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Photo by Hanna K. Stoehr
Xcel is pushing for a new transmission line near the Midtown Greenway to keep up with increased energy demands in South Minneapolis.
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Drawing a line on power lines
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By Dylan Thomas
Hiawatha Project opponents want a high-voltage line buried, or not at all If Xcel Energy wins approval for its proposed Hiawatha Project in South Minneapolis, its new high-voltage power line won't be hanging over the heads of Southwest residents.
Still, many observers say the 1.25-mile power line over the Midtown Greenway would impact people living near the southwest end of the bike and pedestrian corridor, too.
"If people are interested in smart growth and they like the idea of development continuing to concentrate itself along the Greenway, then they should be concerned about this," said Tim Springer, director of the Midtown Greenway Coalition, a group that has been at the center of the power line debate.
Xcel Energy said population and development growth along East Lake Street and Hiawatha Avenue was driving increased electricity demand. The 115-kilovolt transmission line would run between two new substations, one in the Midtown area and the other near the Greenway intersection with Hiawatha Avenue.
Xcel Energy was expected to submit a project application to the Public Utilities Commission by the end of March. Already delayed once, the application could be delayed again pending the outcome talks between the city, Hennepin County and Xcel.
The Midtown Greenway Coalition, the City Council and others have urged Xcel to find another solution to the growing power demand in South Minneapolis.
Springer said the Coalition's concerns include the power line's impact on future development in Midtown, a re-routing of the Midtown Greenway near Hiawatha Avenue and possible health effects. The Coalition urged Xcel to meet electricity needs through a combination of conservation and new technologies.
A resolution approved by the City Council in February asked Xcel to at least bury the line under East 28th Street if no other solution could be found.
Resolution co-author Council Member Robert Lilligren (6th Ward) said a building boom along the west end of the Midtown Greenway, particularly around Uptown, showed the corridor's potential to spur development.
"Then try to imagine looking at that development under a high-voltage power line," Lilligren said. "It wouldn't happen."
Hiawatha Project Manager Betty Mirzayi said Xcel had "put in millions of dollars worth of enhancements" to deal with the electricity demand in South Minneapolis.
"We've reached the limits of the fixes that we can do at that level," Mirzayi said.
At periods of peak demand, particularly hot summer days, Xcel customers in Midtown experience voltage fluctuations that can damage electrical equipment. High load on the area's electrical infrastructure also can trigger power outages, Mirzayi said.
The Midtown Greenway Coalition and others have suggested a combination of conservation efforts and new renewable energy sources could solve the supply problems. But Mirzayi said those efforts would not be enough.
She said South Minneapolis already has "good participation" in Saver's Switch, a voluntary program that allows Xcel to turn off residential air conditioners when demand peaks on hot days. Xcel also studied the potential for supplementing the area's power supply with local solar and wind power, but determined they wouldn't meet the demand.
"The need we have in the area is in the realm of about 50 megawatts," Mirzayi said, adding that conservation and renewable energy goals are "just not achievable at that amount."
Current estimates from Xcel put the combined cost of the two substations at either end of the line at about $24 million. The cost for an above ground transmission line is about $3 million.
Mirzayi said an underground line would cost nearly five times as much to install, closer to $15 million. That option remains on the table, despite the much larger price tag.
Mirzayi said Xcel was meeting with city and county representatives in March "to discuss potential financing options," but would not elaborate.
The Hiawatha Project could have a direct impact on some Southwest residents. Substations serve end-users up to three miles away, meaning the planned Midtown substation would be sending power to local electricity lines.
Jeff MacPhail, an intern in Council Member Lilligren's office, said there was another reason Southwest should watch the outcome of the Hiawatha Project: It could be a Southwest neighborhood targeted for the next similar project.
MacPhail has worked closely with the Midtown Greenway Coalition, and was one of several people who suggested the Hiawatha Project was just one piece of a larger transmission line expansion.
"Essentially, we think [Xcel is] going at this piece-by-piece because it will be an easier battle," MacPhail said. "So, this is sort of the first battle in installing high-power transmission lines through the neighborhoods of Minneapolis."
Mirzayi acknowledged Xcel would continue to upgrade its Minneapolis power supply system, but did not mention specific projects.
Springer, of the Midtown Greenway Coalition, remained unconvinced that the Hiawatha Project was absolutely necessary. He continued to push for a conservation solution, one that would require reducing energy use in not just South, but Southwest Minneapolis, as well.
He and MacPhail have requested detailed information about energy use in the Midtown area.
"Xcel hasn't provided the data, so we can't even start the discussion of conservation and renewables in the area," MacPhail said.
At the core of arguments against the overhead power lines is a concern about the future of the Midtown Greenway. MacPhail said all Greenway users, not just regular bicycle commuters or Midtown residents, have a stake in the future of the path.
"What the Greenway is to the city, the county and a lot of people in Minneapolis is, it's a new spine for green, smart, planned growth in South Minneapolis," he said. "It's the spine for bike-able and walk-able communities in Minneapolis."
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Newest development proposal: A courtyard with pool and movie screen in the heart of the Uptown nightlife scene
UPDATED August 31, 2010, 11:04am
By Nick Halter
A new development proposal in Uptown calls for the construction of a three-level restaurant with a rooftop patio, plus a private, ground-level courtyard with a pool and movie screen in the heart of the Uptown nightlife scene. The courtyard would go between Cowboy Slim’s and the new restaurant, which would be built directly across from the Lagoon Cinema on Lagoon Avenue, according to a plan submitted to the city of Minneapolis. The owner of the site is Uptown Gassen LLC, which is owned by Clark Gassen. Gassen is proposing a 3,000 square-foot, single-level retail building that would go along Girard Avenue between Lake Street and Lagoon. Underneath the proposed development would be a 125-car parking ramp. The restaurant’s three
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Harriet concession contract nears approval
UPDATED August 30, 2010, 1:00pm
By Jake Weyer
1 Comment
The board will decide this month whether to approve local restaurateur Kim Bartmann’s concept, Bread & Pickle.
After more than a year of community review and a selection process that narrowed a field of nearly a dozen applicants, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is scheduled to vote this month on a new Lake Harriet concession contract.
Staff recommended local restaurateur Kim Bartmann’s concept, Bread & Pickle, based on the suggestion of a community group that reviewed and interviewed the applicants. That group was made up of former members of a Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) the Park Board assembled last year after public outcry over a proposed concession change that would have required a new building. The CAC examined concession opportunities and drafted recommendations used to review applicants.
“The CAC was really a lengthy, drawn-out, long process,” said Park Board General Manager Don Siggelkow. “But it yielded the information and the understanding that I think brought this conclusion the way it needed to happen.”
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Urban fashion store and art gallery opens on Hennepin
UPDATED August 26, 2010, 10:14am
By Nick Halter
With rare Michael Jordan sneakers dating back to 1985, local art work, a DJ table and pinewood floors, Moh Habib on Aug. 21 unveiled Studiiyo 23, an urban fashion store and art gallery at 2319 Hennepin Ave. Everything about Studiiyo 23, from the name to the design to the merchandise, is a reflection of Habib, a 34-year-old world traveler who spent his high school and college years in Minnesota. “In those travels — I’ve been to 30 countries and 169 cities so far — I picked up the best of what I like from all those spots, and what I did was try to merge everything I love in life into one space,” he said. Habib has spent the last eight years working in Japan and Switzerland, first for Northwest Airlines and later as a
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Bryant Lake Bowl operator plans to buy Casey’s Bar and Grill
UPDATED August 25, 2010, 2:12pm
By Nick Halter
Kim Bartmann, who runs popular Lake Street establishments Bryant Lake Bowl and Barbette, said she has a purchase agreement for Casey’s Bar and Grill, 3510 Nicollet Ave. Bartmann wouldn’t offer specifics on what she will do with the space. She is asking to present to the Kingfield and Lyndale neighborhood groups soon to show them her plans. She said the renovation will last a couple weeks and said work will be done on the kitchen and dining area. Casey’s has a very limited food menu. “We’re a very food-focused company, so I think that will be a major change,” she said. Bartmann said Casey’s current owner has taken good care of the place and kept it clean. “It has a lot of potential,&rdq
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Neighborhood notebook
By Dylan Thomas, Nick Halter and Sarah McKenzie
THE WEDGELHENA hires new newspaper editorLowry Hill East Neighborhood Association hired a new editor for its monthly newspaper, The Wedge. Wedge resident Quentin Skinner took over with the July issues of The Wedge. Best known as the theater critic for City Pages, Skinner also has written two novels set in the Wedge, where he has lived for 15 years, according to an announcement posted Aug. 2 on thewedge.org. ——— WHITTIER Rex Hardware demolishedWrecking crews in early August demolished the former Rex Hardware building at 2601 Lyndale Ave. S. The demolition came 11 weeks after the Minneapolis City Council overturned a Heritage
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Parks update // Lake Harriet health
By jake weyer
Park Board applies for grant to study Lake Harriet healthThe Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board has decided it’s time for Lake Harriet to get a checkup. The board frequently receives complaints about the lake’s smells and surface algae and is hoping to perform a diagnostic study — funded by a $55,000 matching grant from the state — to see just how healthy the popular body of water is. “These grants are specifically being put out to prevent lakes from being designated as impaired lakes,” said the board’s Environmental and Field Services Director Debra Lynn Pilger. Pilger presented the details of the “clean water partnership grant” to the board at its Aug. 4 meeting. A
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Green digest // More mini markets
By Dylan Thomas
Farmers market season is at its late-summer peak, and more neighborhoods this year have easy access to fresh tomatoes and sweet corn thanks to an expansion of mini farmers markets sites. The number of mini farmers markets located mainly in low-income neighborhoods has tripled between 2008 and 2010, reported the Whittier-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy (IATP), which established the market program in collaboration with the city. The Walker Place Farmers Market in the East Harriet neighborhood near a senior housing facility was one of the mini farmers markets to debut this summer. The Stevens Square Farmers Market, Southwest’s only other mini farmers market site, opened in 2008. The mini farmers markets are limited to five or fewer
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Wine may flow, after all
By Dylan Thomas
Uptown wine tasting was in question this springStart working on your swirl, sniff and slurp technique: The annual wine tasting sponsored by Hennepin Lake Liquors may go on this year, after all. This spring it appeared the wine tasting, an important fundraiser for Uptown-area neighborhoods, might not return for its 28th year. In mid-August, though, event organizer Pat Fleetham said he was nearly ready to announce a fall wine tasting. Fleetham said he was “tentatively proposing” a date in October for the tasting but still needed to finalize agreements with event sponsors before he could announce a time and location. The event in recent years had been held in early June. In March, though, Fleetham wrote in an email to
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Biz buzz // New improv theater
By Nick Halter
New Lyn-Lake improv theater will focus on long-formA new improv theater is coming to Lyn-Lake this fall, leasing the space formerly held by Lava Lounge clothing store at 3037 Lyndale Ave. Huge Improve Theater, the nonprofit company that is leasing the space, plans to have a roughly 100-seat theater open in late October and is pursuing a beer and wine license from the city. While Minneapolis already has improv theaters like Comedy Sportz and Brave New Workshop, HUGE Executive Director Butch Roy said the Lyn-Lake theater will be dedicated to a unique form of improv — long-form. No theater in the Twin Cities is devoted to the form. Most know improv in its short form through the “Whose Line Is It Anyway?” TV
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Schools notebook // Southwest steady on AYP
By Dylan Thomas
Six Minneapolis Public Schools in Southwest met goals for student proficiency in reading and math this year, down from eight schools in 2009. The district as a whole saw slightly fewer schools making AYP, or Adequate Yearly Progress, toward student achievement goals. About 14 percent of district schools met benchmarks on state standardized tests, down from nearly 19 percent in 2009. The slide means more district schools will face escalating sanctions under the federal No Child Left Behind law, although many in education say the law sets an unachievable goal. Approved by Congress in 2001, No Child Left Behind set a goal of 100 percent proficiency on math and reading assessments by 2014. But the ever-rising benchmarks mean more schools every year are
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Park Board organizing LRT advisory group
By jake weyer
Adding another facet to the ongoing Southwest light rail discussion, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board voted last month to organize a citizens advisory committee (CAC) to mitigate the impact of the route on parkland. Park Board commissioners, City Council members, neighborhood associations, Mayor R.T. Rybak and County Commissioner Gail Dorfman will appoint the 17-member CAC. The group will consider historical, cultural, visual, social, and safety issues associated with the 14-mile Southwest Light Rail Transit line (LRT). The route will start Downtown, travel along the Kenilworth trail between Cedar Lake and Lake of the Isles, then stretch through St. Louis Park, Hopkins and Minnetonka, ending in Eden Prairie. Along the way, it will intersect or run
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