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Community Corner

Bottineau Public Meetings Coming Up, Residents Reflect on Council Decision

With new Bottineau meetings scheduled, Golden Valley Patch reached out to two vocal residents to get both sides of the Bottineau debate.

The Bottineau Transitway is slowly becoming a reality. Plans show the transitway coming through Golden Valley, which has stirred quite a bit of controversy among residents and city leaders.

Last December, the council voted to support the rail line through the city. Today, both the Met Council and the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board are scheduling public meetings to move plans forward.

Related: Met Council Will Hold Public Hearing on Bottineau

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The topic has generated discussions on Golden Valley Patch, so we reached out to two Patch users to get their take on the recent decision.

"I was happy to see that the majority of the council members took the time to research the issue and made a decision that will help bring Light Rail through Golden Valley along the preferred route," Patch user and Golden Valley resident Andy Snope said. "Bringing a commuter route through Golden Valley will give residents an opportunity to have additional alternatives to connect with the rest of the metro area."

Find out what's happening in Golden Valleywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Candace Oathout thought that the decision to pass a resolution of support for Bottineau was a poor one.

"Whether taxpayer dollars come from city, county, state or federal government, they all come from taxpayers who are experiencing some of the worst economic conditions since the Great Depression," Oathout told Patch. "Property owners across the county are paying taxes that are greater than their original payments when they purchased their homes, sometimes even more than they originally paid for their property originally."

Snope said the construction of the route along this rail corridor "will be less disruptive" than the other proposed alignments, but Oathout disagreed, saying that the D-1 alignment will seriously impact the open space of Theodore Wirth Park.

On Feb. 27, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board will host a public meeting to discuss that very topic.

According to a recent press release, a community visioning meeting will be held to help community members "best understand the issues and opportunities surrounding the introduction of the proposed Bottineau Transitway to the landscape adjacent to the park."

"The more urbanized the city becomes the more important the oasis of the Park will be to City residents," Oathout said.

SHARE: Will you attend the park board visioning meeting? Tell us why in the comments.

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