Stadium Area Advisory Group (SAAG)
The 2006 Minnesota Legislature secured state funding for approximately 55 percent of the total cost of a new on-campus stadium for the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus.  This legislation also directed the University and the City of Minneapolis to work with the Stadium Area Advisory Group to prepare a report of the impact of the University on the surrounding community.  The SAAG is an on-going neighborhood and community group the meets between stadium events to review and provide feedback and provides direction on use of funds to mitigation the impact of the stadium. Doris Wickstrom, Land Use Committee chair, is a member of the SAAG.

University of Minnesota Stadium Good Neighbor Fund
The stadium finance legislation also requested the Board of Regents to establish a $1.5 million fund to mitigate the impact of the construction and operation of the stadium on the surrounding neighborhoods. This fund is called the Stadium Good Neighbor Mitigation Fund.  This fund is managed by the Board of Regents and the use of the funds is coordinated through the Stadium Area Advisory Group (SAAG).

The SAAG Fund Management Committee will recommend policy, and review and recommend grants from the fund.  The committee is developing a Request For Proposals for the Stadium Good Neighbor Fund that is expected to be issued in January with a deadline for submissions in April or early May of 2008.

Fund Management Committee Members:

• Stephen Banks, Prospect Park neighborhood
• Joan Menken, Southeast Como neighborhood
• Cathy Vennewitz, Cedar-Riverside Business Association
• Chris Woodall, Saint Anthony Park neighborhood
• Skyler Kehren and Casey Martin (sharing a seat), University students
• Alternate: Ron Lischeid, University District Improvement Association
• Alternate: Denise Currie, Southeast Business Association 
  

A RFP for proposals for projects that address issues and opportunites related to stadium impacts in neighborhoods adjacent to the U of M Twin Cities campus went out in January 2008.  Applications for funds are due by April 1, 2008. For more information about the fund and an application go to the Good Neighborhood Fund website.  This year the fund will distribute up to $69,000.

- Good Neighborhood Fund website

• Moving Forward Together: U of M Minneapolis Area Neighborhood Impact Report
• Moving Forward Together: U of M Minneapolis Area Neighborhood Impact Report Appendices

Following up on a recommendation of the neighborhood impact report, the 2007 Minnesota Legislature provided funding for the creation of the University Neighborhood Alliance. The University Neighborhood Alliance will provide a foundation for addressing the problems and opportunities identified in the neighborhood impact report and will work toward maintaining the campus-area as a vital, safe, and attractive community in which to live, learn, and work.  The University Partnership District Alliance steering committee consists of 17 members: 5-10 neighborhood representatives (from Cedar-Riverside, Marcy-Holmes, South East Como, Prospect Park, and the University neighborhood), 4 business association representatives, 3 city representatives, 2 student representatives, and 3 University representatives.  Doris Wickstrom represents the WBCC on the steering committee.

- University District Partnership Alliance webpage

City of Minneapolis Small Area Plan
The City of Minneapolis has been engaged in developing a plan to provide the City with a clear policy direction for land use and development in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood. The plan will propose policy for a 10-20 year period and explore possible approaches to addressing certain key implementation issues.  James Ruiz, WBCC president, Jean Lawrence Caron, WBCC Treasurer, and Doris Wickstrom, Land Use Committee chair, represent the WBCC on the Small Area Plan steering committee.

- City website for Cedar-Riverside Small Area Plan

Approval process:

• Feb 17 - end of public comment period 
• March 17 - public hearing and recommendation for approval at the City Planning Commission
• April 10 - Approved by the Zoning and Planning Committeee
• April 18 - Approved to the Minneapolis City Council

University of Minnesota Children’s Hospital, Fairview
University of Minnesota Hospital, Fairview has submitted a proposal to build a new Children’s Hospital building.  This project will require the closing of 7th Street between 24th Avenue and 25th Avenue.

- U of M Children's Hospital, Fairview Construction Updates

Effects on Parking:
The new building will include an underground parking lot that will be a net increase the overall parking capacity on the Riverside campus.  Fairview representatives have expressed an intention to encourage their staff to use this on-campus parking rather than street parking in the neighborhood.  However, Fairview cannot prohibit their employees from parking in the neighborhood.  Residents are encouraged to contact Minneapolis 311 and Councilmember Cam Gordon (Cam.Gordon@ci.minneapolis.mn.us, 673-2202-office, 296-0579-cell) if they notice enforcement problems within the Critical Parking Area around Riverside Park.

Timeline:
December 17, 2007: City Planning Commision approved with conditions 9 applications pertaining to the project
Early January 2008: Construction begins

On January 31, representatives from Fairview Riverside Hospital, LUC members, and the City signed a Good Neighbor Agreement that addresses some of residents’ ongoing concerns.  The parties to the agreement commit to initiate work on a broader Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) that will include the WBCC, Fairview, and other institutions and other neighborhood stakeholders.

Riverside Park Neighborhood Task Force
The Riverside Park Neighborhood Task Force grew out of these WBCC LUC efforts surrounding the hospital expansion. At LUC meetings, residents’ concern about closing 7th Street between 25th and 24th Avenues surfaced. Several residents said they routinely use 7th Street to enter and exit the neighborhood because the other access points are already congested at certain times of the day. They also raised issues with institutional parking in the area, dangerous intersections and a desire for traffic calming measures, as well as a long-standing concern that future hospital expansion could threaten their homes.  In spite of this, the hospital project appeared on track for speedy approval by the City. In late January, however, Council Member Cam Gordon’s office got involved and the Good Neighbor Agreement was signed on Jan. 31st by the WBCC, Fairview, the Minneapolis department of Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED), and a neighborhood resident.The Riverside Park Neighborhood Task Force  will report to the WBCC of its' activity through the WBCC LUC and will work with Fairview Riverside Hospital on the following goals:

• Restoring deteriorating infrastructure in Riverside Park
• Increasing area lighting
• Traffic calming
• Exploring intersection redesign (such as placement of stop signs adjacent the Fairview campus)
• Mitigating staff parking on residential streets
• Reducing vehicle idling
• Reducing or eliminating use of herbicides and pesticides
• Maintaining mature trees

- Fairview Hospital Good Neighbor Agreement

University of Minnesota Herbert Hanson Jr. Hall Landscaping Plan
Following up on input from community members at the March 27, 2007 WBCC Land Use Committee meeting, the University has altered the Campbell Garden landscape plans to include pedestrian access from Riverside Avene near the intersection of 19th Avenue.

Carlson School of Management will begin occupying Hanson Hall in late May and it will be operational for classes during Summer Session.

 

Buckthorn Task Force
Michael Duenes and Kari Smalkoski have volunteered to work with the LUC to create a task force concentrating on removing buckthorn from the river bluffs along Riverside Park.  The task force will also seek funding for repairs to the stairway leading to the river, and clean-up and restoration of the Minneapolis Park Board land along the river bluffs below Riverside Park.
- Buckthorn: MN DNR Invasive Species Information

35W Bridge Construction
Design perimeters call for the new bridge to be 76 feet wider than the bridge that collapsed on August 1, 2007 (189 feet versus the previous 113 feet).  MN DOT’s preliminary design would require the new bridge occupying the area where 14th Avenue is currently located.  The design shows a cul-de-sac at the current intersection of 14th Avenue and 2nd Street.  MN DOT representatives gave a presentation at the September 2007 Land Use Committee.  Residents from the 7 Corners area of the neighborhood attended and expressed their concerns over the loss of on-street parking along 14th Avenue and impediment to emergency access vehicles this would cause.  MN DOT representatives expressed their intention to work with residents to consider options.

Webcams: A webcam has been installed on the roof of the U of M steamplant on the north bank of the Mississippi.  A time-lapse photography feature will eventually provide an opportunity to see the construction of the entire bridge, start to finish, in rapid sequence. To see the live webcam view, visit www.projects.dot.state.mn.us/35wbridge/webcam.html.

For more information on the I-35W project visit MNDOT's I-35W bridge webpage or call the I-35W Bridge Hotline at 612-236-6901.   If you have questions or concerns about any aspect of the bridge construction Amy Barrett, Public Information Officer of Flatiron-Manson Joint Venture,  can be reach  at 612-236-6901 or abarrett@flatironcorp.com.

Sidewalk Superintendent Talks
Every Saturday throught the bridge construction, a Flatiron-Manson representatives will lead visitors to the 10th Avenue Bridge for a look at construction, to describe the latest project updates, and to answer  questions or address your concerns.
 
Meet at 11a.m. in the parking lot near Grandma’s Saloon at Washington Avenue South and 19th Avenue in the Seven Corners area.

Dania Lot Encroachment
The owner of the building next to the City-owned Dania lot, Bina Investments, built over onto the Dania lot by about 4 feet (2.55 feet at ground level and another 1.4 feet below ground at the foundation level).  The community has expressed in numerous forums (WBCC board meetings, WBCC Land Use Committee meetings, CRBA meetings, WBCDC correspondence) that the Dania lot is an important symbol of the neighborhood and is a key to the much needed revitalization of Cedar Avenue.

The community has raised solutions such as having the Bina building torn down or having the City purchase it.  The first option would not hold up in cort.  Regarding the second option, Bina had offered to sell the building for $1.5 million but the City did not like the price.

On March 21, 2008, the City Council voted to sell the 4 feet of land on the north side of the Dania lot to Bina Investments for $13,160 plus other costs.

The Dania lot is small to begin with and the major utilities located underground along the southern part of the lot make it impossible to build over the southern area.  Selling off 4 feet on the north side makes the lot even smaller and could increase the cost of developing the site. Footings on a new building would have to be built around Bina's footings and the developer would need to sort out legal issues to ensure the right to use the space above Bina's footings.  The legal fees and increased construction involved will significantly increase the cost of development on the Dania lot.

If a new building on the Dania site is taller than Bina's building, then the developer of the Dania site would need to pay the cost of having Bina's building reinforced to prevent snow-load problems.  Permission from Bina would be required and the work and legal fees involved would further increase development costs.

- City staff report to City Council Community Development Committee
- Comment Letter to City staff from WBCC

For more updates visit:
http://cr-island.wbcdc.org/City_of_Minneapolis/Dania_Hall_Site

5th Street Sidewalk
coming soon

Central Corridor LRT
The WBCC has consistantly advocated for locating the West Bank Central Corridor station at Cedar Avenue.  The Met Council is looking at the possibility of moving one of the elevators to Cedar Avenue.  Cam Gordon has suggested exploring having an elevator at Cedar in the middle of the bridge with a walkway in the middle of the tracks to the station platform so that people can go straight from the elevator to the platform without having to cross streets in order to reach the trains.

Rendering of the Current Station Design -  10/30/07
This drawing envisions the West Bank station at 19th Avenue with some attempts to connect it to Cedar Avenue and to turn the Washington Avenue trench into a low intensity green walkway of sorts.  The proposal has two elevators (or escalators) at 19th and stairways at Cedar Avenue.

Dania Partners has also been actively advocating for the Cedar-Riverside Central Corridor station to be located at Cedar Avenue.

- Dania Partners presentation regarding the Central Corridor station location

The Metropolitan Council has also agreed to study the feasibility of a northern alignment (i.e., north of Cedar-Riverside neighborhood), and the University has agreed to pay for that study, while the analysis of the other options continues.