1.1                          A bill for an act 
  1.2             relating to local government; providing for procedures 
  1.3             between the county housing and redevelopment authority 
  1.4             and certain municipalities and municipal authorities; 
  1.5             expanding authority of regional rail authorities; 
  1.6             providing for contamination cleanup and rail 
  1.7             improvement; amending Minnesota Statutes 1996, 
  1.8             sections 383B.77, subdivision 2; and 398A.04, 
  1.9             subdivision 1. 
  1.10  BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.11     Section 1.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 383B.77, 
  1.12  subdivision 2, is amended to read: 
  1.13     Subd. 2.  [LIMITATION.] This section does not limit or 
  1.14  restrict any existing housing and redevelopment authority or 
  1.15  prevent a municipality from creating an authority.  For purposes 
  1.16  of this subdivision, "housing and redevelopment authority" 
  1.17  includes any municipal department, agency, or authority of the 
  1.18  city of Minneapolis which exercises the powers of a housing and 
  1.19  redevelopment authority pursuant to section 469.003 or other 
  1.20  law.  The county authority shall notify a municipal authority by 
  1.21  January 31 of each year as to the activities the county 
  1.22  authority plans to participate in within the municipality.  The 
  1.23  municipal authority shall notify the county authority within 45 
  1.24  days of the date of the notice from the county authority, if the 
  1.25  municipal authority does not consent to the activities of the 
  1.26  county authority.  The county authority shall not exercise its 
  1.27  powers in a municipality where a housing and redevelopment 
  2.1   authority ~~is established pursuant to section 469.003~~ was created 
  2.2   under Minnesota Statutes 1969, chapter 462, before June 8, 1971, 
  2.3   ~~except as provided in this subdivision.  If a~~ unless the city 
  2.4   housing and redevelopment authority requests the county housing 
  2.5   and redevelopment authority to exercise any power or perform any 
  2.6   function of the municipal authority~~, the county authority may do~~ 
  2.7   ~~so~~. 
  2.8      Sec. 2.  Minnesota Statutes 1996, section 398A.04, 
  2.9   subdivision 1, is amended to read: 
  2.10     Subdivision 1.  [GENERAL.] An authority may exercise all 
  2.11  the powers necessary or desirable to implement the powers 
  2.12  specifically granted in this section, and in exercising the 
  2.13  powers is deemed to be performing an essential governmental 
  2.14  function and exercising a part of the sovereign power of the 
  2.15  state, and is a local government unit and political subdivision 
  2.16  of the state.  Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, 
  2.17  the authority may: 
  2.18     (a) Sue and be sued, have a seal, which may but need not be 
  2.19  affixed to documents as directed by the board, make and perform 
  2.20  contracts, and have perpetual succession; 
  2.21     (b) Acquire real and personal property within or outside 
  2.22  its taxing jurisdiction, by purchase, gift, devise, 
  2.23  condemnation, conditional sale, lease, lease purchase, or 
  2.24  otherwise; or for purposes, including the facilitation of an 
  2.25  economic development project pursuant to section 469.091 or 
  2.26  469.175, subdivision 7, that also improve rail service; and 
  2.27     (c) Hold, manage, control, sell, convey, lease, mortgage, 
  2.28  or otherwise dispose of real or personal property. 
  2.29     Sec. 3.  [CONTAMINATION CLEANUP AND RAIL IMPROVEMENT.] 
  2.30     Subdivision 1.  [CONTAMINATION CLEANUP FUNDS.] The 
  2.31  commissioner of the department of trade and economic 
  2.32  development, pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 116J.555, 
  2.33  subdivision 1, and the metropolitan council, pursuant to 
  2.34  Minnesota Statutes, section 473.252, subdivision 3, paragraph 
  2.35  (b), clause (1), shall designate the site located in the city of 
  2.36  St. Louis Park and known as NL Industries/Tara Corp./Golden 
  3.1   Auto, EPA ID. No. MND 097891634 to be an eligible and a 
  3.2   high-priority site for receipt of contamination cleanup funds 
  3.3   from the contaminated site cleanup and development account in 
  3.4   the general fund and from the tax base revitalization account in 
  3.5   the metropolitan livable communities fund.  Grants from these 
  3.6   accounts shall be available only upon confirmation from the 
  3.7   commissioner of transportation that Hennepin county and the city 
  3.8   of St. Louis Park have entered into an agreement as described in 
  3.9   subdivision 2. 
  3.10     Subd. 2.  [AGREEMENT BETWEEN HENNEPIN COUNTY AND CITY OF ST.
  3.11  LOUIS PARK.] To qualify for receipt of funds under subdivision 
  3.12  1, Hennepin county and the city of St. Louis Park must, after 
  3.13  consultation and negotiation with representatives of affected 
  3.14  neighborhoods along the impacted and proposed rail lines, enter 
  3.15  into an agreement with respect to the following: 
  3.16     (1) acquisition through purchase or condemnation of that 
  3.17  portion of the described property which will provide adequate 
  3.18  right-of-way for transferring railroad traffic from the Canadian 
  3.19  Pacific railroad line from Louisiana Avenue in St. Louis Park 
  3.20  easterly to trunk highway 55/Hiawatha Avenue, commonly referred 
  3.21  to as the 29th street depression, to the Canadian Pacific 
  3.22  railroad line from the 29th street rail line northerly to the 
  3.23  Burlington Northern connection, entirely within the city of St. 
  3.24  Louis Park; 
  3.25     (2) responsibility for the costs of the railroad 
  3.26  improvement, including changing the curve of the railroad track 
  3.27  and eliminating a switching facility; 
  3.28     (3) indemnifying and holding harmless the entity taking 
  3.29  title to the described property from any liability arising out 
  3.30  of the ownership, remediation, or use of the property; 
  3.31     (4) respective responsibilities of the parties in 
  3.32  remediating the acquired property and in assuming responsibility 
  3.33  for any required matching funds or remediation costs in excess 
  3.34  of this appropriation; 
  3.35     (5) identification, and responsibility for costs, of 
  3.36  reasonable measures necessary to mitigate noise or other adverse 
  4.1   impacts of the railroad improvement on the adjacent 
  4.2   neighborhoods within the city of St. Louis Park, and to provide 
  4.3   reasonable safety and security measures; and 
  4.4      (6) entitlement to proceeds from any ultimate disposition 
  4.5   of the property. 
  4.6      Subd. 3.  [COMMISSIONER OF TRANSPORTATION.] The 
  4.7   commissioner of transportation shall collaborate with the city 
  4.8   and county by providing technical assistance and support in 
  4.9   facilitating the railroad improvement and cleaning up the 
  4.10  contaminated site.  The project shall proceed only if the city 
  4.11  of St. Louis Park and the commissioner have entered into an 
  4.12  agreement regarding responsibility for safety, security, and 
  4.13  noise mitigation measures to be implemented or constructed on or 
  4.14  adjacent to the the Canadian Pacific railroad line from the 29th 
  4.15  street rail line northerly to the Burlington Northern 
  4.16  connection, entirely within the city of St. Louis Park. 
  4.17     Sec. 4.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] 
  4.18     Sections 1 and 3 are effective the day after the chief 
  4.19  clerical officers of Hennepin county and the city of St. Louis 
  4.20  Park comply with Minnesota Statutes, section 645.021, 
  4.21  subdivision 3.