It’s a Fundraiser – Potluck – Silent Auction – Live Music Spring Thing! Donations of all kinds are needed for the silent auction – artwork, gift cards, products and services. Entrance to this event: $10 at the door or $5 with a dish to share. For more information, contact info@nacarts.org.

Come celebrate the end of winter and the first day of spring by supporting Northside Arts Collective along with art-supporters and artists of the Northside Arts.

MPRB News Releases

If you wish to read the letter and flyer, please click on the links.

Webber-Camden Neighborhood Letter – February 20, 2010

What to Do List

The 2010 census form is one of the shortest forms in history – 10 questions. Each question helps to determine how more than $400 billion will be allocated to communities across the country. If you’re curious about the form, what questions will be on it and the history behind those questions, the U.S. Census Bureau has an interactive form http://2010.census.gov/2010census/how/interactive-form.php and a text-only form http://2010.census.gov/2010census/text/text-form.php on its Web site.

Questionnaire assistance centers opening soon. A number of questionnaire assistance centers (QACs) will open in mid-March to help residents answer any questions they may have about the Census. People at these centers will also have questionnaires for anyone who didn’t get one in the mail, and they’ll offer translation services for people who need it. As soon as specific locations are finalized we will post them on the Minneapolis Census Web site. You can also call 3-1-1 to find the location nearest you.

Work for the U.S. Census Bureau
The U. S. Census Bureau is still looking to hire in the Twin Cities
Metro Area. Up to a total of approximately 4,000 people will be on
staff during peak times. These are good paying, temporary jobs for the field positions of
Recruiters, Crew Leaders, Field Supervisors, Census Takers and Census
Clerks. Amount of pay depends on position and location. Work related
mileage is reimbursed. There may be some opportunities for
advancement.

Positions are available in every community. Bilingual workers are in
high demand. The U. S. Census Bureau encourages interested persons to
apply for these jobs by calling the Toll Free Jobs Line at
1-866-861-2010.
To be hired, applicants must pass an exam. Practice exams are
available on the U.S. Census Web site.
Next Minneapolis Complete Count Committee meeting

Tuesday, Mar. 16, 5-7 p.m.
Holy Rosary Catholic Church
2424 18th Ave. S.
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/2010census/CCC.asp

Get Involved
There are many additional events and activities for people in
Minneapolis to help spread the word about the 2010 Census.   Here is a
partial listing:

- March 13th: Tabling at local mercados – Claudia Fuentes 612-673-3374
or Claudia.fuentes@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

- March 17th-18th: Tabling at Hmong Market places – Yia Yang
612-625-5584 or yang.yia@gmail.com

- March 19th: Census event at Brian Coyle Community Center – CHANCE
Students, contact Adam Faitek at adam.faitek@gmail.com

- March 27th: Minneapolis CCC Door-knocking Day – Hannah Garcia at
612-625-2497 or minneapolis2010census@gmail.com

- March 28th: MCN Door-knocking Day – Mike Dean at 612-770-6908 or
mdean@commoncause.org

For a more complete schedule visit our web site:
http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/2010census/schedule.asp

Volunteer! Get a team together or come by yourself. Help clean up in and around Webber Park. Supplies are provided. For details or to volunteer, call Mary Ann at 612-521-2100.

Contacts:       Mark Stenglein, Hennepin County Commissioner: 612-348-7882
Cara Lee, Public Affairs: 612-348-6883

Lowry Avenue Bridge construction open house on March 23

A new icon is under construction in Minneapolis.

Residents can learn more about the Lowry Avenue Bridge construction schedule at an open house from 6:30 to 8 p.m., with a short presentation at 7 p.m., March 23 at East Side Neighborhood Services, 1700 2nd St. NE., Minneapolis. Hennepin County Transportation Department and Lunda Construction Inc. staff will update residents about the project, provide a timeline of upcoming key construction dates, and be available to answer questions. “We are excited to move forward with this project, and it is great to see work crews in the Mississippi River,” said Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein.  “It might get noisy at times in the next few months, but the noise means people are working and Hennepin County is going to get a new bridge.  We appreciate the community’s patience and continued support.”

Demolition of the Super America building at the intersection of Marshall Street and Lowry Avenue continues; all debris is scheduled to be removed by the end of this week. Once the building is down, a chain link safety fence will be installed to keep people out of the work zone. Cofferdams are in the water, and crews will be driving approximately 100 river pilings in the river beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, March 2. Residents can expect loud pounding noises during the day from roughly 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the spring.

After extensive input from the community, residents can look forward to a new Lowry Avenue Bridge with:

- A basket-handle steel arch design that spans more than 400 feet across the navigational channel of the Mississippi River.

- Expanded sidewalks with unobstructed views of the Mississippi River.

- A high efficiency LED lighting system for the steel arch that is color adjustable.

- An anti-icing system that senses the conditions for icing and automatically disperses a measured amount of anti-icing material across the surface. This system can also be remotely controlled from the county’s Public Works Facility or even a snowplow.

- A new underground stormwater treatment facility called a DC sand filter that serves more than 80 acres of the surrounding community.

The Lowry Avenue Bridge, a Minneapolis landmark since 1905, was imploded in June 2009. Hennepin County engineers, in consultation with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, determined it was necessary to close the bridge for safety reasons in April 2008, due to continued structural issues with one of the bridge piers. In 2004, bridge engineers discovered a pier had rotated out of vertical alignment; further rotation introduced an unacceptable risk.

The Lowry Avenue Bridge carries Hennepin County State Aid Highway 153 over the Mississippi River between north and northeast Minneapolis. The bridge had been substantially renovated in 1958 to accommodate river barge traffic.

Spring events – Webber Park

The community is invited to:

• Review maps guiding future development
• Review and discuss proposed strategies for attracting new development and addressing the challenges related to revitalizing Lowry Avenue ’s neighborhood retail areas.

The plan is an update to the 2002 Lowry Avenue Corridor Plan.  Its purpose is to sharpen the long-range vision for Lowry Avenue and to create a strategy for fostering change. It will lay the groundwork for ongoing improvement efforts led by multiple parties, including the neighborhood organizations, Lowry Avenue businesses, and developers.

“We want to see the Lowry Avenue Plan put into action, to build on the investment made by Hennepin County ”, said Minneapolis City Council President Barbara A. Johnson.

The reconstruction of Lowry Avenue , funded by Hennepin County , followed approval of the 2002 plan and is now complete from the Mississippi river to Victory Memorial Drive . The recently constructed Aldi development at the Penn and Lowry intersection, and a groundbreaking for the EcoVillage development at Lyndale and Lowry already held this year are setting a standard for new development. With the economy beginning to emerge from the recession, other opportunities for new development are being identified.

After soliciting community feedback at the March 25 meeting, the plan will be finalized and submitted to the City Council for adoption.

More information can be found at http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/cped/lowry_strategic_plan.asp

Monique Cuff

5th Ward Council Office Associate
Council Member Don Samuels
(612) 673-2205; fax (612) 3940
E-mail:  monique.cuff@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

If you have questions, please contact Diane Nelson, Minneapolis 311. 612.673.5925-Phone; 612.673.5970-Fax; diane.nelson@ci.minneapolis.mn.us