Dear Friends and Neighbors,
Tomorrow I will be hosting my first in-person Coffee with Chris. We will meet at the Edina Library Conference Room at 10:00 a.m. and I will bring coffee to share. To RSVP, click here.
Updates in this week’s newsletter:
☕️ Coffee with Chris (in-person) Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.: Join me for my first in-person coffee with Chris at the Edina Library Conference Room.
🚤 Water Patrol Ride Along: The Hennepin Board of Commissioners recently passed $115,415 in funding for the Sheriff’s Office’s boat and water safety activities.
🏡 Housing Legislation: Last week, Governor Tim Walz signed the Health and Human Services bill and the Tax bill into law, which include important policies that will help us in the fight to end homelessness.
🚉 SWLRT Corridor Tour: The integrated system of transitways in this project will be critical for District 6 and the entire region.
🎺 Fanfare for the Commons: This week, I joined in celebrating the Excelsior Commons’ 168-year legacy of preservation, conservation, and restoration at the “Fanfare for the Commons” grand opening of the pavilion.
🚧 New Tanager Bridge structure nearing completion: Once the new bridge structure is built, we will pause construction to allow people who live, work and recreate in the area to continue to have access on Shoreline Drive and the Tanager Lake Channel during the peak summer months.
In service,
Chris
☕ Coffee with Chris (in-person) Tomorrow at 10:00 a.m.
Join me tomorrow for my first in-person Coffee with Chris! I’ll be at the Edina Library Conference Room at 10:00 a.m. with coffee to share.
RSVP at: https://bit.ly/3wcaSOg
🚤 Water Patrol Ride Along
This past week I joined the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office Water Patrol for a ride along on Lake Minnetonka.
If you’re headed to a lake, remember to take the necessary safety precautions. Any number of drownings is too high; that’s why it’s up to all of us to take safety measures on open waters. That’s why the Sheriff’s office launched a “Play it Safe” initiative to raise public awareness and provide tips for a fun and safe summer on the water.
Additionally, the Hennepin Board of Commissioners recently passed $115,415 in funding for boat and water safety activities for the Sheriff’s Office, who is responsible for maintaining public safety for 104 lakes and 3 rivers within Hennepin County.
🏡 Housing Legislation
Last week, Governor Tim Walz signed the Health and Human Services bill into law, which includes important policies that will help us in the fight to end homelessness. The bill included:
- $12 million per biennium for the Emergency Services Program
- $1 million/year for Shelter Capital for the next four years
- Housing Supports base rate increase by $50/month
A special thank you to the Minnesota Coalition for the Homeless and the group of dedicated partners and legislators that prioritized these crucial policies and dollars.
Additionally, the Minnesota Legislature passed, and the Governor signed into law, a tax bill that included $20 million for a new county aid program to fund family homelessness prevention and assistance. For Hennepin County, this means $6 million a year for six years. These funds will go a long way in connecting more families with critical funds and social services to help maintain stability.
A big thank you to Representatives Aisha Gomez, Cheryl Youakim, and Paul Marquart for their work on this and for prioritizing this aid in the tax bill. These funds will be critical for Hennepin families.
🚉 SWLRT Corridor Tour
A big thank you to Metro Transit for providing the District 6 team with a Southwest Light Rail corridor tour. The integrated system of transitways in this project will be critical for District 6 and the entire region. The connectivity, economic opportunity, and accessibility SWLRT will create are truly vital.
🎺 Fanfare for the Commons
The historic Excelsior Commons has a 168-year legacy of preservation, conservation, and restoration. This week, I joined the community of Excelsior in celebrating that history at the “Fanfare for the Commons” grand opening of the pavilion.
📰 News
HENNEPIN COUNTY OFFERS $50 GIFT CARDS TO INCREASE COVID-19 VACCINATIONS
By Delane Cleveland, CCX Media
“I think what we’ve learned is that public health is really about public trust,” said Hennepin County Commissioner Chris LaTondresse, representative for District 6, which includes northern Eden Prairie, Edina and Lake Minnetonka communities. “For some of these communities that have been underserved, marginalized, even have experienced outright oppression in the context of our public health system, there’s some hesitancy in these communities. So an incentive program like this is an opportunity for us to help build some of that trust, increase trust, reduce vaccine disparities.”
Access the full story here.
🚧 New Tanager Bridge structure nearing completion
Crews set bridge beams in early June. The beams will support the new bridge deck.
With the bridge beams in place, crews set rebar to pour concrete for the travel lanes, approaches, and railings.
This construction season has been going well for our crews working on the new Tanager Bridge. Much of the main structures for the new bridge are already complete.
All of this progress doesn’t mean we’re ready to open the new bridge yet. We still need to pour concrete for the new bridge deck, approaches, and railings. And, the concrete needs time to cure to reach its full strength.
Also, some of the activities that remain will impact travel around the area, including people driving on Shoreline Drive and people using the channel under the bridge.
So, our crews will be pausing once the new bridge structure is complete. More information about the pause appears below.
Traveling the area
Shoreline Drive (County Road 15) remains open but, people should continue to anticipate occasional delays. People will see large equipment on-site and trucks moving in and out of the area at various times.
We ask you to stay aware, use extra caution, and slow down when driving through the construction area.
Fall construction activities
Once the new bridge structure is built, we will take a pause from construction to allow people who live, work and recreate in the area to continue to have access on Shoreline Drive and the Tanager Lake Channel during the peak summer months.
That’s because the remaining construction activities include:
- removing the existing bridge
- realigning the road to the new bridge
- installing new curbs and gutters
- paving and striping the new road connections
- improving erosion protections along the shoreline
These activities will require us to close Shoreline Drive at the bridge after Labor Day for up to 30 calendar days. And, we will need to close the channel periodically during bridge removal.
This summer pause limits the impact on people while keeping the project on schedule for completion this year.
We will provide more detail, including exact timing, as we get closer to the work.
About District 6
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners consists of one commissioner from each of seven districts. I am proud to represent Deephaven, north Eden Prairie, Edina, Excelsior, Greenwood, Hopkins, Long Lake, Minnetonka, Minnetonka Beach, northern Mound, Orono, Shorewood, Spring Park, Tonka Bay, Wayzata and Woodland.
County information
- Elected officials
- Hennepin County libraries
- Hennepin County Medical Center
- Hennepin volunteers
- Online services
- Phone directory
- Service Center information
- Southwest light rail
- Understanding your property tax
Chris LaTondresse
Commissioner
6th District
612-348-7886
Jessica Oaxaca
District Director
612-348-6885
Kyle Olson
Policy Director
612-348-3168