Dear Neighbors,
As you may know, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency is preparing for cleanup at the Freeway Landfill and Dump site in Burnsville.
The MPCA is looking at two options for this cleanup – build a new modern landfill on the property, or move the waste from the landfill/dump off the property to another modern landfill. They are considering three variations for rebuilding the landfill on the current property. Right now they are gathering citizen and community input on those three variations. Later they will select one of these variations and move forward with the bidding process for both options.
To hear from area residents, MPCA will hold a Facebook Live event at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, May 18 and a virtual public meeting at 6:00 p.m. the same day. At these meetings they want to hear community and resident feedback. Also, they will present information and answer questions. Details on how to participate in the virtual public meeting are here.
In addition, comments or questions can be submitted up until June 12 by email to, Freeway.Landfill.andDump.MPCA@state.mn.us or post MPCA, c/o Pat Hanson, 520 Lafayette Rd N, St. Paul MN 55155.
Here are some of the important developments at the Legislature:
House DFL Releases Jobs and Local Projects Bill
The Jobs and Local Projects Proposal or “bonding” bill, has been revised from last year and is advancing in the House. Our bill invests in Minnesotans in a time when it’s needed most, and contains $2.524 billion in renovations, repairs, and replacement of public assets like higher education institutions, clean water infrastructure, correctional facilities, roads and bridges, parks and trails, municipal buildings and more. There are a couple great proposals for our district that will go a long way towards supporting our community, including:
- $5,500,000 for the Diffley Road Project
- $8,940,000 for pedestrian and bicycle trails on the Minnesota River Greenway and the Veterans Memorial Greenway in Dakota County
The language of the proposal to be considered is available here. A spreadsheet of included projects can be found here.
Ratifying State Contracts for State Workers
This week, the House voted to?ratify state employee contracts. Approximately 50,000 state employees are covered under these contracts which are currently in effect. These state employees include nurses on the front lines of COVID-19, corrections officers, cleaning and sanitation workers, public health workers doing the essential job of testing, monitoring, tracing, and mitigating COVID-19 in Minnesota; and staff that create and administer the conduits of federal and state resources to affected Minnesotans, including small businesses, hospitals, schools, and families.?
Furthermore, the costs for the labor agreements were included in last year’s state budget. Failing to ratify these contracts will mean pay cuts for essential workers, putting their wages below employees in similar jobs in the private sector.
Other Information
I received a letter saying that the Dakota Valley and Chorus had received an Emergency Relief Grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council to partially pay their operating expenses through the end of their fiscal year (May 31). I do enjoy their performances and look forward to seeing them perform again.
Stay in Touch
Please feel free to reach out to me by email at rep.sandra.masin@house.mn or by phone at 651-296-3533. If you have a friend, neighbor, or relative who wants to receive updates about the Legislature, let them know they can subscribe to my email list here. You can also follow me on Facebook here. It’s an honor to represent our community. Please stay in touch.
Sincerely,
Sandra Masin
State Representative