with African American history.
Read more on the City website.
The reconstruction of Hennepin Avenue South between Douglas Avenue and West Lake Street began April 1. The two-year project will improve the corridor for all users from Interstate 94 to Uptown. This year’s construction is from West Lake Street to 26th Street. Upgrades to underground electric and gas utilities were accomplished this past winter to make room for the project. Next year, the construction area is from 26th Street to Douglas Avenue. Crews will continue replacing underground utilities in advance of next year’s construction, from Franklin to Douglas Avenue.
The project is an opportunity to update Hennepin Avenue to meet the public’s current and future needs. The new, multimodal design improves space for people walking, riding transit, biking and driving. The layout also provides space for enhanced stations being built for the future METRO E Line, a new Bus Rapid Transit line that will largely replace Route 6 in December 2025.
Metro Transit buses on Hennepin Avenue are detoured to Lyndale Avenue via Lake Street or 31st Street and 24th Street.
More information:
City staff have been meeting with the south Minneapolis community about the South Minneapolis Community Safety Center and the Lake Street Community Safety Center. They’ve held public meetings and are also talking to people on the street about the two community safety centers. The information will help decide on what services could be in the community safety centers.
Here are some upcoming events for people in south Minneapolis:
- Talking with South High School students April 19.
- Talking with people who identify as Southeast Asian April 20.
- Talking with people who identify as Latino April 20.
- Talking with people who identify as African American April 25.
- Talking with older adults April 26 and May 6.
See information presented to the City Council about the Lake Street Community Center.
Check out the City’s website for more information.
 Join us for National Public Health Week at our annual resource fair and Local Public Health Heroes award ceremony April 17.
Resource fair
Come learn about the Health Department at our resource fair. We’ll have interactive booths with demonstrations including:
Local Public Health Heroes
The Local Public Health Heroes Awards recognize the vital role community members have in making Minneapolis a healthier place to live, work, and play. We’ll recognize this year’s heroes during our award ceremony for their inspiring work in our department’s goal areas.
Award recipients
- Ann Hill, Twin Cities Food Justice
- Derek Johnson-Dean, Mpox Taskforce
- Clarence Jones, HueMan Partnership
- Liz Mullen, Chowgirls Catering
- Roxxanne O’Brien, environmental justice activist and community organizer
- Mark Sander, Hennepin County and Minneapolis Public Schools
- Lori Wilson, Turning Point
Local Public Health Week celebration 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday, April 17 Resource fair: 11 a.m. to noon Award ceremony: Noon to 1 p.m. Public Service Building, 505 Fourth Ave. S., Room 100 A free light lunch will be provided.
The City would like your input on the accessibility of its programs and services. Please take the survey by April 30 on resident perceptions about the City’s compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and accessibility more broadly.
You can take the survey in English, Spanish, Somali, Hmong or Oromo. Please share the survey with your neighbors.
Your feedback will help as the City updates its ADA Action Plan.
We will also hold community engagement sessions in May and June. Watch the City website and future newsletters for more details and ways to participate.
For reasonable accommodations or alternative formats please contact the Neighborhood and Community Relations Department at 612-673-3737. People who are deaf or hard of hearing can use a relay service to call 311 at 612-673-3000. TTY users call 612-263-6850. Para asistencia, llame al 311. Rau kev pab 311. Hadii aad Caawimaad u baahantahay 311.
 A community meeting on the Upper Harbor project in north Minneapolis was rescheduled because of weather and will be held May 2. Join us for a project update and to hear about a proposal for a health and wellness hub.
The City and the development team, led by United Properties, will share the latest information on this year’s work and discuss a proposal for a health and wellness hub on the site. Attendees will also be invited to give feedback on the proposal.
Located between Washington Avenue and the Mississippi River, Upper Harbor is being transformed to accommodate new places to live and work, a 20-acre riverside park, and a community performing arts center. The City has made improvements in and around Upper Harbor, with street construction expected to wrap up this spring. Land ownership was officially transferred from the City to the Park Board this past fall, paving the way for this year’s work on the Upper Harbor Regional Park.
Upper Harbor community meeting 5:30-7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 2 Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center (UROC) 2001 Plymouth Ave. N.
This meeting is open to the public, and food will be provided.
Watch for updates and read more on the City website.
Plan to join in Neighborhood Day May 11. Neighborhood Day is an annual day set across the city to increase resident participation in local civic engagement through one of the city’s 70 recognized neighborhood organizations. Neighborhood organizations host a neighborhood engagement activity and or board elections to increase resident participation in their neighborhood organizations.
Picture the neighborhood you want to live in and then help make that vision a reality by becoming involved in your neighborhood organization. Learn more about your neighborhood organization by attending a Neighborhood Day event. Examples of 2024 Neighborhood Day events include neighborhood meet and greets, garden tool swaps, youth choir concerts, happy hours and neighborhood cleanup.
Your voice is important
Neighborhood voices are important for equity, but typically fewer than 1% of eligible people vote for neighborhood organization boards. Neighborhood boards are important local forces for change; they make investments and decisions about the community. Voting in board elections can help make sure the board members making these decisions and setting priorities for neighborhood organization activities represent voters on the most local level.
Neighbors are invited to come find out how they can help make their neighborhood better – including neighbors who haven’t been involved before. This will help neighborhood organizations better represent their neighborhoods for more equitable, accessible services.
Look up your neighborhood organization to find updated listings and see if your neighborhood is holding an event or an election this year.
If you don't know which neighborhood you live in, you can look it up by address.
Find more information about Neighborhood Day on the City website.
Whether you’re new to Minneapolis, a college student or a lifelong renter, come join us for the 2024 Renter Rights Resource Fair.
The resource fair brings together staff from the Department of Regulatory Services and community organizations to connect with renters and property owners. So bring your questions. Find help overcoming common renting issues and learn about renter rights. Hear how the City works with property owners and tenants to ensure safe and quality housing.
2024 Renter Rights Resource Fair 10:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 4 Minneapolis Public Service Building, 505 Fourth Ave. S., first floor
A free meal and interpretation services will be available. Hosted by the Department of Regulatory Services.
Give your input on the capital budget at an upcoming listening session. Every neighborhood in the city is affected by capital projects such as streets, sidewalks, parks and much more. Each year, the Capital Long-Range Improvement Committee, an advisory committee made up of residents appointed by the mayor and City Council, makes recommendations about which capital projects to fund in the next year’s budget. The committee would like to know your priorities.
Join a listening session or send an email
You can share your priorities in person or by email.
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Northeast Minneapolis public listening session 6 p.m. Thursday, April 18 Audubon Recreation Center, 1320 29th Ave. NE, Multipurpose Room
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South Minneapolis public listening session 6:15 p.m. Thursday, May 2 Lynnhurst Recreation Center, 1345 W. Minnehaha Parkway, Multipurpose Room
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Capital Long-Range Improvement Committee/Planning Commission joint public hearing 6 p.m. Thursday, May 9 Public Service Building, 505 Fourth Ave. S., Room 100
- Or send an email to the committee.
See the proposed capital budget requests up for consideration this year.
 Meet Minneapolis is conducting a survey of Minneapolis residents. Please take the survey; your input can help shape the future of travel and tourism in the city. The results will help Meet Minneapolis update its 10-year destination master plan to increase the appeal of our city as a destination for travelers.
The survey closes May 3. It takes about five minutes to complete, and your responses will be confidential.
You can take the survey in English, Spanish, Somali or Hmong.
 Sign up for the City of Minneapolis’ new alert system. You can get text alerts, create a full profile if you’d like alerts on specific subjects, and even download the mobile app to your phone.
Alert topics
The City of Minneapolis will use the new system, Smart911, to send alerts on many topics including:
- Snow emergencies.
- Severe weather.
- Public safety incidents.
- Major infrastructure issues.
- Major special event impacts.
Smart911 replaces the City’s former alert system, Swiftreach. If you were subscribed to Swiftreach, you'll get alerts in the new system. We encourage you to create a Smart911 profile for more precise alerts.
Sign up for alerts
To subscribe, text MPLSAlerts to 77295 or create a full Smart911 profile online.
Read more about the new alert system on the City website. |
