City briefs - Dec 14, 2023

The Hennepin County Board is recruiting people to fill 30 openings on 11 different advisory boards, commissions, councils and special task forces. The deadline to apply is Dec. 29 for the appointments that will be made early next year for positions on the Adult Mental Health Local Advisory Council, Community Action Partnership, Capital Budgeting Task Force, County Extension U of M, Human Resources Board, Library Board, Mental Commitment Attorney Panel, Racial Equity Advisory Council, Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act Board, Lower MN River Watershed District Board and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District Board. To learn more and apply, visit https://www.hennepin.us/advisoryboards. 

 

The city council adopted a $1.8 billion 2024 budget on Dec. 5 after holding three public hearings and making nearly 50 amendments that reallocated over $30 million. Amendments included those that will increase domestic violence response resources, add funds for traffic calming projects, enhance services for immigrants, refugees, and seniors, fund Open Streets events, improve opioid recovery and harm reduction services, staff a new legislative department, provide renter relocation assistance,  coordinate social services for those with unstable housing, expand the developers technical assistance program, and pay for labor standards co-enforcement programs.  New programs created through the amendments include a Lake St. safety ambassador program, a sidewalk snow removal pilot, $4 million for new unarmed safety services at 2633 Minnehaha Ave., and $500,000 for a Lake St. community safety center. 

 

Hennepin County Library has now digitized over 4,000 photographs selected from the collections of some southwest neighborhood organizations, including the Whitter Alliance, Lowry Hill residents, Inc., and the Cedar Lake Park Association. Photographs include people, houses, buildings, events, and changes to these neighborhoods, mainly from the 1970s to the 2000s.  People can find neighborhood photos by visiting https://digitalcollections.hclib.org/digital/collection/MplsNAs.   

 

The city’s department of community planning and economic development has recommended approval of the application by DJR Architects, on behalf of Isse Suliman, for the property at 2415 Emerson Ave S, just off Hennepin Ave., to allow a new six-story, 32-unit apartment building with first floor office space, to be built where there is currently a house. 

 

The city council is considering changes to the tobacco dealer regulations that would, if approved, prohibit the use of price discounts and coupons for tobacco products, increase penalties and prohibit the sampling of tobacco products that had been permitted in certain adults-only tobacco shops. The ordinance was sent back to staff for further work after objections were raised from what is believed to be the one sampling shop left in the city, Anthony’s Pipe and Cigar Lounge, located in southwest Minneapolis at 907 West Lake St. 

 

In December the council held a hearing and approved the mayor’s nomination of southwest resident, Margaret Anderson Kelliher, to the position of City Operations Officer (City Coordinator) for a term ending January 2026. She will be leaving her position as the director of the public works department and has been appointed to serve in this new position until January 2026. The operations officer/coordinator oversees several departments including finance, human resources, intergovernmental relations, communications, neighborhood and community engagement, community planning and economic development, regulatory services, health, civil rights, and public works.