County Road Nine Phase One and Phase Two

The first phase of County Road 9 (College View Drive) will open on August 3.  At the same time Phase 2 will begin.  Phase two will close College View Drive from the 19^th Street Intersection on 4^th Street (this in the current 4 way stop by the Olmsted Medical Hospital, the Federal Medical Prison, and Martin Luther King, Jr. Park) to the new roundabout at Silver Creek Road.

This last of phase of County 9 construction will cause a detour to the Recycling Center and will cause delays in getting to the recycling center because only one lane will be open on Silver Creek Road until the construction is finished.

Watch the video here: County Road 9 Update

CARES ACT Funding

Olmsted County Received a little over $19 Million to mitigate some of the damage that is being caused by COVID 19.  I supported $4 million to be available for small businesses and $1 million be available for non-profit organizations. I supported grant amounts for Small businesses to be from $1,500 to $25,000.  Olmsted County will collaborate with  RAEDI (Rochester Area Economic Development, Incorporated) to be the agent for the small business money and Rochester Foundation to be the agent for the non-profits.  I supported the allocation of dollars to help the small businesses and non-profits recover from the terrible financial issues caused by COVID19.

The County also had many other extra expensed due to COVID19 and I supported the use of CARES ACT Funding to cover those expenses.  $8.9million is attributed to County expenses, $4.7 million is attributed to Client Services that were caused by COVID19, and I also support $500,000 to be used for children’s mental health services in theK-12 school district in the county.

Here is more information on the use of CARES Act funding:

1.     Economic Support – 5 Million.  A Grant program to organizations in Olmsted County to mitigate the negative impact of the pandemic.

• 4 Million for small businesses
• 1 Million for non-profits

2.     Olmsted County Services Needs – 4.7 Million

Examples Include:

• Emergency financial assistance to individuals or families directly impacted by loss of income (eviction prevention, emergency shelter, rent, mortgage, utilities, childcare, etc.
• Food delivery to vulnerable populations
• Mental health services for uninsured and underinsured
• Testing at-risk groups
• Targeted COVID-19 education and outreach to at-risk populations

3.     Children’s Mental Health – 500,000 Thousand

• Mental health in K-12 schools.  Distribution based on enrollment of Olmsted County students.

4.     County Operations – 8.9 Million

Examples include:

• Personnel costs
• Facilities: COVID testing facility at Graham Park, Retrofit Warming Centers, Temporary judicial space needs.
• Technology:  Client Access kiosks, Electronic forms and workflows, portable equipment.
• I voted for this CARES Act distribution.

Resolving Racial Disparities in Health Care

I supported the resolution to recognize the inequities associated with race as a Public Health Issue.  Additionally, I voted to direct the Olmsted County Public Health Services Advisory Board and the Olmsted County Human Rights Commission to jointly study and investigate this issue with emphasis o the services the County provides.  Further, the finding of this study will be presented to the County Board of Commissioners.

This resolution and directive was adopted by the Board.