City briefs - September 7

Aug. 15 was the last day for candidates for any of the 13 city council wards to file to be on the Nov. 7 municipal ballot.  The following candidates listed by ward and in order of filing date, have filed to be on the ballot in southwest Minneapolis wards.  Ward 7: Scott Grahan, Katie Cashman and Kenneth Foxworth. Ward 8: Andrea Jenkins, Soren Stevenson, Bob Sullentrop and Terry White. For ward 10, they are Nasri Warsame, Bruce Dachis, Aisha Chughtai and Greg Kline. Ward 11: Emily Koski and Gabrielle Prosser. Ward 13: Kate Mortenson, Linea Palmisano, Bob Carney and Zach Metzger.

 

The Early Vote Center at 980 E. Hennepin Ave. opens at 8 a.m. Sept. 22 for people to vote early and in person. Also on Sept. 22, the city will begin mailing ballots to voters who have requested to vote early by mail. Learn more about voting this year at https://vote.minneapolismn.gov/voters/

 

On Oct. 12, the city council will hold a public hearing to consider next year’s services and service charges for the Linden Hills, Lowry Hill, and Uptown districts.  A special service district allows property owners in a commercial area to be assessed to fund amenities and services beyond what the city ordinarily provides. This may include street furniture and fixtures as well as cleaning, landscaping, and maintenance of public areas. 

 

In August, the city of Minneapolis announced that inspector Katie Blackwell would be leaving her position as 5th Precinct Inspector to be a new assistant chief of operations. The new 5th Precinct Inspector with be Christie Nelson. Nelson has worked for the city as a police officer since 1997. The 5th precinct includes southwest Minneapolis, bounded by I-35W in the east, I-94 on the north, and the city limits on the west and south.  

 

The city is proposing to pilot a series of events in 2024 as a part of the As You Go MPLS campaign to encourage walking, rolling or biking in a range of contexts. The 2024 projects and locations will be determined later this year and are proposed to include 1-2 project demonstrations on streets planned for redesign and 1-3 grand opening celebrations for newly constructed street projects that encourage people to take more trips by active transportation.

 

In July the city health department put up 29 new “AQMesh” air sensors on streetlights around the city. The sensors will measure ozone, nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds. They hope to use the information to help improve air quality. 

 

The city’s public works department will be smoke testing sanitary sewers in southwest Minneapolis this summer and fall. The testing is used to identify leaks or faulty connections that may allow rainwater into the sanitary sewer system, which can overflow in a significant storm.  The work started the week of Aug. 28 and testing on each block will take a few days with completion expected in November. The city plans to send notices prior to testing to all properties where testing will occur.