Everything you need to know about the Metropolitan Council.

Today’s meeting was called to order by President Doug Bruce. We were led by Jerry Faletti in singing America the Beautiful, accompanied by Doug Hartford on the piano. The Invocation was given by Carol Bufton, followed by Trixie Golberg who introduced today’s visiting Rotarians and guests.

President Doug thanked today’s Greeters Chuck Whitaker and Al Uniake and announced that this Thursday’s Vocational Speaker is Todd Kruse of Ainsley Shea, LLC. President Doug then asked Nancy McKillips to give an update on membership. Nancy reported that we have 4 new members and 12 current prospects. Our goal is 12 to 18 new members and Nancy believes we will get there if we all help. The microphone was then turned over to Ed Coleman who reminded us that next Tuesday is Rotation Day. There is no regular meeting so be sure to go to the Club 10 website and register for a visit to Healtheast, Mano a Mano, or the Science Museum.

Clyde Nelson and Doug Hartford then gave a recap of last weekend’s Feed My Starving Children service project (FMSC). Clyde noted that this was the third year our club has done FMSC and that the beauty of the project is twofold: number one it helps feed starving kids and number two; it provides our Club with a service opportunity. Doug then reported that we packed 132,192 meals, which handily beat our goal of 125,000. The meals we packed are enough to feed 362 children for an entire year. Doug also commented that this was the 81st Mobile Packing Event which has been supported by our FMSC Trailer. During the 81 events there were a cumulative total of 21,140,196 meals packed which is enough to feed 58,000 children for a year! We can make a difference in this world, and we are making a difference.

Jerry Faletti made a Paul Harris Fellowship Presentation to Al Zdrazil. Al has been a very active member of our club and when asked to say a few words he said that he believes that Rotary saves and improves the lives of many people in need. He also said that he gladly gives to Rotary International because he knows his money will be used wisely once it reaches the local Rotarians who are working on any given problem around the world. Local Rotarians can solve local problems, especially when they have adequate funding from RI.

Jim Delamater reported on the  Social Activities Survey. The results were recently emailed to all members for viewing and Jim gave a special thanks to Jacob LaCroix for lending his marketing expertise to the survey project. One result of the survey is the return of “Fellowship Day”. Mark your calendar for Tuesday June 5th. Our weekly lunch meeting will be held at the White Bear Yacht Club followed by golf, tennis,biking,boating and other activities. The event will wrap up with dinner served at the Yacht Club.

Jim Kosmo quickly circulated through the room collecting Happy Dollars for the St. Paul Rotary Foundation. We heard a plethora of uplifting news from our members.

John Guthman introduced today’s program speaker, Susan Haigh, Chair of the Metropolitan Council. Susan was born in Owatonna and earned her B.A. at Macalester College followed by a law degree from William Mitchell. Her career has been one of public service, including positions with both the Dakota County and the Ramsey County Attorney’s offices, a term as Ramsey County Commissioner, President of Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity and currently as Chair of the Metropolitan Council.

Susan opened her remarks by giving a brief history of the Met Council. The Met Council was created in 1967 to address the issues of: rapid unplanned growth, threatened open spaces, water pollution and a deteriorating bus system. The Council has 17 members who are appointed by the Governor and their overall objective is to plan and coordinate the orderly development of the seven county metro area and to provide services that could not be efficiently or effectively delivered by any one city. From a big picture perspective, their mission is “To foster a prosperous, livable metropolitan region”. The Met Council carries out their mission by being both a planner and an operator.

As a planner, the Met Council creates long term strategies for transportation, aviation, regional parks and regional sewers. As an operator, the Met Council runs the Regional Wastewater System, the Regional Transit System (buses and light rail) and the Metro Housing & Redevelopment Authority. Because the Met Council can think and act “regionally” they can often solve problems and achieve efficiencies that local governments can’t. Susan noted that our wastewater treatment system is very efficient and well coordinated across the 7 county metro area. We have 106 communities served by one system .In contrast; the Pittsburgh area has/ had 82 separate municipalities each trying to run their own independent wastewater treatment system.

Currently, the Met Council’s efforts on transportation are getting the most press. The Hiawatha light rail line and Northstar commuter rail systems are up and running and the Central Corridor light rail line will  provide service between downtown Minneapolis and downtown St. Paul by year end 2014. The next project will be the Southwest Corridor light rail line, designed to run from Minneapolis to Eden Prairie. These transit systems represent a major investment in public infrastructure and they are geared toward solving current and future needs. For example, the Met Councils projections show that by 2030 there will be 90,000 new jobs along the Central Corridor and that there will be 893,000 more people living in the metro area by 2040. Our roads are already congested and we must have a well thought out plan to deal with this growth, otherwise our market area may loose its attractiveness and competitiveness.

On the horizon, one of the Metro Councils next projects is to develop a regional housing plan to prepare for the coming changes in metro area housing needs. For example, by 2040 the number of people over the age of 65 is expected to double and somehow all those seniors will have to find suitable housing. Because of their regional scope and ability to do long range planning, the Met Council is uniquely able to tackle such projects.

Susan concluded her remarks and responded to questions. President Doug then adjourned the meeting.