The Minneapolis City Council met Friday and acted on a variety of issues. Among its actions:

Skyway Senior Center

Accepted a $75,000 grant for the Skyway Senior Center from the UCare Fund, which means that health plan is replacing Medica as the major funder of the city-managed downtown drop-in center for older people.

The grant relieves much of the financial uncertainty that's been hanging over the center since Medica announced it is ending support it began in 2005. The deal includes naming benefits for UCare at the center.

The center is on the skyway level of the LaSalle Avenue side of the Target store building, 950 Nicollet Mall. It bills itself as a meeting place for people who are 55 or older. It offers classes, exercise, computer access and other community resources.

Nice Ride expansion

Authorized a contract with Nice Ride Minnesota for $228,500 to further expand the new bike-sharing program on the North Side next year.

The money will add rental kiosks with a total of at least 65 bikes at five North Side locations to be determined. The money is coming from federal stimulus money and is part of an effort to boost the program's outreach to lower-income parts of the city. A sixth North Side kiosk will be funded by a separate federal grant.

Under the stimulus grant, a community outreach process will explore barriers to using the rental bikes, such as lack of access to credit cards among certain populations. At a community meeting on Sept. 15 at 7 p.m. at 2001 Plymouth Av. N., Nice Ride is seeking advice on where it should expand kiosks. The system has recorded about 57,000 bike rentals since being launched June 10.

Dolan legal bills

Approved $60,883 in reimbursement for outside legal bills incurred by Police Chief Tim Dolan when he faced criminal and ethics investigations in 2008 that ultimately resulted in no charges being filed against him.

The investigations were prompted by complaints against Dolan filed by the Police Officers Federation of Minneapolis, the union representing police. The complaints involved whether a police sergeant's reassignment criminally violated the state's data practices law, and whether the chief ran afoul of the city's ethics law by boarding his dog at a department kennel.

The council action leaves Dolan with about $12,000 in legal bills to cover for the ethics portion of the probe.

Steve Brandt • 612-673-4438