November 19 Meeting Recap

Welcome to new Armatage & Kenny Park Director, Jordan Nelson.  Jordan comes from Van Cleve Park near the University of Minnesota. We’d also like to extend a huge thank you to outgoing director Nikki Friederich who has been an wonderful leader for Armatage & Kenny and is moving to Creekview Park.

The ANA presented an overview of the draft funding plan, its community engagement efforts this fall, a summary of the feedback received, and the final proposed plan. Over the past 5 weeks, 160 community members weighed in on the funding plan with an overall approval rate of 89.4%.  Based on the comments received, the plan stayed consistent and the remaining $15,000 was allocated to the following priorities:

• An extra $7,000 to Traffic Calming & Pedestrian Safety, bringing the plan total to $17,000,
• $4,000 to Park Improvements (joining the $24,000 approved for parks in previous years by the ANA),
• $4,000 to Environmental & Greening Programming.

The final plan was discussed and approved unanimously. It will now head to the City for legal review and final approval this winter. Please contact the ANA at 612.466.0296 or anacoordinator@armatage.org with any questions.

E Line Community Open House Tonight

Metro Transit will host an E Line Open House tonight, Thursday, November 21, from 4:00-6:00pm at Pershing Rec Center (3523 W 48th St).

Check out the interactive route map for the new Bus Rapid Transit E Line at https://www.metrotransit.org/e-line-engagement and comment at the Open House or via email at ELine@metrotransit.org.

Minnehaha Creek Community Open House Tonight

The Minnehaha Parkway Regional Trail Master Plan reconvenes tonight to review and discuss findings from a recently completed parkway traffic study. The master plan project paused in July to allow time for a study to be performed.

Thursday, November 21
6:00-8:00 pm
Windom South Recreation Center (5843 Wentworth Ave)

This meeting will provide space for the general public to converse with MPRB staff and the consultant team about the traffic study and the parkway west of Portland Avenue. The open house format does not include a formal presentation, so anyone can attend for any amount of time between 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm.

Tree Lighting & Supply Drive for Crisis Nursery

While the ANA isn’t hosting a Tree lighting event this year, the annual neighborhood-sponsored holiday lights are up in Armatage Park along the east side of the building.

You can still drop off new, unopened formula, diapers, pull-ups, children’s toiletries, new with tags clothing and more to benefit the Greater Twin Cities Crisis Nursery now through December 20. Check out the Crisis Nursery’s full donation wish list here and look for a donation bin in the lobby of the Armatage Rec Center.

Theodore Wirth House Tours

Give Feedback on the Proposed City Budget

There are two more public hearings for people to share thoughts on Mayor Jacob Frey’s recommended 2020 City budget of $1.6 billion. The City’s revenues come from a variety of sources with property taxes accounting for about 23% of the budget.  Comments can also be submitted online to be shared with the Mayor and Council Members. The City Council is scheduled to vote on adopting the budget Wednesday, December 11.

Budget public hearings at City Hall:

• December 4 at 6:00pm: Truth in Taxation hearing to get community input on the total levy amount.
• December 11 at 6:00pm: Opportunity to respond to the City Council’s amendments, for Council to make any further changes based on that, and then a vote to adopt the 2020 budget.

Visit the City’s budget website to learn more about the budget and key dates and watch a video about how to participate in the budget process. You can also watch budget hearings on Minneapolis City Council TV. Tune to SD channel 14 or HD channel 799 on Comcast or SD channel 8001 or HD channel 8501 on CenturyLink. You can also watch archived meetings on the City of Minneapolis YouTube channel.

Adopt A Storm Drain

Fall is an important time to keep leaves out of the gutter so they don’t get rush down the storm drain each time it rains. In the storm drain, leaves get carried to the Creek and eventually to Lake Hiawatha, adding the phosphorus that causes algae blooms.

If you haven’t already, consider the Adopt a Drain program and sign up to keep one or more storm drains on your street clear so that only water goes into it. You can adopt any drain that hasn’t already been adopted, even if it isn’t in front of your house! This interactive website helps you locate drains near you and adopt any that you choose: https://www.adopt-a-drain.org/ There are MANY drains that still need to be adopted in Armatage (shown in yellow below):

If you need assistance adopting a drain OR if you would like a friendly neighborhood volunteer to assist you the first time you set out to clean your storm drain, please contact the ANA at anacoordinator@armatage.org. The ANA’s Green Team will also provide the next twenty people who sign up to Adopt-a-Drain with a free pair of gloves to wear when cleaning your drain. Email us to pick yours up!  Huge thanks to ANA Green Team member Linda Ridlehuber for this article!

Census 2020 is Hiring

The 2020 Census is just around the corner and the Census Bureau is hiring to fill office and field representative positions. See the census job openings in Minnesota and apply here.

Check out what’s happening locally with the 2020 Census and sign up for updates at http://minneapolismn.gov/census/