July 5th, 2010 by Nieeta

From the Met Council:

The Metropolitan Council has awarded the first heavy construction contract for the Central Corridor light rail transit Project to Walsh Construction to build the seven-mile St. Paul segment of the line. Walsh’s $205.1 million award includes betterment work valued at $10.4 million that was requested by, and will be paid for, by cooperating agencies and utilities.

Construction is expected to begin in August east of the state Capitol on Robert and 12th streets north of Interstate 94, with utility relocation work there expected to start soon after July Fourth. Most of the heavy construction on University Avenue will occur in 2011 between Emerald Street and Hamline Avenue and in 2012 between Hamline and Robert. The work in downtown St. Paul will occur in 2011-2012.

The project is able to begin heavy construction due to advance funding commitments from its partners and federal approval of this arrangement. Under this same arrangement, the project began improvements in May on streets around the East Bank campus of the University of Minnesota and utility relocation work last year on Fourth Street in St. Paul. The FTA has agreed to reimburse the project partners for the federal share of this advanced work once it awards a Full Funding Grant Agreement this fall.

Work on the seven-mile St. Paul segment includes:

• Relocating utilities necessary for the LRT trackway
• Constructing nearly seven miles of embedded double track
• Fully reconstructing streets where track is being installed
• Building 14 stations from Westgate Station to Union Depot Station
• Modifying two bridges (on University over Highway 280 and on Cedar Street over Interstates 94 and 35E)
• Installing concrete paving for signalized intersections
• Building an infiltration trench for collecting storm water
• Constructing at-grade pedestrian crossings
• Demolishing the vacant Bremer Bank building and reconnecting the skyway

Steps to help businesses, property owners

The Central Corridor Project Office has taken steps to eliminate or reduce construction-related impediments to businesses and property owners. These steps include:

• Limiting construction of each segment on University Avenue to two-thirds at a time while maintaining a lane of traffic on the other third.
• Requiring contractors to restore the street in front of any business within 150 days and the sidewalk within 15 days.
• Implementing a contractor incentive program to encourage responsiveness, create a partnership between contractors and the community and promote cooperation. Evaluation criteria will include conformance with notification requirements, timely response to public concerns, maintenance of vehicle access and accessible pedestrian routes and cleanliness of construction sites.
• Issuing weekly emailed construction updates to provide the public with advance notice of routes that are closed and their alternates. To sign up for the emails, click here.
• Holding public construction meetings for businesses and the public to get updates and a look ahead from project staff and utilities.
• Setting up a construction hotline and posting the number, 651-602-1404, in prominent locations throughout a work zone.
• Assigning multilingual outreach coordinators from the community to be liaisons between the project and the public from the engineering phase through construction.
• Distributing a brochure to businesses on the corridor and nearby residents about how the project will communicate construction information and how it can be reached with questions and concerns.

About the project

The Central Corridor Light Rail Transit Project will link downtown St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis along Washington and University avenues via the state Capitol and the University of Minnesota. Construction will begin in 2010 on the planned 11-mile Central Corridor line, with service beginning in 2014. The line will connect with the Hiawatha LRT line at the Metrodome station in Minneapolis and the Northstar commuter rail line at the new Target Field Station. The Metropolitan Council will be the grantee of federal funds. The regional government agency is charged with building the line in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The Central Corridor Management Committee, which includes commissioners from Ramsey and Hennepin counties, the mayors of St. Paul and Minneapolis and the University of Minnesota, provides advice and oversight.

May 26th, 2010 by Nieeta

The City of Saint Paul has launched the $550,000 Energy Smart Homes loan and rebate initiative that will provide Saint Paul residents with the tools to lower energy consumption and cut costs.

By renovating our homes and replacing old appliances, a person will save money and decrease energy usage in Saint Paul. This is one more way the City is improving building efficiency, lowering energy costs, and protecting our environment while solidifying Saint Paul as a national leader in environmental sustainability.

This initiative is made possible through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. Energy Smart Homes will provide funding for energy-saving improvements to houses and apartment buildings, thereby lowering monthly utility bills to residents, strengthening the City’s tax base, and reducing the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Energy Smart Homes will also create jobs, a key component of ARRA, by creating a need for contractors, including heating and insulation contractors.

Energy Smart Homes is a two-pronged initiative. $500,000 will be used to make no-interest loans up to $6,500 to homeowners to make energy-saving improvements to their homes. These funds will also leverage Xcel Energy rebates. Prior to making the improvements, each home will undergo a home energy audit to identify the greatest needs.

Eligible expenses may include furnace replacement, insulation and air sealing.

Saint Paul homeowners of all incomes are eligible to apply, though incomes will affect the loan amounts and other initiative requirements.

Another aspect of the initiative is “Cool Cash for Cold Clunkers,” which consists of cash rebates for owners of apartment buildings in Saint Paul who replace old inefficient refrigerators in their rental units with new ENERGY STAR refrigerators.

By replacing a refrigerator from the 1980s with an ENERGY STAR refrigerator could save as much as $100 each year on utility bills.

Energy Smart Homes will provide up to ten $200 rebates to owners of apartment buildings. And while the building owner will benefit from the cash rebates, many tenants will realize the monthly savings resulting from lower utility bills.

Pre-applications must be postmarked by June 11. Individuals will be selected by June 17. Selected homeowners seeking funds for energy-saving improvements will be invited to complete a full application and selected apartment building owners seeking refrigerator rebates will be notified and informed of the process for receiving their rebates.

If you would like more details, including eligibility conditions and other requirements, go to www.stpaul.gov or call 651-266-6655 for a pre-application.

On a related note, if you are a non-profit, neighborhood or business association, you may be able to take advantage of our new Energy Challenge Grants initiative. The initiative will give non-profit organizations, neighborhood and business associations the opportunity to receive Federal stimulus funds for projects that will assist Saint Paul residents and businesses in reducing their energy use and climate change impact.

Organizations must utilize the funds for projects that promote either the Neighborhood Energy Connection’s Home Energy Squads, Center for Energy and Environment’s One-Stop Efficiency Shop Program, the Minnesota Energy Challenge or other successful cost-effective energy efficiency and conservation programs.

Eligible applicants may request up to $5,000 for projects completed by June 30, 2011. Applications for the Energy Challenge Grants must be received by June 14, 2010.

For profit businesses are not eligible.

If you are interested in this initiative, visit the Sustainable Saint Paul website at: www.stpaul.gov/sustainability or call 651-266-8520.

May 23rd, 2010 by Nieeta

Gordon Parks. Courtesy Los Angeles Times photographic archive, UCLA Library

You’re invited to the first annual Media Arts Premier for the “Transitions: University Avenue” project.  Meet the students, interview subjects, community members and teachers who are making this project possible. The event will begin at noon May 26 at Gordon Parks High School, 1212 University Avenue, Saint Paul, MN 55102. Driving Directions

The “Transitions” project combines audio interviews and photography to document the before, during and after of Central Corridor Light Rail Transit development on University Avenue. The project has  interviewed more than 10 community elders.  The project’s “soundslides” will be featured on a website created by the Minnesota Historical Society.

Community listening/brainstorming sessions last winter sparked numerous ideas about how best to serve the needs of students and community through this project. At this premier students will show off a portion of their completed soundslides; the production crew (made up of students, teachers, community members) will describe the production process they’ve used for the project; and we’ll share lunch together, catered by Arnellia’s and Golden Thyme.

May 9th, 2010 by Nieeta

Homebuyer education and counseling, known as the Home Stretch Program, is coordinated by the Minnesota Home Ownership Center and delivered by local, non-profit, community-based organizations. Home Stretch eight-hour workshops offer education about the home buying process and cover credit and budgeting; qualifying for a loan; special loan programs; shopping for a new home; home inspections; maintaining your home; and successful home ownership.

Classes sponsored by Model Cities, in partnership with Aurora/St. Anthony NDC, will be held at the Brownstone Building, 849 University Ave. in St. Paul from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. on the following Saturdays (participants attend two sessions):

May 15 and 22; June 5, 12, 19 and 26; July 10, 17, 24 and 31;  August 7, 14, 21 and 28; September 4, 11, 18 and 25; October 2, 9, 16 and 23; November 6 and 13; December 4 and 11.

For more information about Home Stretch classes, contact Brenda Bailey at Model Cities,  651-632-8350 or by email.

April 28th, 2010 by Nieeta

Nieeta Presley of ASANDC and Joan Vanhala of Alliance for Metropolitan Stability

Please join us for the 2010 Allies for Justice Awards Dinner and Celebration on Wednesday, May 19, from 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. at Nicollet Island Pavilion (40 Power Street, Minneapolis).

Join us to honor this year’s Allies for Justice Award recipients, chosen because they embody Headwaters Foundation’s conviction that, together, we can create social and political conditions that guarantee justice for all.

GRANTEES: MOVING JUSTICE FORWARD ON TRANSIT EQUITY
For the first time, the Allies for Justice Awards will honor a group of organizations for their collective impact in the local community. Through their collaboration with each other and numerous other community organizations on Central Corridor Light Rail Transit development in St. Paul, these Headwaters grantees have brought attention to the issues of affordable housing, maintaining bus service in this transit-dependent community and, in a recent victory, the need to add stops in three high-density neighborhoods. The 10 organizations being recognized for moving forward on transit equity are:

• Alliance for Metropolitan Stability
• Community Stabilization Project
• District 7 Planning Council
• Got Voice? Got Power! / Aurora St. Anthony NDC
• ISAIAH
• Jewish Community Action
• JUST Equity
• Metropolitan Interfaith Council on Affordable Housing
• Somali Action Alliance
• TakeAction Minnesota

March 16th, 2010 by Nieeta

Here are a couple of opportunities for women- and minority-owned businesses to take part in a pair or large public projects:

Union Depot Renovation

Central Corridor LRT construction

DBE/Small business owners  are invited to meet with the six prime contractors that were pre-qualified to bid on the Central Corridor Light Rail / Civil East construction project between Union Depot in St. Paul and downtown Minneapolis.

The Meet & Greet will be held Thursday, March 18, 2010 from 2 to 5 p.m. at 375 Jackson Street, 2nd floor (Directly across from the Metropolitan Council), Saint Paul, MN 55101 (Map).

RSVP to Lynnette at 651-602-1769 or by email.

One of these six prime contractors present will be selected to construct the first half of the Central Corridor:

• C.S. McCrossan and Ames Construction (joint venture)
• Graham Construction Services and Kraus-Anderson (joint venture)
• Kiewit Western Company
• PCL Construction Services
• Walsh Construction
• Granite Construction Company

This is your opportunity to make an impression and to discuss what your company can bring to the table as a partner and team member. The DBE goal on this project is 15 percent.

March 16th, 2010 by Nieeta

University Avenue

Small businesses that can change and adapt to the challenges and opportunities of light rail transit will be more successful than those that can’t. They will survive light rail construction and make more money if they know how to prepare. How do small businesses and entrepreneurs adapt? What are the challenges? How do you prepare and increase your revenue?

Workshops to be held this week will teach small businesses and entrepreneurs how they may benefit from light rail transit. You will learn:

• What you can do to prepare for LRT construction
• What you can do to keep revenues up during construction
• What you can do to bring in new customers when the light rail is running

When: Thursday, March 18, 2010
2:30- 4:30 PM (Vietnamese interpretation available)
6:00-8:00 PM (Hmong interpretation available)

Where: Lao Family Community, 320 University Ave W, St. Paul, MN

Lunch and dinner will be provided. Free and open to the public. For more information call 651-222-7798 or email

The “Creating Successful Businesses with LRT” workshops are led by Mr. Tran T. Nhon, MBA. Mr. Tran is a nationally noted expert on supplier diversity and an advocate for minority owned businesses.  He is chair of the Ramsey County Small Business Enterprises Advisory Board and a board member of the State Council on Asian Pacific Minnesotans.

These workshops are supported by a grant from National CAPACD. AEDA is supported by the B.C. Gamble and P.W. Skogmo Fund of The Minneapolis Foundation, Twin Cities LISC FRAN Project, and The Saint Paul Foundation.

More information:

Asian Economic Development Association
712 University Ave W Suite 105
Saint Paul, MN 55104
651-222-7798 | www.aeda-mn.org

February 15th, 2010 by Nieeta

Rendering of Frogtown Square

There will be a meet-and-greet session from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Central Corridor Resource Center, 1080 University Ave., St. Paul, (Map/Directions or Transit Info) for contractors and others interested in working on the Frogtown Square project. The project at the intersection of University Avenue and Dale Street in St. Paul is scheduled to open in 2010. It will include more than 20,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor and 50 active senior living units owned and managed by Episcopal Homes of Minnesota. It will also include underground parking for residents and surface parking for customers.

For information about the senior apartments project, called Kings Crossing, call Heidi Crumpler, Manager of Carty Heights, at (651) 288-1142, or click here to request an information packet.

February 14th, 2010 by Nieeta

Duke Ellington in the 1971 film "Jazz Odyssey." Creative Commons-licensed image by Louis Panassié.

Here’s a look at upcoming Black History Month events at St. Paul libraries:

• Saturday, February 20. 1-3 p.m.
  “My People”
  Central Library (90 W. Fourth St., Saint Paul. 651-266-7000)
  Tony Garrett will present “My People”, a genealogical journey about his family and the importance of preserving family history. Program immediately followed at 3 p.m. by a Genealogy Workshop by Saint Paul Public Librarian James Moriarty to teach program attendees how to use the ancestry library.
• Saturday, February 20. 10-11 a.m.
  “Stories of Hope”
  by Isabell Monk O’Connor
  Merriam Park Branch Library (1831 Marshall Ave., Saint Paul. 651-642-0385)
  Acclaimed actress, author and educator Isabell Monk O’Connor will read stories from our national past that are heavily influenced by the African-American journey.
• Sunday, February 21. 2-4 p.m.
  “Take the A Train to the Library for a Tribute to Duke Ellington”
  Central Library-Magazine Room
  Vocalist Debbie Duncan and saxophonist Dean Brewington will perform with a stellar quartet in this tribute to the late and very great Duke Ellington.
• Monday, February 22. 7 p.m.
  “A Face of Courage”
  Sun Ray Branch Library (2105 Wilson Ave., Saint Paul. 651-501-6300)
  Tommy Watson is an elementary school principal and example to others of how one man came from a poverty and crime-ridden neighborhood, to achieve personal success and inspire others. He is the author of A Face of Courage: The Tommy Watson Story- How Did He Survive?
• Wednesday, February 24. 7 p.m.
  “A Literary Evening with Alexs Pate”
  Hamline Midway Branch Library (1558 W. Minnehaha Ave., Saint Paul. 651-642-0293)
  Alexs Pate, best-selling author, hosts a fireside gathering to discuss his varied literary career an thoughts about being an African-American writer today.
• Saturday, February 27. 10-11 a.m.
  “Stories of Hope”
  Highland Park Branch Library (1974 Ford Pkwy., Saint Paul. 651-695-3700)
  Storytelling by Isabell Monk O’Connor
• Sunday, February 28. 2-4 p.m.
  “Warm Up on a Cold Day to Super Cool Miles Davis”
  Rondo Community Outreach Library (461 N. Dale St., Saint Paul. 651-266-7400)
  The Dean Brewington Quartet will perform with vocalist extraordinaire Lila Ammons.
• Sunday, February 28. 2 p.m.
  “Dreamgirls”
  Central Library- 4th floor Meeting Room
  Watch “Dreamgirls,” the film adaptation of a 1981 Broadway musical that tells a story of R&B and Motown funk, based loosely on the lives and career of The Supremes.

Admission is free for all events. This programming is funded in part with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008, which dedicated funding to preserve Minnesota’s arts and cultural heritage.

January 31st, 2010 by Nieeta

HIRE Minnesota is holding a precinct caucus training from 6 – 7:30 p.m. on February 1 at the Minneapolis Urban League (map) if you want to learn more about the process or brush up on your caucusing skills. Email Alessandra Williams if you are interested in attending.

To find the local caucus site for your party, please visit the Secretary of State Caucus Finder.