06-03-13 JDA - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

amsey County TCAAP Redevelopment Project Monthly Report May 2013 Visit www.tcaap.net for the most recent information. “Building Breaking” Event—June 7th -- 3-5 p.m. The project kick-off event is a “building breaking” (as opposed to a more traditional “groundbreaking”) on June 7th. Speakers will include County Board Chair Rafael Ortega, Arden Hills Mayor David Grant, and Congresswoman Betty McCollum. The Irondale Marching Band will perform, and honored guests will include fifth graders from Valentine Hills, Turtle Lake and Sunnyside, Pinewood, Island Lake, and Bel Air Elementary Schools. These students represent the future of TCAAP and the economic opportunities it will represent for Ramsey County and the East Metro. The event will culminate with pyrotechnics provided by Bolander, the County’s remediation and demolition contractor, and destruction of the administration building. Demolition Work Begins Bolander’s crews began demolition activities in late April. So far, they have dismantled most of one of the largest buildings on site, Building 101. This is a former manufacturing building. It has a “twin” on the site, Building 102, which is ready for demolition as well. Crews have also demolished the old power plant. Throughout the summer, they will be separating all of the recyclable and re-usable materials in the buildings and working with their recycling vendors to have material hauled away. You can watch video of the demolition at www.tcaap.net. Legislative Update Ramsey County requested $35 million in Transportation for Economic Development (TED) funds from MNDOT (over a 3- 4 year period, $4.5 million for the first year). The Governor included $10 million per year of TED funds in his budget, but MNDOT testified before the Transportation Committees in the House and Senate that our project was not a good fit for their criteria to acquire these funds. Governor Dayton then requested $30 million in “Roads of Regional Significance” bond funds and specifically noted that TCAAP and Rochester road projects should be given priority for this fund. A bonding bill that had funding for local roads and bridges could not garner the required 80 votes in the House to pass. The Omnibus Transportation Finance bill did have $300 million in highway bonding for a new MNDOT category called “Corridors of Opportunity.” This legislation passed and was signed into law by the Governor. Although TCAAP is not specifically called out in this legislation, it meets the criteria and would be a good candidate for funding. County staff will meet with MNDOT in early June and will get a clearer picture of the possibilities for funding TCAAP road improvements at that time. Community Open House--Update On May 7th, over 200 residents of Arden Hills, Shoreview, New Brighton and Mounds View attended an open house at Public Works to learn more about the pollution and remediation project at TCAAP. Staff, consultants and contractors were on hand to talk with residents one-on-one, answer questions, and explain this phase of the project.