BRIEFS Feb. 17, 2022

Southwest light-rail project transfer proposed
State Senator Scott Dibble, announced that he will introduce a bill that would move responsibility of the Southwest Light Rail project from the Metropolitan Council to the Minnesota Department of Transportation by March 1. This would include all future planning, construction and oversight. Representative Frank Hornstein, chair of the House Transportation Committee, said that he will also introduce a companion bill in the House.

Redistricting boundaries
State and local governments are working to meet deadlines for redistricting new boundaries for districts and wards this spring based on the 2020 census. That state deadline for redistricting is February 15. If the legislature has not approved a new map of congressional and legislative districts by then, the courts will. Once approved, the City will then have until March 29 to approve a map that includes the new ward and park district boundaries. In Minneapolis, The Charter Commission is in charge of setting the boundaries and recently put forward recommended maps of ward and park district boundaries. On Feb.24 they will hold a public hearing on their redistricting plan. For more information see https://www.minneapolismn.gov/government/programs-initiatives/redistricting/

Electric Vehicle Network
On Feb. 3, Saint Paul and Minneapolis started a new network of on-street electric vehicle charging stations, EV Spots, that can be used to charge electric vehicles. They will be used to park and charge private vehicles as well as the new publicly operated Evie Carshare vehicles that will be operating as part of the new EV Spot Network. The network covers a 35-square-mile service area in St. Paul and Minneapolis that offer the public access to electric vehicle charging places and a new publicly operated community carshare service called Evie Carshare and operated by the local nonprofit HOURCAR. Each charging location will have two dedicated parking spaces for personal vehicles and two spaces for carshare vehicles. The first locations available for public use are at Sherburne & Dale Street (Saint Paul), Margaret Street & E 7th Street (Saint Paul), Colfax & Hennepin Avenue (Minneapolis), Chicago & Franklin Avenue (Minneapolis) and 13th Avenue SE & 4th Street SE (Minneapolis). They plan to add 65 more EV Spot Charging locations in the months ahead and be fully-operational by fall. Initially the Evie Carshare plans to operate with 101 cars and adding cars to eventually operate 171 vehicles. To learn more visit www.EVSpotNetwork.com.

Park plan for Cedar Lake, Lake of the Isles
The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is continuing efforts to create a new long-term plan for Cedar Lake, Lake of the Isles, Dean Parkway and the surrounding parkland and trails. Two concepts were released December and a virtual open house was held on Feb. 7 with staff. A first public comment period will close March 4, staff will evaluate feedback and develop one preferred concept for another round of public feedback this summer. To learn more and take an online survey visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/cedar-isles-inital-concepts.