December 23, 2021 eNews

Graphic with a green background and a pine bough that says "Happy Holidays. The ANA is closed Dec 24-31. See you in 2022!"

December 21, 2021 Meeting Recap

Thanks to everyone who joined us for the last ANA Meeting of 2021! Members of the Green Team, Community Engagement Committee, and Safety, Equity & Outreach Committee presented their 2022 work plans and all the great programs and events planned for next year. The Board approved its 2022 budget and made edits to the Safety Rebate Program. With decreasing funding, the program will now have a $200 lifetime cap for residents and the business program, which hasn’t had an application in years, will be discontinued.

Last, the ANA thanked outgoing President Joel Federer for his service over the past 3.5 years and elected new President Kevin Ross, who has been serving as the current Vice President!  The ANA will hold a Special Election to fill the open board seat and elect a new Vice President in January.

Collage of three images of holiday light tour stops - the upper left shows a white house with lights in front, the upper right shows a whole block holiday light installation and the bottom shows a house with white, red, and blue lights.

Holiday Light Tour Voting Results

THANK YOU to everyone who participated, particularly each of the 14 homes on the tour who put together beautiful displays and welcomed visitors from all over MN!  While the voting has wrapped up, the amazing displays are there for you to enjoy and visit again this season. Find this year’s map and driving directions at https://armatage.org/holidaylights/ The three favorite displays from this year’s tour are listed below:

  • 5500 Block of Washburn Ave S (top right)
  • 5812 Washburn Ave S (top left)
  • 5908 Morgan Ave S (bottom)

Rec Centers Open Over Winter Break

Youth are welcome at Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board recreation centers over Minneapolis Public Schools (MPS) Winter Break (Dec. 20-31). As of Dec 20, weekday hours have expanded to 12:00-7:00pm at all MPRB recreation centers.

Drop in for unstructured play or head to minneapolisparks.org/register to search hundreds of activities offered over the next two weeks. Many recreation centers are open outside of public hours for even more activities, classes and sports. (Note: all recreation centers will be closed and programming cancelled Dec 24-25 and Dec 31-Jan 1 in observance of Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.) Masks are required for all recreation center visitors, including instructors and sport spectators.

Graphic with a black background and gold glittery decorations. Text says "Armatage Neighborhood Association Special Election January 18, 2022 at 6:30pm on Zoom. Learn more and register to run at armatage.org"

January Special Election

The ANA will hold a Special Election for one open board seat on January 18, 2022!  All residents (aged 18 and over) and designated neighborhood business or institution representatives are eligible to vote. Learn more about the time commitment and duties and register to run at https://armatage.org/january-2022-special-election/

Image shows two men in the grass at Armatage Park at dusk. One has a stack of green frisbees and the other has a clipboard with an Armatage eNews sign-up.

Thank You, Joel!

We want to extend a huge THANK YOU to outgoing Armatage Neighborhood Association President, Joel Federer (pictured above at right)! We are so grateful to Joel for his years of leadership helping the ANA weather staffing transitions, years of COVID, and getting ready for our big city funding program with a steady hand, good humor, and a wealth of expertise.

You’ve likely seen Joel at neighborhood events as he is usually the first to volunteer (even for the the not so fun projects like rewriting bylaws). We are glad he’ll stay involved with the Safety, Equity & Outreach Committee and wish him the best as he heads to a continuing education program this January! 

Image shows a home with lights on at night and a garage with a security camera

Safety Rebate Program Changes

With decreasing city funding, the ANA is making a few changes to the popular Safety Rebate program. As of January 1, 2022, the program will have a $200 lifetime cap per address for residents (both renters and homeowners) and the business program, which hasn’t had an application in years, will be discontinued. The ANA will still issue rebates for eligible home safety updates for up to $100 per address per calendar year until you reach the $200 lifetime cap.

Our goal with these changes is to help as many neighbors make home safety updates as possible while keeping the program operating. Learn more at https://armatage.org/security-rebate-program-for-residents/

Image of a traffic circle at a Minneapolis snowy neighborhood intersection.

Take the Neighborhood Traffic Calming Survey by Dec 31

Minneapolis Public Works wants your input on a proposed process to address traffic safety concerns and traffic calming requests on neighborhood streets. The process provides a way for community members to request traffic calming and for Public Works to review those requests fairly, transparently and equitably. We know traffic calming has been a priority for neighbors for a long time and we hope you’ll weigh in!

Find more information about the proposed traffic calming process and share your feedback by Dec 31 here. After reviewing feedback, Public Works will finalize the process early in 2022 and share details in the spring about how to request traffic calming measures.

Image shows children walking up a sledding hill with sleds in hand.

Socially Distanced Sledding at Armatage Park

Tues, Dec 28
1:00-3:00pm

Come hit the slopes! As you probably know, Armatage Park has one of *the best* sledding hills in Southwest along Penn Ave. Limited sleds are available at the recreation center, so bring one if you can and plan to distance.  Please register in advance just so staff know how many to expect.

(Can’t make it this week?  You can drop by any time!  Kids will also have more chances for socially distanced sledding parties each Saturday January 8 – February 12 from 10:00am-12:00pm at Armatage Park. Learn more here.)

Image shows a graphic of a kangaroo holding a book and says "Armatage Elementary School"

Armatage Elementary Enrollment & Open House

School enrollment season is here! Anyone who lives in the neighborhood who has a child in grades K-5 during the 2022-2023 who are not already enrolled at Armatage Elementary can request Armatage as their first choice on the online school choice form at https://enrollnow.exploremps.org/onlinerequest This includes all incoming kindergartners.

Open House: learn about Armatage Elementary at the Open House on Tuesday, January 25 from 5:00-6:00pm for any prospective families who would like to tour the building, meet Principal Steve Searl and some of the teaching staff, and hear all about the school! Per MPS policy, please wear a mask.

Kanga News: Sign up for Armatage Elementary’s e-news, Kanga News! Current families and community members are welcome to sign up for Kanga News at https://armatage.mpls.k12.mn.us/Communications

Make This Holiday Season Low Waste

Minneapolis Solid Waste & Recycling has a TON of helpful resources to help you celebrate low waste holidays, find answers to your “where does this go?” recycling questions, and more!

Graphic with full shelves of books in the background and text that says "Join the 2022 Armatage Reading Circle. Sign up at bit.ly/2022readingcircle"

Sign up for the Next Armatage Reading Circle

Hello neighbors! Interested in joining a book club? Have past book clubs overwhelmed you with the pace of reading and content overload? Well, then consider joining our slothful book club. Each month, we will read a small chunk of a book and then get together to discuss questions focused solely on that chunk. That way, the pace is more manageable and the questions feel more relevant.

Last year, we read All We Can Save: Truth, Courage, and Solutions for the Climate Crisis and are currently looking for a new title for next year! The goal would be to start in Jan/Feb 2022 and it would last anywhere from 6 to 9 months based on the book we choose. If you’re interested in joining and/or have titles that might be worth sharing with your neighbors, please sign up at https://bit.ly/2022readingcircle

Free Dog & Cat Adoptions

Minneapolis Animal Care & Control currently has NO adoption fee for cats and dogs over six months old! Are you ready to adopt a new furry family member just in time for the new year?

Visit the City website for more information

Sign up for Southwest Voices

We’re happy to announce that the Armatage Neighborhood Association will be partnering with Southwest Voices, a local news and information service covering SW Minneapolis. Southwest Voices has a free daily newsletter with information on how to get involved with the city, fun local events, restaurant openings and closings, live reports from School Board, Park Board, and City Council meetings, and information about community happenings. Sign-up at SouthwestVoices.news.

The ANA will receive a portion of each membership fee from people that sign up from our neighborhood, so if you sign up to support Southwest Voices, you’re also supporting the ANA. As a civic news organization that believes that good local journalism starts with listening, Southwest Voices wants to hear from you! Shoot them a note at info@southwestvoices.news or a text message at 612-204-2887 to share what you’d like to see covered and follow them on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

Image shows a City of Minneapolis press conference from Dec 13, 2021 with diverse attendees and sign language interpretation

New Minneapolis Crisis Response Teams

The City of Minneapolis launched a behavioral crisis response teams pilot project. Canopy Roots will provide crisis intervention, counseling, and connection to support services as an alternative to police responders.  Two mobile units will operate throughout Minneapolis 7:30 am to midnight, Monday through Friday, and eventually ramp up to service 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Each vehicle will have a team of two behavioral health responders and outreach supplies, such as water, socks, snacks and toiletries.

People should continue to call 911 for help with behavioral crises. 911 dispatchers will gather information and determine if the incident is eligible for a mobile behavioral health team response. The teams will not respond to incidents involving firearms or violent behavior. The Minneapolis Police Department will only be on scene if dispatch determines the need to clear the scene first or the response teams request assistance to complete their work. Learn more about the behavioral crisis response teams here.

The image shows a group of recreational skaters of all ages and abilities wearing masks and skating outdoors on a rink on a lake.

Minneapolis Ice Rink Updates

Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board staff are hard at work preparing the ice for this year’s skating, hockey and broomball season!  None of the rinks or warming houses are open yet, but you can watch the progress using this interactive rink map.

Do you have old or outgrown skates that are still in great condition? Parks (including Armatage Park) would love to adopt them!  You can do the park staff a big favor by making sure they’re in ready-to-go condition and freshly sharpened for new skaters.

Roll up your sleeves Minnesota graphic showing a person with a mask and a bandaid to indicate recent vaccination.

COVID-19 Vaccines and Boosters

With the omicron variant now dominant in Minnesota, getting a COVID-19 booster for anyone 16 and up who is at least 6 months past their second dose AND getting children ages 5 and up vaccinated is more important than ever. Visit mn.gov/vaccine to use the Vaccine Locator Map (more options listed below).

Find a Vaccine:

Vaccines work. If you haven’t been vaccinated or gotten a booster yet, get a free vaccine as soon as you can.