1.A Ramsey County Rice Creek Trailhead Concept and TCAAP North-South Trail Connection Concept

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Ramsey County Rice Creek Trailhead Concept Greg Mack is currently in discussions with the Minnesota National Guard and the Army/GSA to obtain a 500 foot wide access corridor from County Road I to the Wildlife Corridor (see attachment). The purpose of the access corridor is to provide an entry road and event staging area for seasonal access to the Arden Hills Army Training Site (AHATS). The road would also provide supplementary access to the Rice Creek North Regional Trail and the Wildlife Corridor. The 500 foot wide access corridor would cross AHATS land and the western part of the Primer Tracer area. The AHATS area remains federal land and is leased to the Minnesota National Guard. The Primer Tracer area is part of the TCAAP property that is to be sold by auction in 2010. Due to the two jurisdictions, the corridor would require an agreement with the National Guard and with the Army. The portion of the corridor that crosses AHATS may be able to be leased, though the exact mechanism for obtaining access over the AHATS property has not been determined. For the portion of the access corridor that crosses the Primer Tracer Area, the County may be able to obtain ownership through special legislation or other process as part of the public sale. Under this proposal, the remaining portion of the Primer Tracer area would be used by the National Guard. The access corridor would become part of the County's park and open space system. The proposal is contingent upon seasonal access to AHATS that would not interfere with training, such as cross country skiing. Mr. Mack also recognizes that there is some contaminated land within the access corridor that would need to be addressed. Mr. Mack forwarded the proposal to Mr. Legare at the General Service Administration (GSA). According to Mr. Legare, such a proposal would be handled by the Army. As of the printing of this memo, there was no new information from the GSA or the Army regarding the proposal. To help advance this proposal, Mr. Mack would like input and, ideally, a letter of support from the City. If this project were to move forward, Mr. Mack is aware that the access corridor includes contaminated land that does not have funding sources for remediation. This would need to be investigated further to evaluate costs and cleanup methods once it is determined if a land transfer or access could occur. TCAAP North -South Trail Connection Concept The City's TCAAP Reuse Statement includes support for a north -south trail corridor from the Rice Creek North Regional Trail/Wildlife Corridor to the Highway 96 Regional Trail. The exact location for a north -south trail has not been determined because the location could depend on a number of factors, including the type of reuse that occurs on TCAAP, environmental remediation/limitation, and the potential for a transfer through special legislation. Greg Mack City ofArden Hills P: IAdminlCounciMgendas & Packet Information 1200911-30-09 TCAAP WorksessionPacket lnformationl IA 113009 - CC Memo -RC Trailhead and Rice Creek Trail. doc Page 2 of 5