Second Ward January 2017 E-newsletter
Second Ward January 2017 E-newsletter
News from Cam Gordon
Council Member, Second Ward
No Ban No Wall. I am very alarmed by the recent actions by
the Trump administration on immigration and refugees. By providing a safe
landing place for refugees and immigrants we not only do what we can, as a
developed and resource abundant country, to help others in need, but we enrich
our own communities. Trumps new policies are tearing and keeping families apart
and obstructing the efforts of the University of Minnesota, Augsburg College
and to be true international institutions of research and learning. To respond
to the disturbing Presidential orders related to immigration and refugee
resettlement, the Council’s Intergovernmental Relations Committee with discuss
them at its next meeting on Tuesday,
February 7 at 9:30 am in the City Council Chambers in City Hall. There, we
will hear from our City Attorney and community agencies, including the American
Civil Liberties Union, about how these new rules will impact our City and how
we can help respond to better protect our people. We will explore ways the City
can take action to strengthen the protections we can offer our immigrant,
Muslim, and refugee families. You are welcome to join us. I will continue the
fight against what I see as this administration's immoral, cruel, and likely
illegal behavior towards some of the most vulnerable people in our communities
and our world. For a more of my thoughts on this see: https://www.facebook.com/camgordonward2/posts/722858671209828.
Syrian Refugee Resolution. The resolution that I authored supporting
resettlement of Syrian refugees in Minneapolis passed the Council unanimously on
January 13, prior to the Presidential action banning Syrian immigration
indefinitely. You can find the resolution here: http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/documents/agenda/wcmsp-191930.pdf
Minimum Wage Community Meetings. The City is holding a series of listening
sessions on the proposed raise in the minimum wage. All meetings are open to
the public and are listed here: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/minimumwage/MINIMUM-HOME. Upcoming meetings include: Tuesday, February 7, 5:30-7 p.m. All My
Relations Gallery (Powwow Grounds), 1414 E. Franklin Ave.; Tuesday, February
14, Minneapolis Downtown Council and Northeast Minneapolis Chamber of Commerce,
4-5:30 p.m. DID conference rooms (TBD); Wednesday, February 15: 3-5 p.m. NEON,
1007 W. Broadway Ave.; Tuesday, February. 21: 6-7:30 p.m. Sabathani Community
Center, 310 E. 38th St.; Thursday, February. 23, 6-7:30 p.m. Urban League, main
gathering room, 2100 Plymouth Ave. The study, led by the University of
Minnesota’s Roy Wilkins Center for Human Relations and Justice, on the impact
of increasing the wage to $12 and $15 per hour phased in over five years, is
available here: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/www/groups/public/@clerk/documents/webcontent/wcmsp-187333.pdf. Questions and feedback about the minimum
wage can be sent to MinWage@minneapolismn.gov.
Earned Sick and Safe Time. I was heartened to see the courts side with
the City in the Earned Sick and Safe Time ordinance lawsuit that was brought by
the Minnesota Chamber of Commerce, and others.
The judge’s ruling makes clear that the City does have the legal
authority to adopt ordinances that bear on topics the state has also regulated,
when we are not explicitly preempted.
This is great news for the workers who will now get the sort of
workplace protections that many of us take for granted. It is also good news for the City as we
consider adopting a local minimum wage. Still, I understand that the Chamber has
appealed this decision, which is discouraging. No one from the Chamber has
reached out to me to discuss their opposition to allowing the City to set these
minimum protections for workers.
Restoring NRP Phase 2 Funding. On Monday at the Health, Environment and Community
Engagement Committee I moved a resolution that I have been working on for
several months that, if approved by the full Council on February 10th, will
restore full funding to all the neighborhood organizations that lost a portion
of their allocated Neighborhood Revitalization Program funding as part of an
unexpected budget amendment in December of 2010. This is possible, in part, because the
revenue from the specially approved Tax Increment Financing District has been
higher than expected, and is expected to be higher than projected for the next
few years, before it expires in 2020. In 2026 in yielded over $10 million more
than projected or needed. The amounts the Ward 2 neighborhoods can expect to
see restored over the next four years are as follows Cedar Riverside - $211,372;
Longfellow (which includes Cooper, Howe and Hiawatha) - $691,943; Prospect Park
- $91,225; Seward - $44,639; Southeast Como - $122,142; and, University - $4,512.
You can find the full staff report and payment schedules here http://www.minneapolismn.gov/meetings/legislation/WCMSP-193147.
Public Health Advisory Committee. This month I learned that my outstanding
appointee to the City’s Public Health Advisory Committee (PHAC), Laurel
Nightingale, had to resign. I thank
Laurel for her commitment and service to the City. Now, I am looking for
someone who lives or works in Ward 2 with experience, expertise and/or a strong
interest in public health to serve on this committee. The committee has a long
track record of providing valuable advice on health policy to the City Council,
and Minneapolis Health Department. The advisory group reports to the Health,
Environment and Community Engagement Committee, which I chair. It also serves
as a link between the City and the community in addressing health
concerns. I am hoping to get some
applications in for review by February 15, 2017. The group meets the fourth
Tuesday of the month from 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. in City Hall. For information on
the application process visit http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/boards/openings/WCMSP-190346. For more information about the committee
feel free to contact me or visit http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/health/phac/index.htm or
contact Margaret Schuster, Sr. Public Health Specialist, at 612-673-2643.
Fossil Fuel Divestment. I was very disappointed to learn that the
new president is pushing forward the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines,
selling our children's futures for private gain for a few companies. This makes
it even more important that Minneapolis divest not just from direct investments
in fossil fuels, but from the financial institutions that underwrite these
pipelines and other fossil fuel extractive industries. I'm proud to have
coauthored a staff direction as part of the budget adoption in December, for
staff to return with a report on practices in other city and further options
worth exploring. My goal is for our decisions about our financial services
providers to match our values. Better systems might include a publicly owned
and democratically controlled local bank or credit union. If you are interested
in learning more about this topic, here is a good place to start: http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/www/groups/public/@council/documents/policydocument/wcmsp-193172.pdf
Air Quality. In January the Health Department presented
the results of its nearly 3 yearlong air quality study. The study provides data
about air quality at the neighborhood level. From November 2013 through August
2015 volunteers helped collect a series of 8 air samples, collected quarterly. At
each collection approximately 120 samples were collected from locations across
the City. Each sample was analyzed at our contracted lab, PACE in Southeast
Como, and 61 Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) were reported. In addition, during
the seven sampling events between February 2014 and August 2015, approximately
20 possible sampling devices were placed to analyze formaldehyde along two
corridors. The results were compared to the Minnesota Department of Health,
Health Risk Values (HRVs) for chemicals in ambient air. Of the 62 VOCs
analyzed, five, benzene, formaldehyde, naphthalene, tetrachloroethylene, and
trichloroethylene, were found at levels over their defined HRV. Further study
will be completed in the next few months to better understand ways to reduce
the high levels of these five VOCs The full report is available at http://www.minneapolismn.gov/environment/air/airquality_index
Minneapolis for a Lifetime: An Age Friendly City
Action Plan. The Council
is poised to approve Minneapolis for a
Lifetime: An Age Friendly City Action Plan.
The plan (http://minneapolismn.gov/meetings/legislation/WCMSP-192521 ) identifies the following goals: 1) affirm
and improve all housing options for Minneapolis residents as they age; 2)
strengthen and promote safe transportation options that meet the needs of
Minneapolis residents as they age; 3) partner to expand and promote older
adults’ participation in health and wellness initiatives throughout the City of
Minneapolis; 4) Establish and maintain valued social and civic roles; 5)
Contribute to the economic life of the community; and, 6) participate in the
social, educational and cultural life of the neighborhood and community. The
first three, housing, transportation and health/ wellness are top priorities. I
am excited to see this plan coming forward and believe that it offers clear
recommended action steps that we can begin working on this year.http://www.minneapolismn.gov/environment/air/airquality_index
10 Year Street Funding Plan. I was very impressed and pleased to see the
updates to this plan for how we will invest our street maintenance, renovation
and reconstruction funding over the next decade. Most noteworthy is the focus on
racial and economic equity that is being incorporated into these decisions at
what may be an unprecedented level for the City. The report offers a clear, comprehensive and
transparent look at the equity filter that the city will use in its analysis to
make future funding decisions. As the
report says this is “only the beginning” and we will regularly be re-evaluating
this approach and your input would be appreciated. If this is an area of
interested to you please review the report (http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/@clerk/documents/webcontent/wcmsp-193199.pdf) and share your feedback.
Youth Violence Prevention Report. . In January the 2015 Youth Violence Prevention
Results Minneapolis report was issued. It tracks, graphs and analyzes 26
indicators over 9 years (2006 to 2015). While the 9 years trend lines show a
general decrease in youth violence, a few key indicators show a disturbing
increase between 2014 and 2015. This
includes an increase in gunshot victims under age 25 from 104 in 2014 to 130 in
2015 and homicides going from 11 in 2014 to 24 in 2015. I plan to have it presented to the Health
Environment and Community Engagement Committee in February or March when we
will have some 2016 data available as well. You can find the full report here: http://minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/@health/documents/webcontent/wcmsp-189736.pdf
Healthy Food Access. The City has generated a
report on healthy food access as part of the ongoing Results Minneapolis program. You can find the report here: https://tableau.minneapolismn.gov/views/Healthyfoodaccess/Healthyfoodaccess?:embed=y&:showShareOptions=true&:display_count=no&:showVizHome=no.
SolSmart Gold designation. Minneapolis has received
an award from SolSmart, a program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. A SolSmart designation signals that the
community supports solar businesses and helps attract solar industry investment
and jobs. To achieve a designation, cities and counties take steps to reduce
solar “soft costs” to save money for consumers. Minneapolis efforts include
updating zoning requirements, reducing solar permitting time and costs,
education and outreach, training staff and solar installers, advocating at the
Public Utilities Commission, placing solar capability on City-owned buildings,
and committing to community solar gardens.
Minnesota Clean Energy Community Award. We also received an
achievement award from the state as part of Minnesota’s first Clean Energy Community
Awards program. The award acknowledge work done by Minnesota communities’
programs, policies and technologies to further the state’s clean energy goals
and encourage energy efficiency, conservation and renewable energy generation.
The Minnesota Commerce Department is the sponsor and coordinator of the awards
program with financial support from the U.S. Department of Energy and The
McKnight Foundation. Minneapolis received its award for the formation of the
Clean Energy Partnership that is committed to helping us reach our Climate
Action Plan and Energy Vision for 2040 with goals of a 30 percent greenhouse
gas reduction by 2025 and an 80 percent reduction by 2050.
Inspiring Bold Action on Tobacco. I was
honored to join my colleague and coauthor, Blong Yang, in accepting an award on
behalf of the city at the Inspiring Bold Action 2017 Minnesota Tobacco Control
Conference, on January 24. At the
conference the city was recognized, along with St. Paul and Shoreview, for the
flavored tobacco and minimum tobacco pricing ordinance we passed in approved in
2015. I am proud of the work we’ve done
to protect kids from the flavored tobacco products that are clearly designed to
get them addicted, and I look forward to continuing to make progress on tobacco
control policies.
Community
Connections Conference. The fifth annual Community Connections Conference – Your
Voice, Your City: CommUnity – will be held at the
Minneapolis Convention Center Saturday, April 1. The Neighborhood
and Community Relations Department hosts the free conference annually in
partnership with City departments, neighborhood organizations, and community
partners. It is designed to showcase and build successful community
collaborations between neighborhoods, cultural communities, residents, and the
City. Check here for updates.
Changes to Fraternity and Sorority
Regulation. The ordinance
amendment introduced by Council Member Frey last June is slowly moving forward
and discussed at the Planning Commission Committee of the Whole this month. It
would loosen regulations of fraternities and sororities in response the growing
“Greek” community in and around the University of Minnesota Minneapolis campus.
Representatives from the area’s “Greek” community are seeking the changes to
the zoning code to allow more flexibility and opportunities for existing and
new fraternities and sororities. Currently Fraternities and Sororities are a
conditional use in the OR2, OR3, R4, R5, and R6 districts. They have a minimum
lot area of 10,000 square feet and a minimum lot width of 80 feet. They are
limited to 2.5 stories in height and a Floor Area Ratio of 1.5. Geographically,
fraternities and sororities must be located within ½ mile of campus. Changes being
sought include allowing for the use to be established on zoning lots that were
not previously used as a fraternity or sorority, removing the limit of
thirty-two (32) maximum persons served. allowing on-site services to be used by
all members or guests; revising the ordinance to be similar to building bulk
requirements for Community Residential Facility by reducing the minimum lot
area from 10,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet, the minimum lot width from
80 feet to 40 feet and increasing the maximum height from 2.5 stories, 35 feet
to 4 stories, 56 feet. You can learn more here. http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/www/groups/public/@cped/documents/webcontent/wcmsp-192027.pdf
Occupancy
Ordinance. Council Member Frey has
introduced an ordinance amendment that would amend occupancy requirements. I believe that this is premature, considering
the recent intentional communities ordnance that I believe offers a
well-reasoned, appropriately cautious approach to addressing problems with the
current ordinances without lifting the occupancy limits entirely, or
dramatically increasing them across the board.
I encourage people to watch this closely as the specifics come forward
in the weeks ahead. I will do the same.
Charter
Amendment. With the support of, and at the
request of, the Charter Commission, the Committee of the Whole has voted to
recommend Amending Article IX, Section 9.4 of the Minneapolis City Charter
relating to Finance: Debt to address a technical amendment to the City Charter
pertaining to bond proceeds. This would
strike the language related to § 9.4 Debt, (c)
Premium from bonds. That stipulates
that “Any premium received from selling bonds must service those bonds unless
the law provides otherwise,” and replaces it with the following: “the City may
treat any premium from selling bonds as additional bond proceeds.”
Community and Commercial Garden
Implementation Report. This month
we learned that the number of garden parcels increased, from 60 garden parcels
in 2015, to 85 in 2016 and 94 in 2017. The majority of the additional parcels
available for gardens are undevelopable or undersized properties. Many of the
parcels available for garden lots are unsuitable for gardening because of
shade, soil conditions or other issues. Yet, the number of available parcels
for gardens and the number of parcels leased for gardens is increasing, as are
the number of inquiries about gardening on other lots. The Council, on a motion
made by Council Member Frey, directed the Department of Community Planning
& Economic Development staff to work the Department of Public Works staff
to compile a list of additional vacant City-owned parcels that may qualify for
the community and commercial gardening program, and report back with the list to
the CDRS Committee on February 28th.
Minneapolis Public Housing Board
Reappointments. The Council
has approved the mayoral appointments to the Public Housing Authority Board of
Cara Letofsky from Ward 2 and Chuck Lutz from Ward 11. Both of these are reappointments and I have
talked to both Board Members about the needs and concerns of the residents of
Glendale Townhomes. I am hopeful that they can help us find a path to make sure
that immediate and long term needs are address to preserve and improve this
needed family-oriented affordable housing in our Ward.
29th Street Closure at the Greenway. On January 31, the Council's Transportation and Public Works committee
received a welcome report from Public Works staff about the intersection of
29th Ave S and the Midtown Greenway. The staff recommendation was in line with
the desires of the community: to close the intersection to cars while keeping
it open to people on foot and on bikes. This is part of a broader plan to build
two bike boulevards in Seward and Longfellow, one on 29th Ave S from Franklin
to Lake Street, and one on 24th St E from Hiawatha to the river. These bike
boulevards meet right at Matthews Park and Seward Montessori, and are a great
example of Safe Routes to School projects. The original idea for these bike
boulevards came from the community, and they were pushed forward by organized
parents, teachers and students at Seward Montessori School. There has been a
test closure in place for more than a year, and the City heard overwhelming
support for making it permanent. Both the Seward Neighborhood Group and
Longfellow Community Council took positions in favor of it. When the Council
approved the overall design for these bike boulevards late last year, I
directed staff to come forward by the end of this month with design options
including a full closure. I was delighted to learn last week that staff were
recommending the full closure, and had come up with such a great design
solution. Special thanks goes to Lisa Herr, a teacher at Seward Montessori who
help organize her students around this issue and brought them to City Hall
twice to advocate for the closure. I am also grateful to neighborhood activists
and parents like Matthew Hendricks, Hillary Oppmann, Sheldon Mains, Doug Wise,
Joshua Houdek and my colleagues Andrew Johnson and Abdi Warsame, who joined
with me in advocating for the community's position. I commend the community for
their persistent, constructive advocacy, and I commend staff for their
flexibility and willingness to listen and to innovate.
Malcolm Yards. I recently met with land owners and
developers John Wall and Steve Minn recently about future development they are
considering north of the University Transitway at the old Harris site along
Malcolm Ave. They are calling it Malcolm Yards and so far it includes a
proposed climbing wall building and business, a “Food Hall” in part or all of a
rehabilitated Harris building, and two potential mixed use apartment buildings
with commercial and residential uses. The city’s comprehensive plan prohibits
residential development on the site which sites within the SEMI Employment
District. So the developers intend to apply for a comprehensive plan amendment
to take a portion of the area, where the mixed use apartment buildings will go,
out of the employment district, so that it could potentially be rezoned to
allow for a mixed use apartment buildings. The City Council and the Met Council
would both have to approve the amendment before it would go into effect.
Harris Food Hall. The Council has approved a 2016 Hennepin
County Transit Oriented Development Grant for the Harris Building at 501 30th
Avenue SE. The award is for $300,000 and will help fund work related to
utilities, sidewalks, trails, storm water management and building
stabilization. This will assist with the
larger renovation of the existing Harris Machinery Warehouse building into
about 12,000 square feet of food service and restaurant and 6,000 square feet
of small office space.
Prospect Park Senior Housing. The Council has authorized submittal of an
application to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development
[DEED] Redevelopment Grant Program for $225,000 in funding for the construction
of a new senior oriented apartment building located at 3033 University Ave SE,
3000 & 3024 4th St SE). The developer, Oppidan Holdings, intends to
construct two buildings (6-story and 12-story) with multiple levels of senior
housing, including 142 independent living units, 104 assisted living units, and
39 memory care units. DEED funding is being sought for site demolition,
removal/rerouting of public and private utilities, and the construction of
transit/street amenities. The projected total development cost is projected to
be $75,000,000.
4th Street SE Reconstruction. The Council has approved the final plans for
4th St SE, or Green Fourth, from 25th Ave SE to 29th Ave SE. This includes adopting assessments of
$450,161.25 and bonding of $450,160 for the reconstruction project, and
$113,030 in assessments for streetlights. Now we can move forward with seeking
bids for the street reconstruction this summer for all four blocks, from 25th
to Malcolm.
World Expo 2023. With full city support, an application has
been submitted to have Minneapolis be a host city for a 3-month World Expo in
2023. Large, six-month Expos are organized every five years with one smaller,
three-month version held in between. The location that has been identified
includes the University of Minnesota and area known as Prospect North, or
Towerside, north of University Avenue in Prospect Park. To learn more about the
proposal see http://expo2023.info/ and http://www.startribune.com/a-day-of-big-events-and-one-on-which-to-ponder-big-goals/391460041/
Green On Fourth - 2901 4th St SE. The
redevelopment of at the old Boeser site into an apartment building took a step
forward this month when the development team filed their land use applications. They are applying for a rezoning from I1
(Light Industrial) to C3A (Commercial Activity Center), a conditional use
permit to increase the maximum building height, variances to reduce the minimum
north rear yard setback and to increase the maximum south front yard setback
along 4th St SE and Site Plan Review to allow a new 243 unit residential
building. The City Planning Commission will meet on Monday, February 6, 2017 at
4:30 p.m., in Room 317 City Hall, 350 S. 5th St., and hold a public hearing and
vote on the applications. People are welcome to attend and speak at the public
hearing. Minneapolis Prospect Park Properties purchased the property from
Cornerstone, and is co-developing the property with Bloomington-based
Timberland Partners. To read more details and the staff recommendations please
visit www.minneapolismn.gov/meetings/planning for the agenda with staff reports that will
be updated by the end of the day Wednesday prior to the meeting date. If you
have questions about the project, or would like to submit comments in writing
contact Peter Crandall, City Planner – 250 South 4th Street Room 300, Minneapolis,
MN 55415, (612) 673-2247, (612) 673-2526, Peter.Crandall@minneapolismn.gov
Augsburg Apartments. In January the Council approved a modification and extension of a 1991
city loan to Holy Trinity Owned apartments at 2015 Riverside Avenue. The original loan helped them to construct
the apartment building and this loan modification and 5 year extension will
help make sure that this quality apartment and preserve 16 units of affordable
housing (42% of the total units) with rent and household income restrictions at
60% area median income
Lao Szechuan. Full Happiness Food and Culture,
LLC, doing business as Lao Szechuan and located at 317 Huron Blvd SE has
applied and was approved to get an On Sale Liquor Class E with Sunday Sales
License. This is a new business in the
Ward. The owner and manager of the restaurant is Gaoxiang Yang. He has four
years of experience in the food service industry, but this is his first venture
as an owner. The restaurant will operate in 3,339 square feet of space on the
first floor of the newly constructed mixed use apartment building there. It
will be a full-service restaurant which will accommodate 101 guests. There will
be no live entertainment or outdoor seating area. Lao Szechuan has business operations Chicago
and Los Angeles, but this is the first one to operate in Minnesota. It will be
offer a wide variety of Chinese meals to their guests, including shrimp, beef,
fish, chicken and vegetable entrée items and will be serving cocktails as a
compliment to the dining experience. The hours of operation for the restaurant
will be 11:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily. I wish Mr. Yang the best of luck in his
new business venture.
Afro Deli is moving from their Minneapolis location at 1929 S 5th St. to 720
Washington Ave SE and I am very excited to see that they will be opening in the
new location on February 13. I am also glad that the City has been able to help
with a $75,000 low interest loan to help make this possible.
Great Streets Grants. The Community
Development and regulatory Services Committee has recommeded authorizing
contracts for the Great Street Façade Improvement Grant Program Administration,
in a total amount of $235,000, with five organizations. The two that work in
the Second Ward are the Lake Street Council, recommended for a $50,000 contract
and Seward Redesign, Inc. also recommended for a $50,000 contract. The city received five proposals in response to the
2016 request and recommended funding all five proposals. These five new
contracts will join 11 existing contracts from prior years which cover other
parts of the city. I expect this to approved at the next City Council meeting. For
more information see http://www.minneapolismn.gov/www/groups/public/@clerk/documents/webcontent/wcmsp-192966.pdf
Open Office Hours in the Ward. I usually hold open “Office Hours” in the
ward every Thursday morning from 9:30 to 11:00 am. Please feel free to call the office at
673-2202 to reserve some time when I will be there or just stop by.
First Thursdays at the Oren
Gateway Center, Nabo Café, 2211 Riverside Avenue;
Second Thursdays at Black: Coffee
and Waffles, 1500 Como Ave SE;
Third Thursdays at T Rex Cookie
Café, 3338 University Ave SE;
Fourth Thursdays at Blue Moon
Coffee Café, 3822 E Lake St.
Cam Gordon
Minneapolis City Council Member,
Second Ward
673-2202, 296-0579
posted by Cam Gordon @ 3:13 PM
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