Sponsor: Parks & Recreation
Title
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Grant Agreement with Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for Stormwater Redevelopment Planning and Design at Battle Creek Regional Park
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Recommendation
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1. Ratify the submittal of the grant application to Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to conduct a planning and design project at Battle Creek Regional Park for stormwater redevelopment.
2. Accept a grant award and approve a grant agreement with Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for the Overflow Sewer Grant Program upon execution through January 30, 2025, in the amount of $240,000.
3. Authorize the Chair and Chief Clerk to execute the grant agreement.
4. Authorize the County Manager to execute amendments to grant agreement in accordance with the county’s policies and procedures, including changes to grant award amounts and grant extensions.
5. Authorize the County Manager to enter into agreements and execute amendments to agreements in accordance with the county’s procurement policies and procedures, provided the amounts are within the limits of the grant funding.
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Background and Rationale
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The eastern trails area of Battle Creek Regional Park is home to a very large and complex wetland ecosystem that meanders through prairies, oak savannah, and woodlands. Current stormwater infrastructure, which moves water through the park, is beyond its life cycle and showing signs of wear and tear. The result is localized floods, erosion, and damage to natural resources. Funding was required to be able to remediate the most severe infrastructure issues. Parks and Recreation will develop a plan with the assistance of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) to identify how this complex system works. This plan will address stormwater storage and treatment to reduce localized flooding in adjacent neighborhoods. The resulting infrastructure can be considered a park amenity since it will bring open water areas into the public view. This project will serve as an excellent opportunity to educate park users and create unique areas for the public to interact with large scale stormwater infrastructure. Parks and Recreation will conduct a planning and design project that includes engineering and design for the redevelopment of existing stormwater, flood, and wetland infrastructure at Battle Creek Regional Park.
Workplan objectives are:
• Preform a geotechnical analysis to obtain information on the physical properties of soil and underlaying rock.
• Preform a topographic survey to map the natural and man-made feature of the project area.
• Preform an engineering analysis, storm water and flood modeling of the project area.
• Assemble a report detailing the design, drainage, restoration plans and construction development.
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County Goals (Check those advanced by Action)
☒ Well-being ☐ Prosperity ☐ Opportunity ☒ Accountability
Racial Equity Impact
Battle Creek Regional Park is located in a highly underserved community of approximately 37% people of color and concentrated poverty of approximately 20% in the city of Saint Paul. This project will focus on treating and storing storm water to reduce localized flooding in adjacent communities. The project scope will occur in a degraded natural area that has significant racial equity disparities to high quality natural environments. Degraded natural resource environments cause a lack of balance that effects the ecosystem ability to mitigate floods, sequester carbon, and maintain high quality diversity in the living environment. Lastly, this will be an excellent opportunity to educate park users and create unique areas for the public to interact with large scale stormwater infrastructure.
Community Participation Level and Impact
The Battle Creek Long Range Plan completed in 2023, addressed many aging infrastructure issues. Extensive community engagement was completed during that process. Parks and Recreation connected with many community members, environmental organizations, and other stakeholder organizations throughout the Long-range plan. Many included the natural resource benefits of Battle Creek Park as both a reason to visit as well as a noteworthy item to be protected and enhanced. Comments from Friends of the Mississippi River were particularly helpful and supportive of the natural resource section of the plan. While community members are supportive and aware of the natural resource impacts within Battle Creek, the professional expertise of staff and various stakeholders is invaluable to building the knowledge base and actions necessary to protect and enhance the natural beauty of the park. Restoration work for the eastern trails area in the Long-range plan includes clearing buckthorn, restoring oak woodlands, and addressing storm water infrastructure needs.
☒ Inform ☒ Consult ☐ Involve ☐ Collaborate ☐ Empower
Fiscal Impact
This grant program requires no local match and therefore there is not an anticipated cost to the department. Any necessary design work will be completed by Parks and Recreation staff. The grant award was not included in the 2024-2025 Parks and Recreation budget. The funds associated with this grant will expire on January 30, 2025.
Last Previous Action
On May 9, 2023, the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners approved the Battle Creek Regional Park Long Range Plan (Resolution B2023-070).
Attachments
1. Grant Agreement