Met Council Response about Poor Bus Service on Route 262

Several district residents have complained to me about poor and unreliable bus service on Route 262, which goes up Rice Street and Hodgson Road through Shoreview and Lino Lakes. This route is run by a private company, Lorenz, Inc.

The Chairman of the Metropolitan Council copied me on a July 11th letter that he sent to a constituent to respond to these problems. Here's an exerpt.

"...the Metropolitan Transportation Services (MTS) staff will:
1. Conduct a comprehensive vehicle maintenance audit of all vehicles operated by Lorenz to assure the Council approved maintenance plan and procedures are being strictly adhered to
2. Consider the age, mileage and condition of these vehicles, then re-evaluate whethere the expectations being made of the contractor are reasonable
3. Search for funding to replace three forty-foot buses in 2007. ... [There is quite a bit after that about the need for legislation action on transit funding.]
4. Expand on-street supervision to more closely monitor service problems
5. Work with Lorenz to correct deficiencies in their driver training program and documentation...."

Anoka County Library in Lino Lakes

Plans are underway by Anoka County to build a new regional library in Lino Lakes off of Lake Drive near I-35W. This would effectively replace the Circle Pines Library, which is pretty small. After speaking with officials from Circle Pines, Lino Lakes, and the Anoka County Library Director and board members, I will be authoring a bill in 2008 to allow changes to library levy limits. Minnesota Statute 383E.20 puts a ceiling on capital bonding for Anoka County Libraries, but since the law went into effect in 1984, the dollar figure ceiling is now pretty low because of inflation. The bill would eliminate the dollar ceiling but keep the percent limit in place.

New Appointment

The Speaker of the House appointed me to the Legislative Coordinating Committee Working Group on Ethnic Heritage and New Americans. I'm not sure what is involved yet, but I believe that Rep. Pat Hamilton is the chair and we will probably only meet a few times.