City briefs

Public school superintendent search
This year, the Minneapolis Public School Board will be hiring a new superintendent who is expected to start working in July. The school board is seeking community feedback through listening sessions and a survey that will be open to complete through Jan. 23. Six listening sessions were scheduled in January including one a Washburn High School on the 13th. Upcoming sessions are set for Friday, Jan. 20 from 6-7:30 p.m. at North High School (1500 James Ave. N.); and Saturday Jan. 21 from 10-11:30 a.m. at Urban Ventures (2924 4th Ave. S). To complete the survey and for more information visit https://board.mpls.k12.mn.us/suptsearch

Hennepin County elects new leadership
At its first meeting of 2023, on Jan. 3, the Hennepin County Board elected District 2 Commissioner Irene Fernando to be chair. Fernando, who was first elected in 2018, is the first woman of color to serve as board chair. District 2 includes north and northeast Minneapolis, as well as Golden Valley, Medicine Lake and St. Anthony. The former chair, Marian Greene, who represents District 3 and most of southwest Minneapolis, was elected to chair the Hennepin County Regional Railroad Authority. District 5 Commissioner Debbie Goettel will serve again as vice chair of the board. Her district also includes part of southwest Minneapolis.   

City 2040 Plan still in court
The Minnesota Court of Appeals has upheld the district court’s grant of summary judgment regarding the lawsuit against the Minneapolis 2040 comprehensive plan brought by Growth Minneapolis, the Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis, and Minnesota Citizens for the Protection of Migratory Birds regarding possible environmental impacts but reversed the order to halt implementation of the plan. Following the decision, the city announced that it will appeal the ruling to the Minnesota Supreme Court and will continue using and implementing the plan in the interim.

Clean-up funds support local projects
The Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED) has awarded $2.58 million to six Minnesota communities to investigate or clean up contamination sites approved for redevelopment. DEED’s Contamination Cleanup and Investigation Grant Program awards include funding for two southwest Minneapolis projects. The 3030 Nicollet project was awarded $274,434 in clean-up funding for the 2.64-acre benzene-contaminated site that the owners plan to redeveloped into a seven-story, 110-unit mixed-use apartment building. The city of Minneapolis was also awarded $241,050 in cleanup funding for the 1.4-acre Seven Points site at Hennepin near 31st Street that contains chlorinated solvents and other contaminants. This site will be redeveloped into a seven-story, 267-unit mixed-use apartment building with 11,159 square feet of retail space. Matching funds will be provided for both projects.

2023 city election
This year there will be a city general election held on Tuesday, Nov. 7 for only the 13 Minneapolis city council members, as required by state law due to the 2020 census and the redistricting that followed. So far, four of the five southwest council members have announce plans to run for re-election, including Andrea Jenkins for Ward 8, Aisha Chughtai for Ward 10, Emily Koski for Ward 11 and Linea Palmisano for Ward 13. Ward 7 Council Member Lisa Goodman has announced that she will not seek reelection and no other people have announced, or formally filed, campaigns. The Minneapolis Democratic Farmer Labor party plans to hold precinct caucuses on Tuesday, March 14 with ward conventions scheduled in April and May.

Apartment building planned at Lake and Garfield
The City Planning Commission has approved rezoning and plans at 2945 Garfield Ave for the construction of a new five-story, 91-unit, apartment building. The commission did not approve increasing the distance from the corner for a principal entrance from 25 feet to 60 feet.

New tattoo parlor
The City Planning Commission has approved allowing the property at 2609 Aldrich to change uses from a jewelry store to a tattoo parlor.