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C <br /> <br />.,+, , <br />a N ~ ~ <br />ar~`• ~ 1 <br />While parks and open space represent <br />' leisure and fun to most citizens, adop- <br />t lion of a new regional recreation open <br />space policy plan represented a major <br />Council work effort in 1980. <br />The plan estimates the outdoor recrea- <br />tion needs of the Metropolitan Area to <br />the year 2000 and selects park facilities <br />to rneet those needs. When it is trans- <br />formed from paper to reality, citizens <br />will find 11 more parks and six more <br />park reserves than the system now con- <br />tains. T'he plan also calls for extensive <br />development of the regional park sites. <br />The plan contains several major ele- <br />ments that distinguish it from the 1974 <br />park plan, which it replaced: <br />The capital improvement program <br />(CIP) included in the new plan calls for <br />expenditures of some $31 million for <br />acquisition and development in 1981- <br />82. However, the Council is now work- <br />ing with the implementing agencies to <br />cut the CIP total down to the range <br />suggested by the state Department of <br />Finance, $22.5 to $27.5 million. <br />Good parks benefit virtually everyone <br />and are a major factor in the high <br />"quality of life" of this Region. The <br />increasing cost and scarcity of gasoline <br />make it even more urgent that a "near- <br />in" regional park system be completed <br />and readily accessible to the half of the <br />state's people who live in the Seven- <br />County Area. <br />1. [t sets forth policies on providing <br />levels of regional recreational facil- <br />ities and levels of costs to taxpayers <br />that are equitable throughout the <br />Metropolitan Area. Policy 22 says <br />the parks should have consistent <br />basic operating policies and a stable <br />and equitable method of financing <br />their operation and maintenance. <br />2. It limits the number of implementing <br />agencies, which own and operate <br />the regional parks, to 10: the seven <br />counties and the cities of St. Paul, <br />Minneapolis and Bloomington. <br />3. It changes the status of several <br />park sites from the earlier plan: <br />- Hampton Woods, St. Francis <br />Hills and Mississippi Islands are <br />dropped. <br />-The regional parks of Lake <br />Minnetonka, Anoka County <br />Riverfront, and the Mississippi <br />Gorge, plus aspecial-use facility <br />to provide public access to Lake <br />Minnetonka, are added. <br />~. -Six regional sites are reclassified: <br />Big Marine Lake, Miesville Ravine <br />and Upper Grey Cloud Island <br />from parks to park reserves; <br />Grass-Vadnais, South Washington <br />County and Lebanon Hills from <br />park reserves to parks. <br />About 13,500 acres remain to be ac- <br />quired to complete the system. Most <br />of the newly acquired lands remain to <br />be developed. <br />Besides acquisition and development <br />funding, which the Council provides, <br />funding operations and maintenance of <br />the regional park system has become a <br />significant problem. While the Council <br />does not plan to recommend a shift <br />from local financing of these costs in <br />1981, it expects to recommend doing <br />so in the 1982 session. Concern on the <br />part of implementing agencies about <br />this increasing tax burden has become a <br />major impediment to implementation of <br />the regional park system. <br />Enmeshed in this issue is a key Council <br />goal for the system: to achieve an <br />equitable distribution of regional parks <br />around the Metropolitan Area. The <br />western portion of the Area is much <br />further along and moving at a more <br />rapid pace than the eastern section. <br />Local funding overlooks the fact that as <br />a regional facility, the park may be <br />needed primarily for residents of other <br />counties. Also at issue is equity. The <br />amount of tax money paid by each <br />citizen annually in the Metropolitan <br />Area for regional park operations varies <br />widely, from 99 cents to $15.50. <br />The Metropolitan Parks and Open Space <br />Commission helped the Council develop <br />the new plan and advises the Council in <br />carrying out the regional system <br />through review of implementing agency <br />plans and grant requests. The Council <br />has granted $82 million since 1974 to <br />buy and develop regional parklands <br />under the 1974 Metropolitan Parks Act. <br />Minn. Slat., secs. 473.301-473.341 <br />(1978J. <br />Metropolitan Solid Wast <br />Slut., secs. 473.801 -473 <br />That plan recognized the <br />diminishing landfill capa <br />priorities that emphasize <br />lion, waste recycling, an <br />recovery. <br />In support of the Counci <br />Legislature passed the 19 <br />Management Act, a tong <br />provide the tpachinery t <br />done. It contains enforc <br />and deals with both soli <br />waste as well as sewage s <br />Minn. Laws 1980, ch..56 <br />The law authorizes spen <br />million for waste manag <br />ning, site selection and a <br />for demonstration proje <br />The law requires selectio <br />lion of : at least one site <br />waste in the state by Ju <br />for chemical processing, <br />and temporarily storing <br />wastes; sites for landfills <br />politan Area to handle t <br />and other solid wastes b <br />and sites for the Aroa's s <br />ment residues -one for <br />and one for screenings, <br />erator ash. In addition, <br />plans to reduce and reus <br />fewer land dis~osai tacit <br />In the months since thr <br />the Council has stayed o <br />meeting its assigned res <br />In 1980, the ('ouncil <br />- Completed a report t <br />the needed landfill di <br />in the Metropolitan <br />now and the year 20 <br />- Developed a grant ag <br />the seven mctropoGt~ <br />fund county-level pl <br />tify four potential sa <br />sites and one demulit <br />lion debris landfill +i <br />county . <br />- Held welt-attended p <br />to review sludge. and <br />siting issues with the <br />law requires the Coo <br />three candidate sites <br />three candidate sites <br />1981. <br />- Completed a disposa <br />report that estimate- <br />tion,recycling, pros <br />source recovery, the <br /> <br />