Dear Friends and Neighbors,
This week the Board approved changes to Hennepin County’s COVID-19 Safety Plan rolling back mask requirements for vaccinated residents and authorizing a return to regular service in our libraries and service centers. We are grateful for your patience as these updates are fully implemented.
Additionally, I introduced a resolution dedicating $100,000 to establish a vaccine incentive program in Hennepin County. This action is aimed at reducing vaccine disparities and increasing community trust. I’m grateful to my Board colleagues for their unanimous support of this action, and that our Public Health team and community leaders will have another tool to encourage residents to get vaccinated.
Updates in this week’s newsletter:
📝 Updated Hennepin County COVID-19 Policy: Employees, volunteers, and visitors who are not fully vaccinated are required to wear face coverings while working or visiting any indoor county facility. Fully vaccinated employees, volunteers, and visitors are not required to wear face coverings.
🛍 Hennepin County Approves COVID-19 Vaccine Incentive Program: The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved $100,000 of its federal funding from the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund for vaccine incentive programs.
🤝Hennepin County approves $5 million to prevent, reduce, and mitigate gun violence: New investments will be aimed at addressing the root causes of violence and bringing additional support to victims and their families.
🏛 Additional Hennepin County Board actions this week
🏛 Orono City Council Meeting: I joined the Orono City Council to provide an update on the work Hennepin County and my office is doing.
🌳 Badger Park Grand Opening: The Badger Park grand opening took place this week. Hennepin County helped make this new playground possible with a $25,000 Playground Grant through our Youth Sports Program.
📅 County service closures for Juneteenth holiday: Most Hennepin County offices and service areas will have different hours this week due to the Juneteenth holiday.
🚧 Baker Road closed to through traffic: On Thursday, June 17, crews began work on a pavement rehabilitation of Baker Road (County Road 60) in Eden Prairie. The road will be closed between Highway 212 to the I-494 Bridge for approximately five weeks.
In service,
Chris
📝 Updated Hennepin County COVID-19 Policy
Face Coverings
Hennepin County has approved an updated COVID-19 Safety Plan. The Plan as adopted requires all employees, volunteers, and visitors who are not fully vaccinated to wear face coverings while working at or visiting any indoor county facility. Children under 5 years of age are exempt from this requirement. Face coverings are not required for employees, volunteers, or visitors who are fully vaccinated.
Fully vaccinated is defined as 14 days after the last dose in a person’s vaccine series. Hennepin County does not require visitors to have received a COVID-19 vaccination to enter a facility but requests that visitors who have tested positive for COVID-19 or who are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms not enter county facilities.
Physical Distancing
All employees and volunteers are strongly encouraged to maintain a physical distance of at least six feet from co-workers, customers, and residents, whenever possible—regardless of vaccination status. This includes common spaces such as break rooms, lunch rooms, elevators, hallways, meeting spaces, entrances/exits, and other shared spaces.
Whenever possible, all visitors to Hennepin County buildings should practice adequate physical distancing of at least six feet. Household groups are not required to practice physical distancing measures with each other.
Visitors will be asked to comply with these requirements and may be asked to leave Hennepin County facilities if they do not comply.
🛍 Hennepin County Approves COVID-19 Vaccine Incentive Program
The Hennepin County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved $100,000 of its federal funding from the Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund for vaccine incentive programs.
Vaccine incentive programs are designed to build trust and increase vaccination rates. This action is an opportunity to build on Minnesota’s statewide vaccine incentive strategy in a way that’s specifically tailored to the unique needs and concerns of Hennepin County residents. For us, this means addressing vaccine disparities in our highest social vulnerability index zip codes.
Our commitment to disparity reduction will require a laser focus on enhancing community-led vaccination sites, and rebuilding trust in communities that have historically experienced medical exploitation, unconsented experimentation, and marginalization. This action will give public health one more tool to build that trust and reduce disparities
The incentive programs will include:
- Partnering with trusted community groups to host vaccine events and support the provision of free meals, groceries, and/or entertainment.
- Distributing “Thank You” packs to residents who receive vaccinations, the contents of which will be tailored to the targeted population and event location:
- Community-based businesses may be prioritized for the contents of the “Thank You” packs, e.g., gift cards to local businesses and youth-specific contents such as sports-related items and technology-focused gifts.
🤝 Hennepin County approves $5 million to prevent, reduce, and mitigate gun violence
This week the Hennepin County Board of commissioners approved $5,000,000 in new investments aimed at addressing the root causes of violence and bringing additional support to victims and their families.
This funding comes from the federal Coronavirus Local Fiscal Recovery Fund for eligible costs, operations, and services to prevent, reduce, and mitigate gun violence. This action will utilize both existing and new service providers to develop and/or enhance programming and support for individuals and communities as well as direct and coordinate internal resources and operations to support this work.
Potential services may include, but are not limited to:
- Programs that address untreated trauma in communities with high rates of gun violence
- Support for crisis intervention programs
- Community violence intervention programs
- Housing services to support healthy living environments and neighborhoods conducive to mental and physical wellness
- Evidence-based community violence prevention programs to prevent violence and mitigate the increase in violence during the pandemic
- Evidence-based educational services and practices to address the academic needs of students including tutoring, summer, afterschool, and other extended learning and enrichment programs
🏛 Additional Hennepin County Board actions this week
This week, the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners approved:
- $568,610 in grant funding for auto theft investigators and auto theft prevention efforts in the Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office. This funding comes from the Minnesota Department of Commerce. This will fund two dedicated auto theft investigators and specialized training in automobile thefts as well as one analyst that will work on auto theft prevention activities.
- $658,900 for treatment court services. The State of Minnesota, through the Fourth Judicial District Court, has established several treatment court programs designed to intervene in the lives of justice-involved individuals: Drug Court and DWI Court Programs for clients with chemically dependent lifestyles; a Mental Health Court Program for clients with serious and persistent mental health issues; and Veteran’s Court for clients who are veterans with behavioral, chemical or mental health issues. As part of the treatment court programs, the Department of Community Corrections and Rehabilitation (DOCCR) provides extensive specialized probation services to supervised probation clients.
- $115,415 in funding from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources for boat and water safety activities for the Hennepin County Sheriff’s office. The Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office is responsible for maintaining public safety for 104 lakes and 3 rivers within Hennepin County.
🏛 Orono City Council Meeting
This week I joined the Orono City Council to provide an update on the work Hennepin County and my office is doing in our community. I’m grateful for the council members’ leadership and to Mayor Dennis Walsh for welcoming me to the meeting.
🌳 Badger Park Grand Opening
The Badger Park grand opening took place this week and I am proud to say Hennepin County helped make this new playground possible with a $25,000 Playground Grant through our Youth Sports Program.
The Hennepin Youth Sports Program awards facility grants to municipalities, park districts, or school districts to create, expand, or improve athletic or recreational facilities to enhance opportunities for youth participation in Hennepin County.
Since it began in 2009, Hennepin Youth Sports has awarded more than $27.4 million for facility, small equipment, and playground projects, along with water safety lessons.
Approximately $2.1 million is available annually for the facility and equipment grants; facility grants range from $10,000 to $300,000. $250,000 is set aside out of the total amount of grant funding available for equipment grants ranging from $1,000 – $10,000 to purchase capital equipment related to youth sports activities and recreation, and an additional $125,000 is set aside to create and renovate playgrounds.
📰 News
Hennepin County approves $100K for COVID vaccination incentive programs
By Kevin Wu, KARE 11
In an effort to encourage people to get their COVID-19 vaccine, the Hennepin Board of Commissioners today voted unanimously to approve $100,000 for vaccine incentive programs [through] a board action request brought forward by Commissioner Chris LaTondresse. Through a statement, he mentioned that the approval of the funds would help address vaccination disparities in the county.
Access the full story, here.
No masks required for vaccinated people in Hennepin County government buildings
By David Chanen, Star Tribune
The County Board’s vote Tuesday follows the lifting of the COVID-19 mask mandate in government buildings by the state, Minneapolis, St. Paul and Ramsey County. Masks still must be worn in health care settings, Metro Transit vehicles and in some school districts.
Access the full story here.
📅 County service closures for Juneteenth holiday
Most Hennepin County offices and service areas will have different hours this week due to the Juneteenth holiday.
Since Juneteenth falls on Saturday, June 19, this year, most offices and service areas including licensing service centers will be closed on Friday, June 18, to observe the holiday. Exceptions are county libraries and drop-off facilities, which will be open Friday and closed Saturday, June 19.
Services closed Friday, June 18, include:
- Licensing service centers
- Law library
Services closed Saturday, June 19:
- Libraries
- Drop-off facilities
Hennepin County District Court will remain open on Friday, June 18. The court is part of the Minnesota Judicial Branch and as a branch of state government, court holidays are defined by state statute.
More information about holiday closures
In May, the Hennepin County Board of Commissioners established Juneteenth as a Hennepin County holiday for employees. The holiday commemorates the end of slavery and the triumphs, culture, and achievements of African Americans locally and across the U.S. Read the full press release.
See a full list of 2021 holiday closures.
🚧 Baker Road closed to through traffic
On Thursday, June 17, crews began work on a pavement rehabilitation of Baker Road (County Road 60) in Eden Prairie. The road will be closed between Highway 212 to the I-494 Bridge for approximately five weeks.
Detour and access
For this type of pavement rehabilitation, Baker Road will be closed to through traffic, although local access will be maintained. People should expect local access routes to change as crews work in the area.
Through traffic should use the following detour:
- Highway 212
- County Road 61 (Shady Oak Road)
- County Road 3 (Excelsior Boulevard)
For more information visit the Baker Road project page.
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