Member Login
Search

Metro Cities News 11/15/19

by: Kimberly Ciarrocchi
Category: Newsletter
Nov
15


In This Issue:

 

 

 

Metro Regional Meeting and Metro Cities 2020 Legislative Policies

Thanks to the many city staff and officials who attended the joint League of MN Cities/Metro Cities Metro Regional Meeting yesterday in Minnetonka! There was a great turnout, and attendees heard from DEED Commissioner Grove and MN Housing Commissioner Ho, along with an informative panel regarding supporting First Responders in your city. Thank you also to MAMA (Metropolitan Area Management Association) for sharing the pre-meeting luncheon topic regarding employee hiring and retention.

Metro Cities membership approved the 2020 Legislative Policies at the Policy Adoption Meeting at the end of the day. Policy books will be sent to each member city and are also available on the Metro Cities website here. Thank you to the policy committee chairs (Jason Gadd, Patrick Trudgeon, Gary Hansen, and Bryan Hartman) and committee members for all your hard work this past summer!


Metropolitan Council Awards Water Efficiency Grants

The Metropolitan Council awarded Water Efficiency Grants this week. Grants are awarded to municipal water suppliers to help increase water efficiency, with the funding to be used for rebates to residents who replace inefficient water-using devices with devices that use substantially less water, or for irrigation system audits. $787,000 is available through June 2022. The 2019 Legislature designated the monies from the Clean Water Fund. Metro Cities actively supported the passage of these funds by the Legislature. The Metropolitan Council received 40 applications totaling $1.39 million in requests.

Awards will range from $2,000 to $50,000 to municipalities and are intended to lower the costs for residents to purchase and install products that reduce water use, such as toilets, washing machines, irrigation sprinklers, and irrigation controllers. Products must be labelled by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Sense program or, in the case of washing machines, by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Star program. Funds may be used only for appliance replacement, not for first-time purchases for new developments.

For more information on the Water Efficiency Grant Program and to see award recipients, click here and here.

Questions? Contact Steven Huser at [email protected], or 651-215-4003.


EVENT: Local Governments Roundtable on 2020 Census to Meet December 6

The Local Governments Roundtable on 2020 Census will have its next meeting on Friday, December 6 from 1:00 to 2:30 at the Community Meeting Room of the Ramsey County Library, 2180 Hamline Ave. N. Roseville.

This is a quarterly meeting of local governments working together to promote participation in the 2020 Census. This meeting invites and includes local government professionals and officials who are organizing and supporting Complete Count activities. Community engagement specialists, communications specialists, and interested elected officials are encouraged to attend.

The meeting agenda will include:

  • Census Bureau's preparations, local area offices (Sam Fettig, US Census Bureau)
  • Census's plan for Partner-led and Mobile Questionnaire Assistance Centers (TBD)
  • Discussion of local governments’ communications approaches: traditional, social, etc. (roundtable discussion)
  • Complete Count campaigns: what community outreach efforts are underway? (roundtable discussion)
  • Geographic and address preparations for Census 2020 (Matt Schroeder, Metropolitan Council)

Meeting organizers are managers and analysts from Minneapolis, St Paul, Metropolitan Council, Hennepin and Ramsey Counties. Jolie Wood ([email protected]) will chair the December 6 meeting and attendees may contact her with any questions concerning the agenda.

For more information and to RSVP, click here.


2019 Regional Forecast Released – Projects Changes in Population, Jobs, Households

The Metropolitan Council released its newest regional forecast this week. The updated 2019 forecast includes projections in several demographic areas as well as number of jobs in the seven-county metropolitan region. The new 2040 forecast projects 3.653 million residents, 1.447 million households and 2.016 million jobs. That population change translates to an additional 803,000 new residents between 2010 and 2040. Council staff explained population changes are based on natural growth (births and deaths) and migration. The 803,000 residents projection is flat with the 2015 forecast (802,000 residents) and an 85,000 resident reduction from the 2017 forecast (888,000 residents).

Within those population changes, several demographic trends were highlighted. The population is aging (residents age 65+ will double from 307,000 in 2010 to 661,000 in 2040), the region will continue to experience growing racial and ethnic diversity, and household makeup will change (increases in smaller households and older households). Met Council projections show the region will be 40 percent people of color in 2040 (compared to 24 percent in 2010).

A key data highlight made by Council staff explained how the primary market for single family homes is not projected to significantly grow. Larger households, defined as those under age 65 with 2-3 persons or 4+ persons will only increase by 72,000 households between 2010 and 2040. Overall household growth is projected to grow by 329,000 over 30 years (a reduction of 45,000 households compared to 2015 projections).

Council staff explained there are no regionwide local forecast changes at this time, following the release of this new regional forecast. The next complete update of local forecasts will occur in 2023 and inform the next regional development guide. However, local forecasts can be adjusted individually, based on a local request. More information on regional and local forecasts can be found on the Met Council website.


EVENT: Livable Communities Suburban Workshop

Metropolitan Council and Livable Communities staff have announced the second of four community engagement workshops. This second session will focus on planning an engagement process with a particular focus on suburban contexts. The workshop will combine presentations, a Q&A session, and a small group planning portion. Participants do not need to have attended the first session to attend this or future sessions.

Session Two
December 17
9:00am-12:30pm
Bloomington Center for the Arts, Rehearsal Room
1800 W Old Shakopee Road
Bloomington, MN 55431

A light breakfast and afternoon snacks will be provided. Vegan/gluten free options will be available.

During the session Met Council staff will offer a brief overview of the principles covered in the first session, learn from city staff about planning for community engagement, discuss lessons learned, and break into small groups to develop a community engagement plan based on real-world scenarios. The following community engagement practitioners will facilitate the workshop:

  • Claudia Fuentes, Outreach Coordinator, Metropolitan Council
  • Alejandra Pelinka, Director of Creative Placemaking, City of Bloomington
  • Josie Shardlow, Community Engagement Manager, City of Brooklyn Park
  • Jeannette Rebar, Community Engagement Coordinator, City of Saint Paul Public Works

Registration is open until Friday, December 13. During registration, participants may include questions or topics they would most like to discuss during the session.

Registration link: https://form.jotform.com/92955904536165

Contact Hannah Gary, LCDA Program Coordinator, with any questions: [email protected]

Share this post: