4. Discussion on State Bonding request for Gateway Trail pre-designA bill for an act
relating to local government; modifying expiration of metropolitan agricultural
preserves; authorizing the sale and issuance of state bonds for predesign and design
of the Gateway Trail; appropriating money; amending Minnesota Statutes 2016,
section 473H.08, subdivisions 1, 4, by adding a subdivision.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA:
Section 1. Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 473H.08, subdivision 1, is
amended to read:
Subdivision 1. Till expiration started. Agricultural preserves shall continue
until either the landowner or, the authority, or a state agency or governmental unit
initiates expiration as provided in this section.
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.
Sec. 2. Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 473H.08, is amended by adding a
subdivision to read:
Subd. 3a. Expiration for park and trail purposes. (a) An agricultural
preserve expires immediately when a state agency or other governmental unit
purchases the property or obtains an easement over the property for the purpose of
creating or expanding a public trail or public park. This subdivision applies only to
the portion of the agricultural preserve acquired for trail or park purposes, and any
portion of the property not acquired for trail or park purposes shall remain an
agricultural preserve.
(b) The acquiring state agency or governmental unit shall give notice to the
authority as provided in subdivision 5. The notice must specify the portion of the
property being removed from the agricultural preserve and the date on which that
portion expires.
01/05/18 REVISOR LCB/RC 18-5335
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment ,
and applies to any situation where the previously required 8-year termination
period required by Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 473H.08 has not yet expired.
Sec. 3. Minnesota Statutes 2016, section 473H.08, subdivision 4, is amended
to read:
Subd. 4. Notice to others. Upon receipt of the notice provided in
subdivision 2 or 3a, or upon notice served by the authority as provided in
subdivision 3, the authority shall forward the original notice to the county recorder
for recording, or to the registrar of titles if the land is registered, and shall notify
the county auditor, county assessor, the Metropolitan Council, and the county soil
and water conservation district of the date of expiration. Designation as an
agricultural preserve and all benefits and limitations accruing through sections
473H.02 to 473H.17 for the preserve shall cease on the date of expiration. The
restrictive covenant contained in the application shall terminate on the date of
expiration.
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.
Sec. 4. GATEWAY TRAIL PREDESIGN AND DESIGN.
Subdivision 1. Appropriation. $500,000 is appropriated from the bond
proceeds fund to the commissioner of natural resources for predesign and design of
the Gateway Trail from William O'Brien State Park to downtown Scandia. The
commissioner must grant at least two-thirds 10 percent of the appropriation to the
city of Scandia for local involvement in the predesign and design process and for
predesign and design of connections between the Gateway Trail and safe
connections to the Gammelgarden Museum and safe cycling routes within the city
and may retain up to one-third of the appropriation for use in assisting the city of
Scandia with the Gateway Trail predesign and design. The predesign and design
must include consideration of suitable connections between the Gateway Trail and
the William O'Brien State Park campground and trail center.
Subd. 2. Bond sale. To provide the money appropriated in this section from
the bond proceeds fund, the commissioner of management and budget shall sell
and issue bonds of the state in an amount up to $500,000 in the manner, upon the
terms, and with the effect prescribed by Minnesota Statutes, sections 16A.631 to
16A.675, and by the Minnesota Constitution, article XI, sections 4 to 17.
EFFECTIVE DATE. This section is effective the day following final enactment.
1
Neil Soltis
From:John Herman <johndiane.herman@gmail.com>
Sent:Tuesday, January 30, 2018 4:13 PM
To:sen.karin.housley@senate.mn; rep.bob.dettmer@house.mn
Cc:Neil Soltis; c.maefsky@ci.scandia.mn.us; Mr. John J. Kaul; Lisa Philippi
Subject:Re: Scandia Bonding Request for Gateway Trail
Attachments:JH 10% Gateway Comments to Lauren Bethke draft.docx; Untitled attachment
00234.html
Sen. Housley and Rep. Dettmer,
Thank you both again for your support and assistance in the bonding request of the City of Scandia for the
Gateway Trail extension from William O’Brien to downtown Scandia. As you recall from our earlier meetings,
I am working with a volunteer group at the City to advance this effort and the Mayor asked me to send you this
email update.
First, and most important, we are very pleased to advise you that John Kaul, who lobbies for Washington
County, has agreed (with the County’s consent) to represent Scandia on this matter. We know John has worked
with both of you on many matters and brings to the effort great legislative expertise and credibility for this
endeavor. John said he would try to see both of you in the next week or so to touch base and discuss co-authors
with you.
Second, we have reviewed the draft bill Karin kindly had the Revisor’s office prepare and the City has a few
comments on that draft. I agreed to send the comments to you and request that Karin ask the Revisor to modify
the bill accordingly. John Kaul said he would check in with your office, Karin, and see if he could run the bill
over to Lauren Brethke at the Revisor’s to make the changes. The changes are basically two:
1. having more of the funds go to the DNR (90%) since they have the largest role here (both on the trail
segment and in design of the connections in the Park) and clarifying that the funds to the City can be
used for connections to Gammelgarden and Olinda Ave. in Scandia, and
2. making it explicitly clear that the amendment to allow the trail easement to be removed from Metro
Agricultural Preserves Tax treatment apply to our pending situation.
Here is the Revisor’s draft with these changes shown. Let me or John Kaul or me know if you have any
questions.
Thank you again for working with the City, Cycling Scandia and our larger Gateway Trail coalition to make
this happen. Please call either me or the Mayor with any questions or concerns.
February 7, 2018
Senator Karin Housley
Representative Robert Dettmer
Re: Scandia Trail Legislation—Thank you!!
Dear Karin and Bob,
On behalf of the entire Scandia City Council, thank you for your authorship and support of the
City’s proposal for bonding funds to do the design and predesign for the Gateway Trail segment
from the William O’Brien State Park to downtown Scandia and to allow immediate use of the
already acquired trail easement by the State. We believe this will be a great recreational and
economic benefit to our community.
Scandia is already a major bike destination for serious bicycle club training and recreational use.
With this connection, we can begin to bridge the most difficult gap to connecting to both the
Hardwood Creek State Trail to the west in Forest Lake and the Immigrant State Trail to the
north in Lindstrom. Doing so will open up many new trail loops for serious cycling and make our
community a hub for bike recreation in the Metro Area. To further foster this work, Scandia is
committed to exploring a network of low volume bike routes (we have one already—the Sand
Lake loop) throughout Scandia, and to working with the DNR on connections from t he State
Trail to our downtown businesses and the regionally significant Gammelgarden Museum.
Scandia is proud to be the location of many parks and natural amenities. We are bordered by
the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway on the east and are home to O’Brien State Park and Big
Marine County Park. We envision a city that provides a full range of recreation opportunities to
encourage multi-day park stays and multiple uses. For example, for the O’Brien family campers,
the City already provides two major tot-lot playgrounds for younger children—all within a few
blocks on safe routes from the proposed Gateway extension trail terminus. Similarly, for our
residents, this will allow easy access to the swimming beach at William O’Brien, the only public
beach along the riverway for over 30 miles.
Bringing access to the center of our community to and from William O’Brien will open up many
new recreation options for the 500 plus campers that use O’Brien on busy weekends and for
many community residents. It is why the State’s recreation plans have consistently ranked
connections to State Parks as a high trail priority. We believe this will have long -term benefits
for our City and the whole of Northern Washington County for decades to come.
Thank you again for your foresight and support. We look forward to working with you on
passage of this crucial legislation.
Sincerely,
Christine
Christine Maefsky
Mayor, City of Scandia