The news, as of January 8, 2010

               All right of way issues have been resolved.  Easements have been acquired on private parcels through condemnation, prices to be determined in court.  Funds have been set aside.
              Last  week, the City Council approved easement agreements with BNSF, Northstar/Met Council, and the Federal Reserve.  The agreement with the Minnesota Ballpark Authority is with the lawyers, and goes to the City Council for approval next week.

All of this allows the City to issue a Right of Way Certificate, and submit it to MNDOT and the Feds by Feb 1.  Their approval should be a formality.

Construction bids will be let by March 15 and decided upon by April 1.  Trail construction will start May 15, and be completed by the fall.

2008-09 activities and items of interest can be found in our fall 2009 color newsletter

Our activities in 2008

The City of Lakes Loppet, now in its 7^th year, is the largest urban cross country ski race in the country. The 35 kilometer course now includes almost 2k of beautiful, groomed ski trail through the prairie and woods of the park, as well as trail on Cedar Lake. The weekend event, scheduled this year for Jan 30-Feb 1 2009, has truly arrived and we have been part of the large volunteer corps since the beginning. For the past few years, CLPA volunteers have run the finish line food tent, providing hundreds of cold, hungry and thirsty racers hot, soup, energy drink, yogurt, fruit, granola bars and cookies, served in a heated tent. Last year, we partnered with National Honor Society students from Providence Academy in Plymouth, and they had so much fun, and acquired some community service hours, that they will be back this year. For more information about the Loppet, go to www.cityoflakesloppet.com, where you can learn of many positive accomplishments of the ski community, such as the lighted trails with snowmaking in Wirth Park and the educational program at Bryn Mawr Elementary School.

Prairie plantings

 Volunteers from Data Recognition Corporation, led by Neil Trembley, planted hundreds of a variety of prairie plants in their annual planting.  This year, the occasion was a beautiful sunny day in June. The program is to select an area to enrich, consult with Ron Bowen, our long-term friend from Prairie Restoration Inc, for an appropriate plant list, and arrive on site through the Upton Ave S gateway early in the morning. Ron delivers the plants, Neil and his crew walk north, and a good time is had by all. In addition, they spend some time removing invasives from the prairie such as leafy spurge, wormwood, dandelion, and errant cottonwoods.

 A few years ago, we commissioned a prairie study to ascertain the health of our prairie restoration, one of the largest urban prairie restorations in the county. Now in its 13^th year, we wanted to determine how many different species of native plants we could find, and the density of plants and grasses. We were happy to find over 70 types, and rich density in many areas, with some areas showing slower progress. We also learned that prairies are naturally rich in butterflies, and that the two researchers saw dozens of species. They suggested that another survey could focus on butterflies, birds, and other insects. To view a copy of this report, including the methodology and GPS locations, contact us.

Twins Stadium

Construction Update
12/01/08

     
This Update is the 74^th in a series of informational alerts to let you know about the construction going on related to the Twins Ballpark.  

Here’s what going on at the Ballpark:

• Through the winter, interior finishes (wall studs, sheetrock and taping, ceilings) will begin in earnest.  
• Permanent power will be energized early in 2009.
• Precast stadia (the places where the seats will go) have started and will proceed through the winter (This is crane work).
• Steel erection will continue through the winter and spring (This is also crane work).
• Scoreboard structure will be erected in the winter.
• Stone and glass exterior continue through the winter.
• Twins administration building (Over by the Ford Center and the Light Rail platform) closed in during winter.
• Begin plaza extension to 1^st Avenue North and skyway connections from the Ballpark plaza by the B Ramp and at the corner of 7^th Street & 3^rd Avenue North this winter.
• Begin foundation work for A ramp elevated walkway to the Ballpark in the winter.
• Field lighting will start on the edge of the sun canopy (roof over the upper seats) in the winter.
• Core building (Connecting the Northstar commuter rail platform with the LRT station and the Ballpark) shell made available to Northstar in February.
• Final excavation of the field begins in the spring (Time to get ready for the grass to make sure in grows for Opening Day in 2010).
• Painting of steel structure begins in the spring, 2009.

We’ll let you know when any of these activities affect driving or walking or biking.

 Motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians are encouraged to drive, ride and walk carefully, expect delays, and allow extra time to reach destinations.

Questions? Contact Chuck Ballentine, Deputy Ballpark Office Coordinator, at 612 543-7274 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Read this and more on the Ballpark Website at http://www.ballparkauthority.com/

Metro trails,

 The Luce Line, which travels between Watertown and the Cedar Lake Regional Trail, is nearing completion. The last section, between Douglas Ave in Golden Valley to Wirth Parkway in Minneapolis, should be completed by late 2008, or early 2009. This is a 40 mile, largely off road, non-motorized trail, a great addition to the metro trail network, and a testament to the hard work of a dedicated group of visionary citizens, partnering with the public sector at many levels.

 The Kenilworth Trail crossing at Cedar Lake Pkwy has been upgraded to be safer for trail users. We created on site meetings with city and county engineers and foresters to create and implement a plan to enhance sightlines, improve invisibility, and make it easier for drivers to cross the trail corridor.

 Our old friend Steve Durrant, past treasurer of CLPA and principle landscape architect for the Cedar Lake Trail, informs us that Hennepin County has commissioned a corridor study involving the CP rail line from Bloomington to Brooklyn Park. His firm, Alta Planning of Portland Oregon, is a national leader in the design of non-motorized trails. Aside from allowing us to see more of Steve as he directs this study, this corridor is exciting because it provides a direct north-south route that intersects with many other existing trails.

 There are downloadable regional trail maps at HENNEPIN COUNTY WEBSITE

 Buckthorn removal continues throughout the park. We have learned much about how to transform the landscape in a gradual, less noticeable way with simple tools and manual labor. A mature fruit- bearing buckthorn as thick as your arm can be cut with a handsaw to waist height, dropping the fruit to the ground. This confines hundreds of seeds to a small area, rather than be scattered by the birds. It takes, we have learned, 2-3 years for it to fruit again. A person with a shovel can pop dozens of small, less than 5 year old specimens up out of the ground in a short period of time. After a rain, the soft ground can easily release small shrubs to hand pulling. Cutting buckthorn with a lopper can buy time for more desirable native species such as choke cherry, Canadian elderberry, and grey dogwood to grow and establish themselves. We clear outward from paths so that while walking through the woods, one can have the impression of passing through a landscape with no buckthorn. This woody plant is actually a shrub, not a tree, as it never grows above 25-30ft. We have been delighted to discover that Staghorn Sumac, common throughout the sunnier areas of the park, out-competes buckthorn.

The Burnham Uplands landscape restoration is now in its 5^th year, with over 800 volunteer hours logged to date. Led by Mary Conway and Ruth Jones, the project area is directly north of the Burnham Bridge, west across the railroad tracks from the Kenilworth Trail. Working with the immediate neighbors as well as recruiting passersby, this crew has removed an amazing amount of buckthorn, stabilized the pathways, strewn native seeds, and cleared away choking vegetation from native plants such as cedar, oak, and pine so that may reach for the sun. The removal of the buckthorn has revealed a long view of Cedar Lake from the high hill. There also is an ongoing educational component about bicycle behavior, as many people to continue to ride wherever they like.

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East Cedar Lake (Hidden) Beach passed its third season as a “normal” beach. The mud baths set a record of over 3000 users, Park Police passed through and lingered multiple times in a day, the new sand is a delight, and the vibe was mellow. This important resource, the closest swimming beach for thousands of urban dwellers, has seen 130 years of working class recreation. In fact, the area that is now Hidden Beach The lake level dropped 10 feet with the opening of the channel between Isles and Cedar in 1911. Buckthorn removal continues as the seed bank continues to produce, and native plants are emerging. The upper part of the peninsula saw extensive plantings of trees and shrubs in 1996-7 in a Conservation Partners grant from the DNR using LCMR (lottery) monies. For the most part, these plantings are thriving, and a maple basswood forest is slowly growing up under the cottonwoods. Overall, we think the management program of the social issues at the Beach is working, and the Park Board and the neighborhood are content for now. The beach had great swimming this year for people of all ages, with lifeguards present Fri-Sun. The Hidden Beach peninsula was once an island, with a two story boathouse.