Winter Energy Assistance News from Rep. Johnson

The Minnesota Department of Commerce and the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) encourages Minnesotans to contact their utilities now to learn more about the Cold Weather Rule protection to keep homes heated all winter long. The Cold Weather Rule helps customers who heat their homes with natural gas or electricity to avoid shut-off during the winter months.

Minnesota’s Cold Weather Rule took effect on October 15 and protects residential utility customers from having their heat shut off through April 15, 2014. But to prevent heating disconnection, customers must contact their utility to establish and maintain a monthly payment plan.

To be eligible, customers must contact their utility to work out a payment plan and must make the payments.  Customers who have a combined household income at or below 50 percent of the state median income are not required to pay more than 10 percent of household income; others are also eligible to negotiate a payment plan. Households that need to re-connect for winter should contact their utility now to take advantage of the payments options.

More information on the Cold Weather Rule is available at the PUC website or by calling 651-296-0406 or 800-657-3782.

To help pay home heating costs, Minnesota offers the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP or the Energy Assistance Program (EAP). The Minnesota Department of Commerce administers LIHEAP in partnership with 32 local service providers throughout the state. LIHEAP is federally funded through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The program helps renters and homeowners earning less than 50 percent of the state’s median income ($43,642 for a family of four) obtain grant money to help pay their heating bills.

The average annual grant per household last year was $500. Households with seniors, people with disabilities, veterans, and children are especially encouraged to apply. Applications were recently sent to households that qualified for energy assistance last year; others who may qualify are encouraged to apply. To apply, contact the local service provider in your county by calling 1-800-657-3710 or visit the Energy Assistance Program sectionon the Division of Energy Resources websitehttp://mn.gov/commerce/energy.

The Minnesota Department of Commerce also administers the Weatherization Assistance Program, a companion program of EAP. The program provides cost-effective energy conservation measures to reduce energy costs for low-income households. Minnesotans who meet the income guidelines for weatherization may receive weatherization services; they may also receive additional assistance from the utilities. Both homeowners and renters may apply for weatherization.

Other forms of assistance may be available through county social service programs, community-based organizations and nonprofit agencies. For a list of resources, visit theStay Warm Minnesota website.

Energy-saving tips

The Minnesota Department of Commerce, Division of Energy Resources provides a wide range of energy-saving information that every household can use to help control heating costs. Some basic no-cost and low-cost energy-saving recommendations include:

•               Weather strip and caulk windows and doors to eliminate air infiltration.

•               Cover drafty windows with tightly sealed plastic to keep the warm air in.

•               Open curtains and blinds on south-facing windows to let the sun in during the day to naturally heat your home.

•               Seal air leaks to prevent cold air infiltration through chimneys, vents, pipes, and wires that penetrate walls, ceilings and attics.

•               Close your fireplace damper when a fire is not in use to prevent warm air from escaping.

•               Maintain your heating system. Have annual furnace or boiler inspections, clean or replace furnace filters regularly, and consider replacing old heating systems with more efficient ENERGY STAR models.

•               Use a programmable thermostat. Set your thermostat to automatically turn down the heat at night and when you’re not at home.

More energy-saving tips can be found atwww.energysavers.gov. For more information on energy efficiency and energy conservation, visit the Commerce Department website and check out two consumer energy guides: Home Envelope and Appliances, Lighting, Electronics.

District 1 Hears from City on Recycling and from Transit Officials

The District 1 Board and about 13 residents heard updates from officials on the city recycling program and about the Gateway and Red Rock Corridors. Here is a summary of what was presented.

Presentation by Anne Hunt (Policy Director for Mayor Coleman on Sustainability). Ms. Hunt introduces Kris Hageman who is the Environmental Coordinator of Public Works. Ms. Hunt presented a summary of research conducted by Wilder Research on the recycling habits of St. Paul residents. The city undertook this research because recycling rates have leveled off or fallen over the past 5-8 years. Some of this may be due to changes in packaging, some to the recession, and some to alternative means to dispose of recyclables, but there are demographic differences in recycling behavior that the city wants to address.

7000 surveys were distributed to investigate recycling habits and needs and 18.4% of the recipients responded – a very high response rate. In addition, all 7 wards were well-represented and all (major) ethnic groups were also represented. They also held 6 focus groups and additional stakeholder interviews. The results of the survey were that people wanted to see:

• More types of plastics able to be recycled
• Simpler process for recycling (e.g., single stream – everything in one bin – Mpls had a 57% increase in recycling when it went to single stream)
• Bigger bins with lids and wheels
• More information about what can and cannot be recycled

60% of residents in Ward 7 (which includes District 1) wanted to have organics recycling at yard waste sites and were willing to pay up to $3 more per month to have that service.

Dumping of bulky items (such as illegal dumping along Battle Creek Road…) was seen as a problem, but 81% of the respondents in Ward 7 were aware of community clean ups as a way to get rid of these items. The city is interested in making it easier to get rid of these items and will be rolling out changes to the community clean up process in the coming year. (More later on this…) Now, the City spends about $300,000/year on collecting stuff that is illegally dumped on public property.

People were also interested in improving trash collection in the City and cost and customer service were what is most important to them (other cities have significantly lower average garbage hauling rates than does St. Paul…).

All this research set the City up with 6 goals – some for the short term and some for the longer term:

• Educate everyone about and promote the program better
• Expand and simplify plastics recycling (1, 2, 4, 5 and 7 plastics, and their caps)
• Go to single sort system in wheeled carts
• Allow for source-separated organics recycling (the County has just announced that it will have kitchen scrap recycling sites at each of its yard waste sites next year, including the Totem Town site)
• Diversify how bulky items can be recycled
• Coordinate trash hauling with an incentive program

For next year (besides the County’s organics program), the City will go to a single sort system (using the same blue bins) and will increase the types of plastics it accepts. It will also make changes to the community clean up events (more information in the coming months). In the following year, new wheeled carts will be available for recycling. Longer term changes will be dealt with during the bidding process for the recycling contract currently held by Eureka Recycling (2016 is the end of Eureka’s contract).

Presentation by Lyssa Leitner – Washington County. Ms Leitner presented updates on the Gateway and Red Rock Corridor Transit projects. The lead agency of these projects is Washington County, although Ramsey County and the City are partners.

Interesting background facts: Transportation costs are the second highest expense for families after housing costs. Building transit projects is half as costly as building new roads (and is more effective at relieving congestion). People who take transit get on average 13 minutes of the recommended 30 minutes of exercise simply by the additional walking that accompanies transit use.

The Gateway Corridor (along I-94) will see an increase of its population by 90,000 people by 2020 and an increase of 30,000 jobs in that time. Transit results in increased development along a corridor. An investment of $4.4billion in a transit project will result in the direct creation of 30,000 full-time jobs and an additional 36,000 jobs in supportive commercial enterprises (such as coffee shops, retail, etc…).

The alternatives analysis that was done last year looked at both LRT and BRT in this corridor, and two main alignments – along I-94 on Hudson Road, and partially there, up White Bear and along E. 7^th. That analysis eliminated the latter alignment because of cost and disruption. The federal government received some comments that this elimination was unwise and asked the Gateway Commission to do a more thorough study of the White Bear- E 7^th route. That study has now been completed and the Commission and the entire eastside community is in agreement that this particular alignment should be eliminated from further consideration. At this time, the assumption is that the alternatives to be further considered are BRT vs LRT but with a routing along Hudson Road only.

In January a scoping document will be released with this information in more detail and a public comment period will be opened. At that time, the public and interested parties are encouraged to submit comments about things they would like to be considered in the Draft Environmental Impact Statement. These considerations can be along any natural, historical, social or economic lines. District 1 expects to have a copy of the scoping document in its office, and other public places will be sites for the document as well. It will also be available on line.

The Red Rock Corridor (along Highway 61) is a lower priority project because it is expected to serve many fewer people (about ¼ the number that Gateway would serve, and 1/16 the number that Central Corridor is expected to serve). Two years ago, there was an extensive planning project for Red Rock around the proposed station areas (Hastings, Cottage Grove, Newport and Lower Afton). At that time, the expectation was that in the near term efforts would be made to increase ridership by improving the commuter bus service with the expectation that ultimately a commuter rail system would be put in place (similar to Northstar – NOT light rail). Since that time, a freight rail use study has taken place, Northstar performance has been less than expected, the political and economic landscape has shifted and so the end goal is being reconsidered.

Surveys of current park and ride users, and potential users have been made and there is clearly a demand for all day service to all the cities along the route. But the projected ridership doesn’t warrant considering commuter rail, which would severely impact growing freight rail service. Likewise, light rail is not warranted because of the cost and the lack of new available right of way. So the current expectation is that the best alternative would be BRT (bus rapid transit) with the buses running on the shoulders (not in a dedicated lane as is proposed for Gateway). The proposal would still include moving the current Lower Afton park and ride to north of Lower Afton, and would include upgraded stations with improved loading and unloading of passengers. But the timeline for this project is very much in the future – later than Gateway and probably not til 2020 at the earliest.

Still current improvements will continue, including the building and opening of a new Newport park and ride in about 1 year from now.

If you have  questions, please contact our office - district1council@aol.com or 651.578.7600.

Road Work on Highway 61 and I-94

Motorists may experience delays in both directions of Highway 61 in St. Paul and Interstate 94 between Woodbury and the Wisconsin state line as crews begin installing cable median barriers Monday, Oct. 7.

At 9 a.m., crews will intermittently close roadway lanes and shoulders on Highway 61 between Lower Afton Road and Warner Road, and on I-94 between I-494 and the Wisconsin state line. Work hours will be restricted to prevent congestion. Crews will install the cable median barrier during off-peak daytime and overnight hours.

Motorists should prepare to slow down in work zone areas. 

The work on Highway 61 is expected to be complete by Monday, Oct. 21, weather permitting. The work on I-94 will be partially complete by Friday, Dec. 20.

Cable median barrier prevents vehicles from crossing medians and into oncoming traffic. Installing cable median barriers in strategic locations helps prevent fatal and serious injury crashes.

For real-time travel information anywhere in Minnesota visit www.511mn.org.

Booya - Sunday, October 13 at St. Pascals

St. Pascal’s Men’s Club will hold their Annual Booya on Sunday, October 13^th from 10:00 AM until empty.  Individual servings will be available in the School Cafeteria located on the corner of Third St. and White Bear Ave.  COME EARLY, IT GOES FAST.  Proceeds will help purchase the equipment, uniforms, and supplies needed for the St. Pascal’s K-8 Grade School Physical Education Program and the Extra-curricular Sports Activities.  For additional information, contact Rich Hoffman at 651-774-0892 (H) or 612-554-6579 (C)

Attention Eastview Neighbors!!

Got a minute and have an opinion about the services Twin City Barbell and Brunette Boxing located at Eastview Recreation Center are providing to the community?  Complete Parks online survey and let your voice be heard.

In an effort to ensure we are meeting the needs of our residents at our partnered facilities, we are a conducting an online survey about the services being offered by Twin City Barbell.

The results of this survey will give us a better understanding of how residents are using the partnered facilities.

The survey for Twin City Barbell can be found here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/twincitybarbell

The survey for Brunette Boxing can be found here:

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/brunetteboxing

Comments will be collected until October 14.  If you have any questions about the survey, please contact us at 651-266-6400.

Thanks in advance for your participation.