Finding a Green Way to Govern

See here for the Bridge Newspaper story on this topic. Morningstar Coffee has received two $200 fines from the City's Environmental Management staff. Until the afterburner that Morningstar's management committed to install on July 16 is installed, they face fines that will double every two weeks ($400, $800, $1,600, up to a maximum of $2,000). The good news is that the fines seem to be working. I have heard from Environmental Management staff that they have been in communication with a contractor that Morningstar has hired to install the odor control equipment next week. Note that this is later than the date of August 31 that Morningstar owner Jose Vido gave Bridge reporter Liz Riggs for when the equipment would be "up and running." Our office's experience with this issue prompted a meeting earlier this week with high-level staff within Regulatory Services, to talk about possible improvements to their enforcement processes. I believe we're making progress...

From the Minneapolis Bicycle Update e-list: On Tuesday, September 11th, the Department of Public Works will be conducting bicycle and pedestrian counts, and we need your help! Volunteers will be asked to count the number cyclists and pedestrians at several mid-block locations in the downtown area, in 2-hour shifts from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm. The purpose of the counts is to assess the historical trend of non-motorized travel in the downtown core. This year, for the first time, the Department of Public Works will exclusively count bicyclists and pedestrians. These counts will help to measure the effects of the Non-Motorized Transportation Pilot Program (NTP), a $21.5 million federal program which was created to increase biking and walking in Minneapolis. The City of Minneapolis is partnering with Transit for Livable Communities, who will be organizing similar counts on the same day. If you are interested in volunteering please choose from a 2-hour time slot below. We need volunteers ...

The Department of Public Works are proceeding with a plan to open the 10th Ave Bridge by end of day Friday, August 31 . The bridge will open to peds, bikes, and two lanes of traffic. A decision has not yet been made about opening to transit only or to general traffic but Public Works will decide soon after one more conversation with MetroTransit. They are installing a supplemental fence on the railing on the upstream (35W) side to raise its height to meet standards, to improve safety for the pedestrians that will undoubtedly come to view the 35W site, whether or not we permit them to be there. Concrete barriers will be installed to separate pedestrians on the upstream side of the bridge from the traffic lanes. Concrete barriers will remain in place until demand for viewing slows down to a point that opening the bridge to four lanes of traffic will not cause a safety hazard due to peds in traffic lanes. The total cost is estimated to be not more than $120,000. The minimum safe option o...

This just in from Public Works: "We are proceeding with a plan to open the 10th Ave.SE bridge by end of day Friday, August 31: The bridge will open to peds, bikes, and two lanes of traffic. A decision has not yet been made about opening to transit only or to general traffic but we will decide soon after one more conversation with MetroTransit. We are installing a supplemental fence on the railing on the upstream (35W) side to raise its height to meet standards, to improve safety for the pedestrians that will undoubtedly come to view the 35W site, whether or not we permit them to be there. Concrete barriers will be installed to separate pedestrians on the upstream side of the bridge from the traffic lanes. Concrete barriers will remain in place until demand for viewing slows down to a point that opening the bridge to four lanes of traffic will not cause a safety hazard due to peds in traffic lanes."

MnDOT will hold 3 public open houses in the next two weeks about the design of the proposed new I-35W bridge over the Mississippi: •Tuesday, Aug. 28 at the McNamara Alumni Center on the east bank campus of the U of M from 4:30 - 7 pm. The open house will be held in Al Johnson Room. •Thursday, Aug. 30 at the Humphrey Institute Atrium , west bank campus, from 4:30 - 7 p.m. The open house will be held in the Atrium. •Wednesday, Sept. 5 at the IDS Center in the Crystal Court from 11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m.

The Unpaid Judgment ordinance I authored (see here for a previous post on this topic) has unanimously passed the Public Safety and Regulatory Services committee (PS & RS). As I wrote back in July, the ordinance had hit an unexpected snag the last time it came before that committee, when several landlords showed up to speak against it. The committee referred the ordinance to the Rental Property Advisory Committee (or RPAC) for discussion. On the 8th, my Aide Robin attended the RPAC meeting and offered a compromise, which the rental property owners accepted: along with the proposed ordinance, I moved a staff direction for Inspections staff to come back to the committee within a year of the ordinance's effective date to tell the committee where and how many times it has been used and make recommendations for any necessary changes. I also agreed to change the effective date of the ordinance to January 1, 2008, to allow landlords a few months to hear about the new licensing requirem...

The Minneapolis Public Works Department is finalizing its Street Lighting Policy and Program which has been in the development process for several years. They will be having nine community open houses in September 2007 at various locations. These meetings will serve as opportunities to share information about the proposed Policy, as well as gather community input. Go here for more information. The proposed Policy is designed to support the City's efforts around livable communities and urban development. Appropriate lighting levels are a security and safety issue. A policy will help to ensure that all areas of Minneapolis receive consistent treatment, and will give clear guidance to elected officials, residents, developers, and Public Works on all aspects of street lighting system installation and maintenance. It will address a number of issues including: Clarification of internal practices Equalization of independent initiatives Areas with limited lighting Improvement of lighting...

I have recieved a number of phone calls and emails recently from people concerned about a new ordinance that has been proposed by City staff, which would regulate protests. I do not support this proposal and have advocated against it. On August 8, a number of community members attended a meeting of the Free Speech Work Group, which I helped create earlier this year to address potential free speech issues related to the upcoming 2008 Republican National Concvention, at which the new ordinance was on the agenda for discussion. There seemed to be some confusion as to where the proposed ordinance had come from. It was drafted by City staff from the Regulatory Services department and the City Attorney's Office, not at the direction of the Work Group. When the policymakers on the group learned of its existence we asked, through the Work Group's chair CM Ostrow, that staff bring these ideas to us for our review. When I proposed this working group, I pushed for it to include representa...

One of the things discussed last evening at our community meeting on traffic issues related to the bridge collapse was the opening of the 10th Avenue bridge. Now that the last victim has been recovered we will need to reach a decision about this very soon. There will also be a great deal of pressure to open it fully before the University semester begins on September 4th. Suggestions range from keeping it closed to opening: only to bikes and pedestrians, or to bikes, pedestrians and public transit, or to all of the above plus official University vehicles, or to all traffic. Even if we open it to all traffic, there have been some ideas about making that work better including: adding a fence to the upstream side to increase safety in case people walk or bike out and want to see the site and putting in a physical barrier of some kind (perhaps semi-permanent plastic bollards) to prevent northbound cars exiting 35W at Washington Ave from changing lanes and taking a left at 15th Ave S (ne...

Last Friday the City Council unanimously approved a set of principles that outline the City’s shared vision for building a new Interstate 35W Bridge. I hope these reflect a view widely shared by people throughout Minneapolis that we need to build, not only a safe bridge, but also take the time to build the best brdige we can that will help meet future transportation needs. I would also like to offer some of my own comments and observations about the tragic I-35W bridge collapse over the Mississippi. First and foremost, my thoughts go out to all who have lost loved ones, who are missing family and friends and who are suffering because of the collapse. I hope that you and your family, friends and loved ones are safe and unharmed. For all of us, as individuals and as a community, this has been a shocking experience and a devastating loss. While things may seem stable and in many ways our community is coming to terms with this shock, let's not forget that some are still caught in the ...