Politics & Government

Golden Valley Officials Concerned About Upcoming Bottineau Meeting

In a letter sent to members of the Hennepin County Board and Metropolitan Council, Mayor Shep Harris asked for clarification regarding the purpose of the upcoming Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board's community meeting.

On Feb. 27, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board will host a public meeting to discuss how plans for the Bottineau Transitway may impact open space near Theodore Wirth Park.

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In a letter sent last week to the Hennepin County Board and Metropolitan Council, Golden Valley Mayor Shep Harris outlined concerns regarding the upcoming meetings and intended outcomes.

Harris said that city staff was “informed” that outcomes of the Park Board meeting might be used as part of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) application needed to begin preliminary engineering.

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“We believe that broad-scale public input over number, location, and function of light rail station(s) in Golden Valley must be facilitated through Golden Valley’s established public procedure at a later stage in the Bottineau Transitway planning process,” Harris wrote in the letter, which was sent to Mike Opat, Chair of the Hennepin County Board, and Susan Haigh, Chair of the Met Council. “Altering or pre-empting local municipalities’ methods of conducting public meetings and soliciting public input establishes a negative precedent for further Transitway decisions.”

Harris reiterated that Golden Valley is overall supportive of the light rail coming through the community, but that the process to build the light rail will require two-way communication.

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