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Nolan W. Wall, AICP The City of Vadnais Heights Planning/Community Development Director 800 East County Road E Vadnais Heights, MN 55127 651.204.6027 Phone 651.204.6100 Fax [email protected]

Memorandum:

TO: Mayor Gunderson and City Council Members

FROM: Nolan Wall, Planning/Community Development Director

DATE: November 6, 2019

SUBJECT: Request for Council Action Letter of Intent and Match Commitment for FTA TOD Planning Grant Rush Line BRT – Ramsey County

Recommended Council Action Staff recommends the City Council authorize financial support for Ramsey County’s Rush Line BRT TOD Grant application.

Background Ramsey County is pursuing grant funds from the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) for transit-oriented development (TOD) planning along the Rush Line Corridor. If successful, the following tasks are proposed that are specific to Vadnais Heights and intended to advance City priorities as they relate to the Rush Line BRT: • A small area plan would be prepared for the area within a half-mile of the Buerkle Road Station, a priority area for economic development in the city. The plan would include: commercial and residential market analysis; affordable housing analysis and strategy (corridor-wide); preparation of a plan for the area that considers access and circulation, streets, land use, development patterns, and public space; and an implementation strategy that considers timeline, resources, tools, and policy. • An analysis of multimodal access to the County Road E Station would be completed that would include transit, bicycle, pedestrian, and vehicular connections to the County Road E Station to/from destinations along County Road E to the east and west.

The total federal grant request is approximately one million dollars, with Ramsey County providing a local match of $250,000 up front. In order to increase competiveness, the County is also asking the corridor communities to contribute matching funds. Staff proposes to contribute $10,000 from future 2020-2022 Community Development Department budgets, to be paid for out of the Professional Service Fees account. Sufficient funding is anticipated in this account for upcoming years. In addition, staff’s time is included as an in-kind contribution, at an estimated cost of approximately $7,500 over the 18- month planning process.

Staff feels that the requested financial contribution will ensure that the City remains part of the station planning process moving forward. It allows for staff and stakeholder participation that will influence future planning along the corridor within Vadnais Heights.

November 6, 2019 City Council Memorandum: Rush Line BRT TOD Grant Support Page 1 Action Requested Authorize financial support of $10,000 for Ramsey County’s Rush Line BRT TOD Grant application, to be paid out of the 2020-2022 Community Development budgets.

This matter requires a simple majority vote.

Attachments: • Letter of Intent

November 6, 2019 City Council Memorandum: Rush Line BRT TOD Grant Support Page 2 Nolan W. Wall, AICP The City of Vadnais Heights Planning/Community Development Director 800 East County Road E Vadnais Heights, MN 55127 651.204.6027 Phone 651.204.6100 Fax [email protected]

November 7, 2019

Federal Transit Administration U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE Washington, DC 20590

RE: Letter of Intent and Match Commitment for the FTA TOD Planning Grant Rush Line Bus Rapid Transit Project Advanced Station Area Planning

To Whom It May Concern:

On behalf of the City Council, that has land use authority within the City of Vadnais Heights, I am writing to support the FTA Pilot Program for Transit-Oriented Development Planning grant application for Rush Line BRT Project Advanced Station Area Planning. With this letter of intent, the City of Vadnais Heights commits to working with the /Metro Transit, Ramsey County, and other cities along the Rush Line BRT route, as well as regional and private partners, on the Rush Line BRT Station Area Plans as defined in the Partnership Roles and Responsibilities document. With this letter, the City of Vadnais Heights commits $10,000 as cash match for the grant and an additional $7,500 in contributions of in-kind time and talent during the planning process.

The Metropolitan Council/Metro Transit, Ramsey County, and the cities along the Rush Line BRT route have been working together to plan the project alignment and station locations. The project partners engaged the public in preliminary station area planning work in 2018, which focused on identification of station platform locations. Staff and policymakers representing the City of Vadnais Heights participate in the Rush Line BRT Technical and Policy Advisory Committees as well as issue resolution teams. We are committed to working together to complete Advanced Station Area Planning with our partners.

Sincerely,

The City of Vadnais Heights

Nolan Wall, AICP Planning/Community Development Director

cc/ec: Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority