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Councilmember Elvig noted that he lived along the river in Anoka and they had a lot of problems <br />with ice damaging the shoreline and many people had to put in boulders so their mature trees <br />didn't fall in. He stated that he is unsure how you get information to homeowners on the best <br />ways to maintain the shoreline areas without losing their trees. <br />Ms. Jones stated that there needs to be educational programs because she thinks a lot of people <br />want to do the right thing, but they don't know what to do. She reviewed more developments in <br />Ramsey such as Alpaca Estates, Bowers Drive and Rivenwick. She reviewed the preferred <br />Highway 10 alignment including the approximate location of the Ramsey /Dayton Bridge. She <br />reviewed maps of the existing and proposed trails. <br />Councilmember Elvig stated that it seems like everyone thinks trails are very important so he <br />doesn't understand why everyone wouldn't have a plan to connect this side of the river to the <br />trails in the Elm Creek Park Preserve. <br />Ms. Jones stated that inter jurisdictional issues are difficult. She stated that one of the other big <br />issues is the overlapping of Wild and Scenic and the Critical Area and read through the <br />Executive Orders. <br />Mayor Gamec stated that the City has tried to eliminate the overlapping for several years and this <br />is one of the reasons it took so long for Rivenwick to move forward. <br />Environmental Coordinator Anderson stated that Parks Supervisor Riverblood had a short slide <br />presentation to talk about economic development and the local and regional tourist possibilities. <br />Councilmember Strommen stated that she thinks the park topic should be on the EDA's agenda <br />sometime because this is an asset that has not been addressed. She stated that she thinks the City <br />should broaden the perspective and talk about how it can use an asset and resource like the river. <br />Councilmember Elvig stated that he also thinks one of the selling points would be a rail stop, but <br />there needs to be the connection piece to get people from here to there. <br />Parks Supervisor Riverblood stated that the Mississippi River Trail (MRT) system will be a <br />3,000 mile world class national trail experience. He stated that it will run from Lake Itasca to <br />New Orleans and he thinks that Ramsey is uniquely positioned to take advantage of it. He stated <br />that it will be similar to the Appalachia Trail, which is 2,174 miles long, but has a different <br />demographic because you won't need to "rough it" on the Mississippi River Trail. He stated that <br />there is already a MRT website that has information. He stated that recently there was the <br />MS150 bike event that raised $2.7 million, but also benefited the local communities that the <br />event passed through. He showed some possible trails and pedestrian bridges and noted that <br />there were a lot of possible fund sources, but that the effort needs to be organized and also bring <br />in some political pressure. He stated that the trail would touch all 8 congressional districts in the <br />State. He reviewed some grant possibilities and stated that he thinks the trails will benefit all <br />segments of the community: economy and tourism; health and community development; and <br />environmental and recreation. <br />City Council Work Session / June 17, 2008 <br />Page 5 of 8 <br />