Northeast Chapter Report June 2022

submitted by John Slade

 Washington County is making further steps along the road to permanent emergency housing for single adults. Several months ago, the County Board authorized spending $6 million in American Rescue Plan funds to buy and renovate a building for use as a shelter. “Plan A” is buying a hotel; the County had been using COVID funds to house homeless people in hotels over the last few years.

The process is slow, but moving forward! The County hired an architect and a real estate broker to find the right building and understand what is needed to prepare the building for the intended use. They have also decided to contract with Steppingstone, their current provider, to provide services for the facility.

As of this publication date, the real estate broker is talking to multiple property owners in several communities within Washington County. As these conversations move forward, we will keep people up-to-date and are ready to mobilize support in whichever community they decide on.

Less positive are the developments regarding the Purple Line bus rapid transit project. The City of White Bear Lake voted to ask the Met Council to not bring that project into White Bear. The Metropolitan Council has been disappointingly accommodating to that vote. If this were a light rail project, the City’s approval would be required; this is known as municipal consent, and on the Gold Line project the city of Lake Elmo withdrew their consent and the line had to be changed.

This is a continuing issue; the Met Council is setting up an advisory council on the project and we will see how that plays out. We are continuing to have discussions with housing and transit advocates to organize the Pro-Purple People to counter the Anti-Purple People.