BRIEFS October 2022

LAKE NOKOMIS WATER STUDY
Professor Joe Magner, research scientist Kerry Holmberg and M.S. graduate student Grace Andriacchi, from the University of Minnesota, are researching water and sinking ground issues in the Hale, Page, Diamond Lake, Keewaydin, and Wenonah neighborhoods. As a part of their study, they are having conversations with residents and are asking all residents, whether they have had water issues or not, to complete an online survey.

HI-LAKE BRIDGE REDESIGN
Hennepin County held an open house on Sept. 20 at the South Minneapolis Human Service Center where they shared three new design concepts for the Hiawatha Avenue and Lake Street intersection that will be reconstructed in 2024. The improvements will include an added traffic signal which they hope will reduce wait times and confusion; squared turns and narrower ramps to slow vehicles entering Lake Street from Hiawatha Avenue; simpler and safer crossings for pedestrians and bikers; and wider sidewalks with more community space underneath the bridge. Three different designs for the public space underneath the bridge have been created. Visit the project page at https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/fde7e2e9714f4aebaae52d488f850a5c for more information and to take a survey at https://bit.ly/hi-lake-bridge.

DEMO OF FORMER US BANK BUILDING
Demolition started in early September at 2800 E. Lake Street of the former U.S. Bank building. The building is expected to be completely taken down in early October. U.S. Bank plans to convey the title and ownerships of the site to Seward Redesign Inc. following demolition. The bank opened a new branch at 3600 Lake St. in February.

EARLY VOTING
Early voting for the Nov General Election begins on Friday, Sept 23. Any Minneapolis voter may choose to vote early at the Minneapolis Elections & Voter Services center at 980 E. Hennepin Ave. or at the elections service area in the Hennepin County Government Center, Skyway Level, 300 6th St. S. Except for designated holidays, the Minneapolis Center will be open Monday-Friday, Sept. 23 - Oct. 21 from 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.; Monday-Friday, Oct. 24 - Nov. 4 from 7 a.m. - 6 p.m.; Saturday, Oct. 29 and Nov. 5 from 9 a.m. - 4 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 30 and Nov. 6 from 12- 5 p.m. On Monday, Nov. 7 they will be open from 7 a.m. - 5 p.m. and on Election Day, Nov. 8, when all the precinct polling places will be open, they will be closed for voting but open for ballot drop-off open until 3 p.m. Visit the county elections website at https://www.hennepin.us/residents/elections/absentee-voting for details about hours, which are different from the city’s. To see your sample ballot, visit https://www.sos.state.mn.us/elections-voting/.

NEW CITY ATTORNEY
The City Council has unanimously approved Mayor Jacob Frey’s nomination of Kristyn Anderson for City Attorney. To take the position Anderson will be leaving her job as Minnesota Management and Budget’s general counsel, enterprise employment law counsel and state ethics officer. Prior to that she worked at the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office for 13 years in civil litigation. She starts officially as City Attorney on Sept 26.

POLICE CHIEF FINALISTS
The city has announced three finalists for possible appointment to be the next chief of police for Minneapolis. They are Elvin Barren, the chief of police for Southfield, Mich.; RaShall Brackney, a former Chief of Police for Charlottesville, Va. and George Washington University; and Brian O’Hara, who is currently the deputy mayor of Newark, N.J. This is the result of a national search led by the Public Sector Search & Consulting Inc. that started last March. A special mayoral search committee also helped interview candidates and recommended the finalists to the mayor for consideration. The mayor is expected to make his nomination in the coming weeks and is not required to select one of the three. The mayor’s nomination then requires the approval of the council. If it not approved, the mayor will need to nominate someone else.

INCREASED AIRPORT TRAFFIC 
There are temporarily more jets flying over south Minneapolis. Since Sept. 6, a runway has closed for restoration at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Airport officials are warning that this could result in a noticeable increase in air traffic for Minneapolis residents. They expect it to be completed by the end of October. This is a project of the Metropolitan Airports Commission, which owns and operates the airport. People can get flight information on the commission’s online flight tracker at MAC Flight Tracker (macnoms.com) or call their community relations office at 612-726-9411.