Title
Approving an agreement between the City of Saint Paul and Chevron Corporation for the City's purchase of a 9-acre parcel of vacant land along the Mississippi River for park purposes.
Body
WHEREAS, over the past three years the City of Saint Paul ("City") has been in discussions with the Chevron Corporation ("Chevron") to purchase a 9-acre, vacant parcel of land owned by Chevron between Shepard Road and the Missississippi River, one mile northeast of Interstate 35E (the "Property"), as depicted in Exhibit A attached hereto; and
WHEREAS, the Property formerly provided a connection between river traffic and a gasoline tank farm situated on bluff land above and northwest of Shepard Road; and contained a pipeline to transfer fuel between the river and the tanks; and
WHEREAS, in the years since the tank farm ceased operations and the Property was not in use, Chevron conducted extensive environmental testing and analysis of the soil and ground water and performed significant remediation activities on the Property in accordance with plans approved by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency; and
WHEREAS, the City has worked with an environmental consultant to evaluate the extent of the remediation activity to date and consider options for additional testing and analysis should the City purchase the property and develop it for park use; and
WHEREAS, the City believes the Property will be an asset to the park system and serve as an important pedestrian trail connection between the 37-acre Victoria Park property across Shepard Road to the northwest and the Mississippi riverfront; and
WHEREAS, purchase and development of the Property with trail connections is consistent with the City Council-approved Great River Passage Master Plan; and
WHEREAS, the City, acting through its Office of Financial Services Real Estate Section, has agreed to purchase the Property, as documented in the Purchase and Sale Agreement (the "Agreement") attached hereto as Exhibit B; a...
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