Metro briefs: Prior Lake changes bow fishing rules

The Prior Lake City Council voted last week to allow bow fishing without a special hunting permit — just in time for the city's annual Carp Tournament.

City ordinance previously defined bow fishing as hunting because of the weapon used. The sport involves shooting a tethered arrow down into the water, and is often used to remove "rough fish," such as carp. Bow fishing is permitted by state statute and licensed through the Department of Natural Resources.

Though the change wasn't effective immediately, the city made an exception for the Carp Tournament, which was held Saturday.

"While we understand that there are technical issues here, we're allowing these sorts of things to proceed for this week … if you will," said City Administrator Frank Boyles.

Emma Nelson

Hennepin County will host a health and safety fair from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday on the North Plaza of the Hennepin County Government Center. Exhibits will include emergency preparations, bike and pedestrian planning, the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department and local fire departments.

The event is the first of many Summer on the Plaza events. The series runs June through August during the lunch hour on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. A schedule can be found at www.hennepin.us/summerontheplaza.

The White House and U.S. Department of Energy recognized the city of Minneapolis and Xcel Energy for helping owners of large buildings understand how their buildings use energy.

Owners and managers of buildings larger than 50,000 square feet must now disclose data on their energy use, a requirement that aims to increase energy awareness and boost efficiency. The new Web-based tool developed through the partnership allows building owners and managers to access whole-building data online. Before now, reporting the data has been a manual process that required managers of multitenant buildings to collect spreadsheets or bills from tenants separately.

The initiative is part of President Obama's Climate Action Plan to engage leaders in state and local governments, utilities and industry to demonstrate innovative policies and programs that will transform the energy-efficiency market and cut buildings' energy waste. In 2013, Minneapolis and Xcel Energy joined 19 city-utility pairs across the U.S. that have committed to developing tools to help building owners understand their energy use with a goal of saving energy and money.

Staff Report

On Thursday, officers from the Washington County Sheriff's Office will meet informally with residents in Hugo for "Coffee With a Cop," a practice of community policing. The event will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. at Dunn Bros Coffee, 14775 Victor Hugo Blvd.

Mueller said the Sheriff's Office wants to extend coffee meetings with other cities and townships it covers, but hasn't decided on a schedule.

The city of Hugo doesn't have its own police force but instead contracts with Washington County, and "we have a pretty significant deputy presence there," Mueller said. Hugo has more than 14,000 residents.

Coffee With a Cop is a national initiative supported by the U.S. Department of Justice.

For further information, contact Deputy Mark Rindfleisch at 651-430-7670, ext. 5336, or at mark.rindfleisch@co.washington.mn.us