Towards a more sustainable future

Bruce Stahlberg points out the various types of solar cookers available during a class sponsored byTransition Longfellow on Saturday, May 19, 2012. The solar cooker in the front is made by the Solar Oven Society, which is owned by Mike and Martha Port of the Longfellow neighborhood. (Photo by Tesha M. Christensen)

Transition Longfellow members focus on their own habits and homes. From there, a community changes.

by Tesha M. Christensen

Longfellow resident Annette Rondano knows that it is easy to get overwhelmed by big environmental issues such as the rising cost of fuel and oil depletion.

But that’s why she and the other members of Transition Longfellow are focusing on changes they can make at home and in their community, rather than on big policy changes.

“What’s important is for people not to get overwhelmed by sustainability options, to take them one step at a time, and to ask for help,” Rondano said. “Between local businesses helping with sustainability goals like solar installations, gardens, rain water capture, and composting, and the expertise of your neighbors, there is ample opportunity to start somewhere and to get help.

“Drop by drop the bucket fills even in a rainstorm.”

MEETINGS, MOVIES, CHALLENGES

Transition Longfellow meets on the first Saturday of each month, 10:30 a.m. to noon at Riverview Wine Bar. During these monthly meetings, attendees share tips and help for urban gardening and household chores, among other things.

“We really are simply making an offer of community in an otherwise do-it-yourself kind of world,” said Rondano.

They also challenge each other. In April, the challenge focus was on food/seed. Some people worked on getting their gardens ready. Others researched CSAs (community support agriculture). Some learned about the Monsanto stranglehood on seeds. When the group gathered back together, members shared what they did, problems they encountered and resources they found.

“We don’t tell people what they should do,” said Leslie MacKenzie, one of the group’s co-organizers. “Everyone has different resources, abilities, income and interest. We try to create a time and space where people can think about what they can do in their own lives around a particular issue.”

 The group also hosts movie nights on the third Friday of each month at Bethany Lutheran Church. The event starts with a potluck at 6:30 p.m. and the movie begins at 7:15 p.m. A speaker concludes the evening.

June’s movie will be the last for the spring. On June 15 view “Blue Gold: World Water Wars,” an award-winning documentary that examines environmental and political implications of the planet's dwindling water supply, and posits that wars in the future will be fought over water. The film also highlights some success stories of water activists around the world and makes a strong case for community action.

On July 20 at 6:30 p.m., the group is hosting a Little Free Library Building and Design event. This event aims to establish a dozen or more Little Free Libraries throughout Longfellow. Little Free Libraries are blooming all around the United States as a way for neighbors to interact and get to know one another. A community potluck and campfire will happen throughout the evening, and pre-reservations are encouraged. Find out more about Little Free Libraries at www.littlefreelibrary.org.

A Community Picnic is set for Aug. 17, 6:30 p.m., in Longfellow Park. Relax, meet your neighbors, and find out more about Transition Longfellow at the picnic.

“Every time I come to a movie night, I learn a host of things that were not on my radar before,” observed Rondano, a woman who has been environmentally and politically active for her entire adult life. “I think everyone is in a different place about sustainability. I learn something new about it every day.”

What has drawn her to the Transition movement is its focus on local control.

“Creating a resilient community, the focus of the Transition Movement internationally, looks so much more doable to me than trying to affect change on the national, or even state, level,” Rondano stated.

“It turns out that the groundswell of people joining in on the Transition Movement has already alerted local units of government to focus more of our tax dollars on resiliency issues like food, energy, and alternative transportation.”

Transition Longfellow is looking towards the future.

“Our group is concerned about the impact that climate change and peak oil will have on our economy, our community, and our households,” said MacKenzie. “Climate change and peak oil will affect every area of life: food production and distribution, transportation, heating and cooling, the water supply (droughts as well as flooding), and transportation. Although political will is lacking at many levels of government, we are not hopeless to address these issues and to create a more sustainable, resilient future.

“And we do not have to do it alone.”

LEARN MORE

Learn more about Transition Longfellow by joining the Facebook group (Longfellow Sustainability/Transition Group), or signing up for the newsletter.

Feel free to speak with steering committee members, including: Annette Rondano (612-221-0131), Rebecca Cramer, Aggie Hoeger, Bruce Gregg, Elizabeth Blair, Brooke Dirkhiesing, Leslie MacKenzie and Peter Foster.

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ABOUT TRANSITION LONGFELLOW

• The group formed after the November 2010 Transition Town conference at South High School, which featured guest speaker Richard Heinberg of the Post Carbon Institute talking about the challenge of peak oil, climate change and economic instability.

• Transition Longfellow is interested in steps “we can take as individuals and as a community to smooth the inevitable transition from fossil fuels, which will effect how we work, travel, heat our homes and grow our food,” according to its Facebook page.

Goals of the group:

• Educate people about the challenges of global warming and the end of cheap fossil fuels.

• Facilitate the creation of a positive vision of the future, one that values and protects our natural resources as well as all people in our community, regardless of age, ability or income.

• Support individual, business and community change efforts through teaching and learning, sharing and role modeling, support and encouragement.

• Promote available resources to help individuals and businesses reduce their carbon footprint while meeting their needs for food, heat, energy, transportation, etc.

• Gather additional resources to share with the community in order to increase resilience.

Activities:

• Helping Jacob’s Well church with its hard-to-recycle plastics collection effort in the summer when the church was not in session.

• Touring Minnesota’s first green cemetery

• Touring neighborhood fruit and vegetable gardens

• Conducting a presentation at Bethany Lutheran Church about the transition movement. Group members are available to do more of these presentations for churches and other groups.

• Staffing a table at neighborhood events and at the Seward Sustainability Fair

• Holding classes on solar cookers

• Co-facilitating a discussion on transition towns at the Alliance for Sustainability Community Conference

• Petitioning the Minneapolis City Council to develop an energy descent action plan. An energy descent action plan looks at how city services will be impacted by rising fossil fuel prices and then plans for how those services can be delivered in a way that minimizes use of fossil fuel. 

This story printed in the June edition of the Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger.

Attend Keewaydin School groundbreaking June 4

Pool, part of playground to remain where they are now

by Tesha M. Christensen

The community is invited to celebrate the groundbreaking of the Keewaydin School expansion on Monday, June 4, 2012 at 6:30 p.m.

With this $16 million addition, Keewaydin, the upper campus of Lake Nokomis Community School, will double its space.

The program will last about an hour. Following several speakers, Keewaydin and Weenonah students will present their time capsule project, and the seventh and eighth graders will unveil their legacy program.

POOL AND PART OF PLAYGROUND TO REMAIN

The addition will be placed to the south of the existing building, but it will not go as far south as it was initially presented in January. This means that the K-5 playground structure on the west side and the wading pool will remain in place for the foreseeable future.

Given the remaining 20-year lifespan of the pool and the $500,000 tab of replacing it, the steering committee worked hard to reduce the foot plan of the building in order to save it, said Doug Walter, who represented the Nokomis East Neighborhood Association (NENA) on the construction steering committee.

However, it is not yet known whether the pool can be used during the construction project this summer. The pool’s location is about 30 feet from the south edge of the new addition, and will be very close to the construction staging area, stated Walter. A six-to-eight-foot-high fence would need to be erected around it during construction, and to provide a pathway to the pool. Because of its close proximity to the construction area, the pool will need frequent cleaning. The cost to do this work is not yet known, but estimates range from $40,000 to $230,000 to save the pool.

“It is the district’s intent to enable the playground and pool to remain open during construction,” said MPS Capital Planning and Project Development Manager David Richards.

“This will likely be relatively easy with the playground, as it is closer to the street and probably less affected by adjacent construction activities,” Richards added. “A greater tolerance for uncertainty may be necessary regarding keeping the pool open, as Park Board staff will need to evaluate the cumulative effect of construction activities on pool ambiance, pool use, pool maintenance and other operational factors.”

The swings, tot lot and basketball court will be removed, but leaving the K-5 playground equipment and wading pool in place will give the park department time to obtain funds for moving the pool and playground to its own property on the east side of the school.

The parks department has been working with the community to create a new master plan for Keewaydin Park. Following public comment in March, the plan was modified. This updated plan will be presented to the public sometime in July, and then go to the Park Board for approval.

“Prior to school being out for the summer, we will also be conducting a parking capacity analysis to address concerns raised by a few residents about how the change in the park may impact parking in the neighborhood,” said Minneapolis Park Board Planner Jennifer Ringold.

Park staff also plan to solicit input prior to the larger community meeting regarding the types of playground equipment community members would like to see at the park.

One of the ballfields will likely serve as a staging area during the construction project. It will need to be rebuilt afterwards.

DETAILS ON NEW BUILDING

The 42,000-square-foot addition will contain eight new classrooms, a music room, two computer labs, lunch room, kitchen, media center and a full-size gymnasium with 100 seats, pointed out Keewaydin Principal Jane Ellis. The new auditorium will seat over 300 adults in tiered seats.

The entire project is on schedule, noted Ellis.

Bids on the foundation package were due May 31, and will be reviewed by the school board on June 12. Construction will begin 10 days later.

Instead of drilling 90 feet into the ground, the school district has decided to use a Geopier foundation system, according to MSP employee Donald Bielinski. Geopier is a ground improvement method using soil replacement technology to strengthen soft soil with stiff rock columns constructed by heavy equipment crowd and vertical impact ramming that prestrains and prestresses the soil.

The second bid phase will include the rest of the building. Those bids will be approved by the school board in late July/early August.

Richards believes this is a desirable time to solicit bids for a construction project because the construction market has been depressed for so long. “We’re hoping that will enhance competition and interest,” he said.

One of the exciting things about this new addition is that it will not only be great for students, but the community will be able to use it, as well, pointed out Walter. The auditorium, gym, and kitchenette can be accessed by the public from the south side of the building. While there is a community building at Keewaydin Park, it has only a multi-use space and not the full-size gym the addition will include.

At its final meeting in May, the Keewaydin steering committee discussed whether to widen the lobby area between the old and the new sections of the building by two feet in order to create a larger gathering space, noted Walter. In the current plan 18 feet is allocated for the lobby. The desire to widen it has been discussed since the school plan was first unveiled. However, because bids have already been solicited for the foundation part of the construction project, the group decided to leave things are they are, said Walter.

Members also considered whether to erect a motorized partition in the gymnasium now or later. Because the school currently has only one gym teacher, the group decided to hold off spending money on the folding partition now.

The committee also prioritized items it would like to add back onto the plan if bids come in favorably later this summer. Among the items on the list are display cases, signs, benches and floor materials.

“The original goals we started with were the goals we ended with,” Keewaydin Principal Jane Ellis said, adding that the steering committee was a cohesive group throughout the entire planning process.

“It’s been a pleasure to be part of such an amazing group of dedicated parents, MPS staff, and community members,” said steering committee member Jean Hutchinson Legler. “RSP was great to work with. Kudos also to NENA for their support. As a parent and community member, it is awesome to see MPS invest in Lake Nokomis Community School - Keewaydin Campus.”

Walter pointed out that with this project, Minneapolis Public Schools is investing in the first new facility in south Minneapolis in decades. When the project is complete next year, “This area will have one of the nicest middle schools anywhere in south Minneapolis,” said Walter.

The effort of staff and community members was recognized by NENA during its annual meeting in May. It presented the Best of Nokomis Award to Lake Nokomis parents and staff.

“It was very nice to have our parents and staff recognized,” said Ellis.

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Construction steering committee members:

• Tom Davidson, lead engineer,

• Sarah Dutton, Keewaydin Family Liaison, parent

• Jane Ellis, Keewaydin Campus Principal

• Stephen Flisk, Area B Superintendent

• Heather Hall, Keewaydin teacher

• Jean Hutchinson-Legler, parent

• George Jelatis, community member

• Jay Larson, parent

• Matt Lee, parent

• Lorna Wickham-Lewis, Wenonah teacher

• Elizabeth Ness, Wenonah Campus Principal

• Andrew Pritchard, Keewaydin teacher

• David Richards, MPS Facilities

• Jennifer Ringold, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board

• Gina Rysdon, parent

• Doug Walter, Nokomis East Neighborhood Association

This story printed in the June 2012 edition of the Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger.

Sabo bridge to reopen June 4

by Tesha M. Christensen

Minneapolis hopes to reopen the Martin Olav Sabo Bridge on June 4, 2012, three months after a pair of cables fell onto the bridge deck forcing its closure.

A permanent fix has not yet been identified for the five-year-old bridge, but city officials and engineers believe that with some additional shoring the bridge will be safe for pedestrians and bicyclists.

“It’s really great news,” said Midtown Greenway Executive Director Soren Jensen.

The bridge should be reopen in time for the Greenway Glow, Northern Spark Festival and Urban Assault Ride during the weekend of June 9 to 10. “It’s wonderful timing,” stated Jensen.

Jensen commutes via bicycle from his Longfellow home to the Midtown Greenway office each day. Bike traffic has been picking up, he noted, and the more bicyclists there are at the Hiawatha and 28th Street crossing the more dangerous it becomes. “It’s a challenge as a driver,” he noted. “You have to really crane your neck to look back for bikers [when making a turn].

“The sooner we can get traffic back up on the Sabo Bridge the safer it will be for everyone.”

According to Minneapolis Public Works deputy director Heidi Hamilton, there are several items that need to be done before the bridge can be reopened. First, the temporary shoring now in place needs to be adjusted. Then the tension on the cables attached to the pylon off the backside need to be adjusted. The cables that fell are still lying on the bridge and will need to be removed and secured. Part of this work will be done by city staff and part by contractors.

The measuring devices installed in mid-April to track wind speed, duration of wind and temperature during wind events, as well as stress range movement, amplitude and frequency of cable vibrations experienced by the bridge during wind events have been removed. The city has not yet received either the results of these tests or the metalurgical analysis of the broken plates being done by Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. The information from these two studies will become the basis for the permanent repair plan, which may force a closure of the bridge again in the future.

The city of Minneapolis has spent $420,000 to deal with the bridge failure. Of that, $110,000 has been paid to outside vendors for items such as steel, fencing and shoring; $60,000 to engineering consultants; and $250,000 for internal staff and equipment costs. On top of that, the city and Hennepin County are splitting the $150,000 fee charged by Chicago-based firm Wiss, Janney and Elstner (WJE), which is investigating why the anchor plates holding the cables fractured.

Hamilton pointed out that the city’s attorneys are reviewing what sort of recourse Minneapolis can take, if any, to recoup the costs of dealing with the bridge failure.

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Upcoming bicycle events planned for Bike Walk Week

The Sabo Bridge will reopen just in time for the major events of Bike Walk Week, June 2 to 10, 2012.  For more, see bikewalkweek.org. Weekend highlights include:

GREENWAY GLOW

• Saturday, June 9, 9 p.m. to midnight, Midtown Greenway, Minneapolis

• Registration: $25 before May25/$30 after; raise $75 or more in pledges

This illuminated biking extravaganza will take participants on a brief tour of Northern Spark art installations in the corridor, including a rest stop at the Vine Arts Center and a post-ride party at Intermedia Arts. Glow riders will enjoy free food from Bryant Lake Bowl, and complimentary New Belgium beer. This money will help support the projects and programs of the Midtown Greenway Coalition, which include the Trail Watch safety patrol, Greenspace and Artspace committees, outreach to communities surrounding the Greenway, and working with developers to encourage Greenway-friendly buildings. The ride starts from the area in front of the Midtown Freewheel Bike Center. For more information and to sign up, visit http://www.midtowngreenway.org/GreenwayGlow2012.html

NORTHERN SPARK FESTIVAL

• Dusk on Saturday, June 9 until dawn on Sunday, June 10

• Free to the public

The Northern Spark festival brings artists of all genres together for an entire-night celebration. Masters of interactive media, film, music, performance, comedy, public sculpture, light, DIY technology and more will display their work and engage visitors throughout the city of Minneapolis. See more at http://2012.northernspark.org/

URBAN ASSAULT RIDE

• June 10, 9 a.m., meet at Peace Coffee, 2801 21st Ave. South, Minneapolis

• Register: $30 -60/person; online registration closes June 8 at 4pm

The Urban Assault Ride™ is the biggest Bicycle Obstacle Event series in the nation! Here’s how it works: You and your teammate will set out on a city-wide quest for ‘checkpoints’ on your favorite two-wheeled steeds. At each checkpoint, you’ll drop your bikes and complete a funky/adventurous obstacle course, then remount your bikes and hit the streets for more. For more information and to sign up, visit www.urbanassaultride.com/minneapolis.


This story printed in the June 2012 edition of the Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger.