Sponsor: Parks & Recreation
Title
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Temporary Construction Easement Agreement and Permanent Public Trail Right-Of-Way Easement Agreement for Vadnais-Snail Lake Regional Park with the City of Shoreview
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Recommendation
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1. Approve a temporary construction easement agreement and permanent public trail right-of-way easement agreement for paved trail with the City of Shoreview at 318 Floral Drive, Shoreview, MN adjacent to Vadnais-Snail Lakes Regional Park.
2. Approve a temporary construction easement agreement and permanent public trail right-of-way easement agreement for paved trail with the City of Shoreview at 358 Dennison Ave, Shoreview, MN adjacent to Vadnais-Snail Lakes Regional Park.
3. Authorize the Chair and Chief Clerk to execute the easement agreements.
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Background and Rationale
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Ramsey County is the fee owner of the Vadnais-Snail Lakes Regional Park property in the City of Shoreview. The Snail Lake section of Vadnais-Snail Lake Regional Park has an existing paved, multi-use public trail constructed by the county in 1998 as part of the development of the regional park trail system. The trail that was constructed passes over two parcels owned by the City of Shoreview. No formal agreement was created or documented for the construction or the trail or for ongoing use of the trails by the county across the city-owned property.
To assign ownership of the trail for maintenance and liability purposes, a temporary construction easement and permanent easement is now being established to allow the county to continue to own and operate the trail segments built on City of Shoreview property. Over the past year, county staff have worked with the city to complete a design for improvements to the paved trail to inform the permanent easements extents. The City of Shoreview has agreed to grant easements for the two city-owned parcels.
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County Goals (Check those advanced by Action)
☒ Well-being ☐ Prosperity ☒ Opportunity ☒ Accountability
Racial Equity Impact
This is a regional park that attracts visitors from around the region, including the surrounding city of Shoreview, which consists of 17.5% people of color (African American, American Indian/Alaskan Native, Asian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic). By obtaining permanent easements, the county will be able to provide park users with a multi-use public trail amenity.
Community Participation Level and Impact
These properties were previously identified for potential trail corridor easement as a solution to trail flooding part of a 2020 Metropolitan Council process for regional park and trail system additions. The development of the 2020 Vadnais Snail Lakes Regional Park Long Range Plan Update included a robust community engagement process to reach as wide of an audience as possible, while also focusing on an equitable approach through a selection of engagement sessions to reach as diverse audience as possible. The county has planned improvements for the trail system to address past flooding issues in park scheduled for 2025. These improvements are based on the 2020 Long Range Plan Update and 2022 Trail Feasibility Study community feedback. These two city-owned properties and trail were part of that community discussion. The level of impact to the community is great based on the comments received about trail’s importance to the community.
☒ Inform ☒ Consult ☐ Involve ☐ Collaborate ☐ Empower
Fiscal Impact
The permanent easement compensation was agreed to be granted at no cost to the county.
There are no other fiscal impacts to the Parks and Recreation Department budget.
Last Previous Action
On April 4, 2021, the County Board approved the Vadnais-Snail Lakes Regional Park Long Range Plan Amendment which addressed infrastructure that has been adversely affected by fluctuating water levels make the trails unusable (Resolution B2021-083).
Attachments
1. Permanent Easement Agreements and Exhibits