Title
Authorizing the City to accept and record a declaration of restriction and covenants for project-specific wetland replacement for the Highland National Golf Course.
Body
WHEREAS, in 2003 the Saint Paul Planning Commission adopted Resolution File Number 03-25 to approve a wetland replacement plan for land owned by the City of Saint Paul (“City”) and operated as the Highland National Golf Course (“Golf Course”), attached hereto as Exhibit A; and
WHEREAS, new wetlands were subsequently constructed at the Golf Course to satisfy the wetland replacement requirements of the Capitol Region Watershed District (“Watershed District”), as provided in Exhibit B attached hereto; and
WHEREAS, Saint Paul Parks and Recreation (“Parks and Recreation”) is the Local Government Unit charged with approval of the Replacement Plan; and
WHEREAS, in 2023 the City Council adopted RES PH 23-104 to authorize funding for Parks and Recreation to design and construct a new bituminous trail along the west side of Hamline Avenue within the Golf Course; and
WHEREAS, as part of the trail construction, the City’s water resources manager and the Watershed District determined that the wetland constructed in 2003 should be identified as a replacement wetland subject to the Wetland Conservation Act of 1991 (Minn. Stats. 103G.222), as documented in the Declaration of Restriction and Covenants for Project-Specific Wetland Replacement (“Declaration”), attached hereto as Exhibit C; and
WHEREAS, the Declaration explains the requirements and restrictions of the City regarding the replacement wetland; and
WHEREAS, the City’s Office of Financial Services Real Estate Section has reviewed title documents for the Golf Course and confirmed that there are no covenants or restrictions on the Golf Course property that would affect the City’s ability to record the Declaration; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, by the Council of the City of Saint Paul, that said Declaration is hereby approved, and the proper city officials are directed to execute said document and record with the Ramsey County Recorder’s Office and/or Registrar of Titles.