Briefs: Scott County gets land for mental health center

The Savage Economic Development Authority on Monday approved the sale of city-owned property at 12390 Ottawa Av. for $1 to the county's Community Development Agency.

The downtown site will house a 16-bed center for people with short-term mental health issues and those who require more intensive treatment. St. Paul-based mental health provider Guild Inc. is slated to run programming.

This year's state bonding bill allocated $1.9 million for the project, which also received funding from Scott and Dakota counties.

Liz Sawyer

Add New Hope to the growing list of Minnesota cities looking at dockless bike sharing programs, a trend taking root across the country.

City officials are weighing whether to strike an agreement with LimeBike, a Bay Area-based bike-share company that has stirred interest in neighboring suburbs such as Golden Valley, Edina, St. Louis Park and Robbinsdale.

Golden Valley and Edina planned to begin a pilot program on June 1 using LimeBike that would run through the end of the year. After several delays, officials in both cities say they expect the bikes to arrive sometime in July.

Hannah Covington

The Washington County Board last month authorized land purchases for the Big Marine Park Reserve in Scandia and the future Grey Cloud Island Regional Park on the Mississippi River.

The board approved a $571,000 purchase for the Big Marine Park Reserve. When completed, that park will include 1,800 acres with 80 percent of the land set aside for preservation.

Earlier in June, the board signed off on a $550,000 purchase of 29 acres, most of it water acreage, to be set aside for the proposed 1,400-acre Grey Cloud Island Regional Park.

County Property Manager Sharon Price said that both sellers reached out to the county to sell the properties.

Richfield police this year have raised $10,300 for Special Olympics Minnesota, a nonprofit representing athletes with intellectual disabilities.

Richfield officers participated in four events to raise money for the organization, including a Polar Plunge and the final leg of the torch run leading up to last month's Special Olympics Summer Games. They also sold apparel.

Officers hope to raise more money this fall in a "plane pull," in which eight of them will test how far they can tug a Delta Air Lines plane.

"As a department, we have supported numerous charitable causes throughout the years, but I have to say that the Special Olympics is probably our favorite," Richfield Police Chief Jay Henthorne said.