Golden Valley Council Votes ‘Yes’ to Light Rail Resolution

In a decision that Golden Valley City Councilmember Joanie Clausen characterized as one of the most difficult in her life, Clausen, Mayor Shep Harris, and Councilmember Mike Freiberg voted 'yes' on a resolution of support for the Bottineau Transitway locally preferred alternative at a Dec. 18 council meeting.

"I want everyone here to know that I have heard all of your comments for and against this. I have weighed-in. I have worked hard. I have walked the line. I have ridden the rail. I have talked to residents," Clausen said. "And I have been doing my job."

To Clausen, her job is to look at the big picture and ensure that Golden Valley has an opportunity to get questions answered about the Bottineau Transitway.

Last summer, Clausen, along with Councilmember Paula Pentel and Councilmember DeDe Scanlon voted against the light rail.

With the resolution of support, the Metropolitan Council will now vote to incorporate the Golden Valley alignment into the 2030 Twin Cities Regional Transportation Policy Plan, making the project eligible for federal funding, according to council documents.

Before the federal government can approve the project, the Metropolitan Council will have to collect another round of approvals - called municipal consent - from every city on the line, including Golden Valley.

"Hennepin County has not twisted my arm. They have been very respectful," Clausen said. "The citizens have been the hardest part on me."

Not surprisingly, Pentel quickly disagreed with Clausen.

"We may think that we are studying, and indeed we are," Pentel said about the resolution, "but there is preliminary engineering that's going to go on. I know from being on the Planning Commission for 12 years, we can mitigate almost anything and we can build almost anything, anywhere."

According to Hennepin County’s Engineering and Transit Planning Manager Joseph Gladkem, preliminary engineering will cost about $90 million.

Pentel drew upon her upbringing in North Minneapolis, painting a picture of Wirth Park's silence, wildlife and nature--something that she feels will be ruined by frequent light rail stops through the community.

"Our community, as another person says, has been sliced and diced so that people from somewhere else can go somewhere else. People are moving through our community, and that’s an effect that I think is unfortunate," Pentel said. "For those reasons, [I am] voting against this. But I'm going to make sure that we have the best mitigation and the best citizen involvement going forward."

Mayor Harris echoed Pentel's thoughts of community involvement and agreed that residents must be involved prior to municipal consent. 

"I share your concerns," Harris said, "but I want to go forward and see if we can try to address them. It's not just the five of us, it's the whole community. It's not going to be pretty...but the only way to come out of it is to have the public involved."

Follow us on Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Sign up for our daily newsletter

***

Related Articles:

• Residents Urge Council to Say 'No' to Bottineau
• Clausen Won't Let History Influence Decision on Bottineau

• Golden Valley City Council Votes Against Transitway