Permits and licensing are required for all Minneapolis Off-Leash Parks.  You can find information and purchase a Minneapolis pet license by visiting www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us or by contacting Minneapolis Animal Care and Control at 612-348-4250.  Applications for a Minneapolis Off-Leash Permit and rules for Off-Leash Recreation Areas are available a t www.minneapolisparks.org .  Permits range from $35 for Minneapolis residents to $60 for non-Minneapolis residents. These permits are valid at any of Minneapolis’ off-leash dog parks.

For further information on Census jobs including a practice test, please go to the website:

www.2010censusjobs.gov

To be considered for hiring, please call toll free to 1-866-861-2010 and ask for an appointment at a “testing session.”  If you are also interested in a supervisory position, then also request an appointment for the “supervisor test.” Testing sites or north Minneapolis are pending but call now!

We Watch – We Call helps to resolve that concerns. If several houses on a block share the public commitment to a safe neighborhood, one block at a time, no one will be singled out. With the We Watch – We Call sign in several yards it becomes a group decision that the block will be safe and crime free with the added benefit that the entire neighborhood becomes a safer place. Now, just putting a sign in your yard is not enough – the second part of the message to We Watch is – We Call. Calls to 911 or 311 (about non criminal complaints) must be made by one or all of the neighbors on the block. It is not enough to post a sign and expect that things will change by that act alone, although a block of signs signaling the intent for a safe neighborhood may be a deterrent to bad behavior. If you, and other residents on your block are interested in We Watch – We Call you may pick up a free sign at the office, 1206 37th Avenue North, or at 42nd Avenue  Station at 42nd and Lyndale Avenue North.  Call 612.521.2100.

Camden Bridge

The Lowry Avenue Bridge that crossed the Mississippi between North and North East Minneapolis was demolished this summer.  The replacement, an $80 – $85 million Hennepin County project is set to begin early in 2010.

It was just announced that the Camden Bridge, will close for a nine-month renovation  to complete deferred maintenance beginning at about the same time.  Each project will receive $10 million dollars of Federal Stimulus funds that are subject to a tight timeline for work to be accomplished.

Closing the Camden Bridge to all traffic will allow the work to be completed in nine months, as opposed to two years, if the work was done keeping alternate lanes open throughout the project. The complete closure represents a savings of $1.5 million.

NRP Phase II dollars will bridge the function of the  neighborhood organization into the unknown of the new  Minneapolis Neighborhoods and Community Relations program. It is important that WCNO residents are invested in the process of approving this Plan and in the goals and objective that support neighborhood stability. To that end, we participation in the public review process that concludes with a vote to approve the Plan on September 22nd.

Paper Copies of the Plan are available in the office, 1206 37th Avenue North and the Plan is included as part of this post. If you would like to talk with us about the Plan call 612.521.2100.

Final WCNO Neighborhood Revitalization Plan Phase II

The current owners have rebuffed Hennepin County’s offers to date and are expected to apply to the City of Minneapolis for a non-conforming use permit to continue to operate Holler Glass Block at the 4420 Humboldt location.

Hennepin County Board Action Request

09-0363

Item Description:

Rescind authority to use eminent domain for certain previously identified parcels in conjunction with the

New North Library project – offered by Commissioners J Callison and J Johnson

Resolution:

WHEREAS, on December 16, 2008, the County Board adopted Resolution No. 08-0588R1, which

identified several target properties, including 1423 45th Avenue North and 4420 Humboldt Avenue North

in Minneapolis, as possible acquisitions in support of a New North Library to replace the Webber Park

Library, and

WHEREAS, Resolution No. 08-0588R1, authorized the County Administrator to initiate acquisition by

direct purchase or by condemnation using eminent domain, and

WHEREAS, the County Board has reconsidered the previous authorization that it gave to staff;

BE IT RESOLVED, that at this time staff is directed to pursue the New North Library project only in ways

that do not require exercise of Hennepin County’s eminent domain authority for the properties located at

1423 45th Avenue North and 4420 Humboldt Avenue North in Minneapolis; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the authority granted to the Hennepin County Administrator in

Resolution No. 08-0588R1 to initiate acquisition of 1423 45th Avenue North and 4420 Humboldt Avenue

North by condemnation proceedings is rescinded.

Webber-Camden will continue to post updates as they become available.

Hennepin County put plans for the new Library in Camden on hold indefinitely and may scrap the project altogether, because of problems with site acquisition.

The long awaited full service library, to replace the much smaller Camden branch located in Webber Park, was to be a  new multi-million dollar facility  facing  Victory Memorial Parkway at Humboldt Avenue North. This Hennepin County investment promised to benchmark  sustainable community revitalization along the 44th Avenue corridor and a significant investment for residents in the neighborhoods of Camden.

It ain’t the money – honey! The money is in the bank; a bonding bill to support the project passed and all but one parcel of land has been acquired including the old grocery store site at 44th and Humboldt Avenue North. Hennepin County developed preliminary concept drawings and was prepared  to announce public meetings to engage the community and expand the discussion, when they announced that the project has been put on hold.

What we’re told; the property owner of 1423 45th Avenue North, a rental property, and the adjacent parcel 4420 Humboldt, which is a glass block manufacturing business that may be a  non-conforming use according to Zoning,  has rebuffed Hennepin County’s offer and are  not willing to negotiate even though the County has invited them to counter-offer.  

A few words about the property  in question; the single family house that fronts 45th Avenue North has been a rental property for several years. The small block building behind it  has had a variety of uses serving as an auto repair shop prior to glass block window manufacturing.  Until recently there was very little, to no owner investment in either building. The brick veneer on the block building was added after Hennepin County announced plans for the new library at that location.

Webber-Camden Neighborhood Organization believes that the best use of the land  is a new Hennepin County Library and that the loss of this project would be especially devastating for the community and the residents of Camden!

New Development: check out the latest on the move to rescind eminent domain related to these properties!

3800 Fremont fell to the wrecking ball this morning – in an amazing show of efficiency, demolition contractors removed the building and scooped it into waiting trucks on Fremont and Dowling. This building has sat vacant for almost two years. It served many purposes in its time and when it was most recently occupied it was a problem property delivering no services to the community .

This building is an example of the changes in Webber-Camden.  When it was built in 1916 the small businesses it housed served residents who lived above and walked to the corner store.  In today’s world, the size of the building and available parking does not meet the basic requirements to be  an effective commercial location.

Webber-Camden Neighborhood Organization (WCNO) partnered with the City of Minneapolis to purchase the property using NRP dollars from their Commercial and Economic Development stratagies. The building, land, and demolition cost less than $90,000.  The land will be held for redevelopment according to the Minneapolis Plan which identifies Dowling Avenue North as a residential corridor which is important considering the access to I94 and a five minute drive downtown. Webber-Camden has also aquired the corner of 38th and Girard which it will put into a new land bank to await planning and vitalization decisions that benefit the neighborhood and the corridor when redevelopment of both sites is appropriate. Webber-Camden, like other Nomi neighborhoods, is just beginning to see the future and with these acquisitions residents will be able to direct the rebuilding of  the neighborhood for sustainablilty.

Dowling at Fremont and Hennepin County’s new library (that will front the Victory Parkway at Humboldt and 45th including the old Kowalski site) are important signs of progress in the reinvention of the neighborhood.

View the Slideshow below!