Commissioner Opat delivers the 2009 State of the County address at the University of Minnesota
Commissioner Opat
I'm proud to represent the people of the 1st District in Hennepin County. In addition to ensuring the efficient delivery of county services and the effective expenditure of taxpayers’ dollars, my priorities include:
- A world-class teaching hospital and Level 1 Trauma Center: Hennepin County Medical Center and Hennepin Healthcare System.
- Helping build a transit network across the Twin Cities, including along the Bottineau Boulevard corridor.
- Smart public works projects, especially roads, bridges, bike paths and impaired lake cleanup within the county’s inner-ring suburbs.
- Improvements for neighborhood livability issues, including improving criminal justice and redeveloping blighted areas.
- Practical, effective social safety-net programs for vulnerable populations in Hennepin County.
- Strengthening our award-winning and nationally ranked library system.
- Exercising stewardship of unique county places like Victory Memorial Drive, the memorial to Hennepin’s 568 fallen World War I troops.
Upcoming Events
County Board and Committee Meetings
May 18, 6:30 to 8 pm: Transit Oriented Development Presentation, UROC Facility, 2001 Plymouth Avenue North, Minneapolis.
May 26, 6-8 pm: Bottineau Transit Open House I: Segment D1/D2 Investigation, Robbinsdale City Hall, 4100 Lakeview Avenue NorthJune
June 3, 6-8 pm: Bottineau Transit Open House II: Segment D1/D2 Investigation, UROC Facility, 2001 Plymouth Avenue North
Updates
April 12: Target Field opens with gusto, bringing outdoor baseball back to Hennepin County
Read more about the celebration
March 15: Victory Memorial Drive - Largest War Memorial in the Twin Cities - receives $1.7 million in state bonding
The Victory Memorial Drive Task Force, the group working to renovate and preserve the Minneapolis World War I memorial, will receive $1.7 million as part of the state bonding bill recently passed by the Minnesota Legislature and signed by the Governor.
The funds will be used to complete a $6.7-million renovation project for the Twin Cities' largest war memorial and what is believed to be the largest World War I memorial in the nation. The Drive commemorates the 568 soldiers and nurses from Hennepin County who perished in World War I.
"These state funds will allow us to complete the Victory Memorial Drive project in a way that truly honors Hennepin County's World War I veterans - and all veterans," said Commissioner Mike Opat, who co-chairs the Task Force. "The work that begins in just a couple of months will bring dramatic improvements to this special place, and I look forward to starting them soon."
The project was launched in 2007 with a $3.5-million appropriation by Hennepin County; the State of Minnesota has now lcontributed a total of $2.7-million; the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board, which owns the parkway, has programmed $290,000; federal grants were awarded for an additional $200,000; and a Legacy Amendment grant awarded $40,000.
This year's appropriation will fund a complete reconstruction of the Drive's flagpole plaza (near the intersection of 45th Avenue North and Xerxes Avenue North), including a new plaza layout, plantings and trees, irrigation, lighting, benches, flagpole, engraved flagpole base, granite walls and an innovative Armistice Day feature.
Construction is slated to begin in June 2010, along with the installation of 64 replacement street lights and 112 new walking path lights, landmark gateways at Humboldt Avenue North and Lowry Avenue North, and a revitalization of the nearby Grand Army of the Republic Circle.
The Task Force was created in 2006 by the MN Legislature to renovate and preserve the Drive. Work completed in last year's phase included realigning the Drive's historic street grid and expanding its green space.
Leadership Positions
Hennepin County
- Chair, Hennepin County Board of Commissioners
- Vice-Chair, Budget and Capital Investment Committee
- Vice-Chair, Public Safety and Judiciary Committee
- Member, Hennepin Health Systems Board
- Member, Counties Transit Improvement Board
- Member, Joint Committee on Community Corrections
Other Positions
- Member, Minneapolis Arts Institute Board
- Member, Municipal Building Commission
- Member, St. Anthony Falls Heritage Board
- Co-chair, Victory Memorial Drive Task Force
- Member, American Council of Young Political Leaders
- Honorary board member, Arc Greater Twin Cities
- Member, German Marshall Fund of the United States
