November 9, 2026 Committee of the Whole

At the Minneapolis City Council Committee of the Whole meeting on November 9, 2026, members advanced several procurement and funding items for consideration at the November 12 Council meeting. Committee reports included accepting a bid for the 18th Avenue South Bridge reconstruction, amending LaFrance Construction LLC’s contract for roof and exterior repairs at the Fridley Water Maintenance Facility, and authorizing a contract for electric-vehicle charging stations. Other reported items included master contracts for workplace investigation services, a DRI contract amendment for management assessment services, interpreting-services contracts with Piedmont Global LLC and Certified Languages International LLC, and a contract with Conservation Corps Minnesota and Iowa. The reports also listed grant acceptances or agreements related to the Metro Blue Line Extension, travel-demand management, and other infrastructure work; these were presented as items for subsequent Council action, not final awards at this meeting.

The committee approved, by 11 votes to 0 with one abstention, a $1.8 million allocation to continue emergency housing vouchers in 2027–28, using local affordable-housing aid funds. The program was described as supporting 50 individuals and 50 families for a three-year period, with wraparound services; members requested follow-up information on the combined funding available from government partners. Members also advanced a data-center zoning ordinance to the full Council. A proposed citywide ban and a planning-commission recommendation requiring an overlay district both failed on 6–6 votes. Amendments reducing the proposed maximum size from 175,000 to 150,000 square feet and requiring qualifying data centers to use a green-pricing electricity program passed, and the amended ordinance was forwarded unanimously. The measure would limit data centers to specified downtown districts and impose additional zoning and energy requirements.