Judge Orders Mediation between Ramsey County and Arden Hills over Redevelopment of Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant Site
Ramsey County and Arden Hills have been at an impasse for months regarding a dispute over the redevelopment of a 427-acre property, formerly known as the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant. The judge overseeing the dispute ruled this week that the parties must enter into mediation before the suit can move forward.
This dispute began to gain steam when Ramsey County moved to end a Joint Powers Agreement (“JPA”) between the county and Arden Hills earlier this year. Ramsey County had previously called for an arbitrator to help negotiate the dispute, but Arden Hills rejected the idea. Ramsey County determined that, due to the stalemate between the city and the county, the county would move ahead with the Rice Creek Commons Project alone. Arden Hills City Council quickly reacted and said that it would not agree to dissolve the JPA unless the vote was held at a public city meeting. The two parties had not met to discuss solutions for months by the time the dispute was brought to court.
The county has already invested $41 million into the project. The developer, Minneapolis-based Alatus, has been waiting to sign a final agreement for the development since they won the project back in 2016. Now that mediation is back on track, Ramsey County hopes to move ahead with the project as soon as possible. A date for mediation has not been set yet.
Sources:
https://www.twincities.com/2019/08/26/judge-orders-mediation-between-arden-hills-ramsey-county-over-tcaap-case/
https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2019/03/21/arden-hills-rejects-countys-efforts-to-go-it-alone.html
https://www.bizjournals.com/twincities/news/2019/03/06/ramsey-county-moves-to-terminate-rice-creek.html