Agenda - Environmental Policy Board - 06/17/2008

Home

'erH TRUST ,~ PUBllC LAND ~+~1;;;.::.: RAMSEY CITY, MINNESOTA Feasibility Study Historically, since 1996, 76 percent of state and local conservation finance measures were successful nationwide. In Minnesota, 25 state and local land conservation measures have been approved at the ballot (78 percent) during this time period. Appendix I includes a list of all local land conservation ballot measures that have occurred since 1996. General Background1 The City of Ramsey is located in the southwestern part of Anoka County, one of the east- central counties that make up the seven-county region known as the Twin Cities Metropolitan Area. These counties are subject to the regional jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Council, a Twin-Cities multi-county planning body charged with managing the region's transportation, wastewater, and parks systems, and coordinating planning for the area's many local governments. Ramsey city falls under district 9 of the Metropolitan Council. The sector liaison between the Council and the City is Patrick Boylan. Two rivers dominate Ramsey's borders. The Rum River separates Ramsey from the cities of Andover and Anoka to the east and the Mississippi River separates Ramsey from Hennepin County and the City of Dayton to the south. West of Ramsey is Sherburne County and the City of Elk River, a growing community and region. To the north is Burns Township, one of the few remaining townships in Anoka County. Recently Burns applied to the state to become a city. The City of Oak Grove lies to the northeast. The City of Ramsey sits on the Anoka Sandplain, a surface consisting of sandy soils with a high water table resulting in areas of dry sandy uplands suitable for urban type developments and wet lowlands, less fitting for development. The original landscape consisted of scattered groupings of oaks and open prairies on the uplands and wet prairies, marshes and conifer bogs on the lower lands. Today, residents' homes are under or within the mature oak woods, supplemented by pine plantings. Wetlands remain a predominant open space feature throughout the city. One of the most extensive of these exists around Trott Brook, which creates a large natural corridor across the northern part of Ramsey stretching from the western border east to the Rum River. While Trott Brook has been ditched to relieve residents of water problems it remains relatively undeveloped along its banks. Other ditches create waterway corridors through northern Ramsey connecting a series of wetlands that drain east into the Rum River. These ditches form the backbone of the sub- watersheds in Ramsey. Trott Brook has been identified by the city as one of the key areas to acquire land and right-of-ways for a regional hiking trail. 1 Excerpted from City of Ramsey website and 2001 Comprehensive Plan Trott Brook Corridor 4