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Record of Proceedings

Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority Meeting - May 19, 2026

Board of Commissioners & Authorities — Tuesday, May 19, 2026
BodyRamsey County, Minnesota
SessionBoard of Commissioners & Authorities
DateTuesday, May 19, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 18:10

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1:46

Commissioner Jeppensing.

1:48

Here.

1:50

McGuire.

1:50

Here.

1:51

McMurtry.

1:52

Here.

1:52

Miller.

1:53

Here.

1:54

Moran?

1:54

Here.

1:55

Zhang.

1:56

Here.

1:57

And Ortega.

1:58

Hi.

1:59

I'll then continue a motion on the agenda of May nineteenth, twenty twenty six.

2:04

So moved.

2:05

Second.

2:07

See no discussion, roll call.

2:09

Zhong.

2:11

Aye.

2:11

Kevin Singh?

2:13

Aye.

2:13

McGuire.

2:14

Aye.

2:14

McMurtry.

2:15

Aye.

2:16

Miller.

2:16

Aye.

2:17

Moran.

2:18

Aye.

2:18

And Ortega.

2:20

Hi.

2:21

We now have the uh minutes.

2:27

I'll then continue motion on the minutes from March seventeenth, twenty twenty six.

2:31

So moved.

2:33

Second.

2:35

See no discussion, roll call.

2:39

Aye.

2:40

Check and thing.

2:40

Aye.

2:41

McGuire.

2:42

Aye.

2:43

McMurtry.

2:44

Aye.

2:44

Miller.

2:45

Aye.

2:46

Moran.

2:46

Aye.

2:47

And Ortega.

2:48

Hi.

2:50

Administrative item number three, fund balance transfer and engineering agreements for Vivis Edge.

2:59

Could I pull that?

3:01

Um someone from public works come and share more about.

3:04

Yeah.

3:05

Yep.

3:05

Could I get a motion and a second?

3:09

Thank you.

3:10

You wanna come up, Mike?

3:21

I just wanted to pull it just to get more um just an overview of of uh what's happening here, what we're voting on, uh and would also love to get some more um information just speaking to the relationship between the county and uh the different railroads and and what that looks like as we start to um build out the the parks of rivers edge.

3:42

All right.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████████████████████████████████52%
Transportation Safety█████████████████20%
Procedural██████████████16%
Community Engagement██████████12%
Summary of Proceedings

Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority Meeting - May 19, 2026

The Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority met in regular session at 10:41 a.m. on May 19, 2026, in Council Chambers - Courthouse Room 300. All seven commissioners were present (Jebens-Singh, McGuire, McMurtrey, Miller, Moran, Ortega, and Xiong, who joined remotely). The meeting adjourned at 10:57 a.m. after approving consent items and discussing the RiversEdge project fund balance transfer and engineering agreements, plus a corridor update.

Consent Calendar

  • Agenda Approval (2026-187): Motion by Miller, second by McMurtrey. Unanimously approved (7-0).
  • Minutes Approval (2026-188): Motion by Miller, second by McGuire. The minutes from March 17, 2026, were unanimously approved (7-0).

Discussion Items

  • RiversEdge Project – Fund Balance Transfer & Engineering Agreements (2026-169):

    • Presented by Mike Rogers, Deputy Director of Public Works, and Brian Isaacson, Director of Public Works. The item authorized a $350,000 transfer from the Regional Railroad Authority fund balance to the capital fund for railroad review of preliminary engineering plans; approved preliminary engineering agreements with Union Pacific Railroad Company and Soo Line Railroad Company (doing business as CPKC); and authorized the Chair to execute agreements and the County Manager to enter subsequent agreements.
    • Commissioners requested clarification. Mike Rogers explained that the agreements are standard for working with railroads and allow the railroads to assign staff to review 20%-level plans. The process is estimated to take about 12 months to develop a memorandum of understanding (MOU). Title/right-of-way issues are complex due to historical ownership by predecessor railroads (Chicago Northwestern for UP, Soo Line for CPKC).
    • Chair Ortega emphasized that railroads could refuse any request, but Ramsey County has a strong working relationship with them (e.g., Union Depot). He noted the importance of this step for potential third train capacity and broader transit investment. Commissioner Moran confirmed that the $350,000 does not divert funds from other transit commitments.
    • Commissioner Xiong expressed support and thanked Chair Ortega, Commissioners McGuire and Moran for legislative advocacy. The motion carried unanimously (7-0; Resolution R2026-009).

  • Corridor Updates:

    • Commissioner Xiong reported on a meeting with the Real Life Co-op on the East Side, located near the proposed Bronze Line project. Community concerns were raised about a bridge over Johnson Parkway and Phalen Boulevard, with residents advocating for at-grade options. The meeting included City Councilmembers Yang and Ying. Project manager Stephen Smith attended and will follow up on questions. Chair Ortega noted the project is at approximately 1% engineering, with ample opportunity for further input.

Key Outcomes

  • Approved the RiversEdge fund balance transfer and engineering agreements (unanimous, 7-0).
  • Noted ongoing community engagement for the Bronze Line corridor, with staff directed to report back to the community.
  • No other votes were taken; the meeting adjourned at 10:57 a.m.

Meeting Transcript

Commissioner Jeppensing. Here. McGuire. Here. McMurtry. Here. Miller. Here. Moran? Here. Zhang. Here. And Ortega. Hi. I'll then continue a motion on the agenda of May nineteenth, twenty twenty six. So moved. Second. See no discussion, roll call. Zhong. Aye. Kevin Singh? Aye. McGuire. Aye. McMurtry. Aye. Miller. Aye. Moran. Aye. And Ortega. Hi. We now have the uh minutes. I'll then continue motion on the minutes from March seventeenth, twenty twenty six. So moved. Second. See no discussion, roll call. Aye. Check and thing. Aye. McGuire. Aye. McMurtry. Aye. Miller. Aye. Moran. Aye. And Ortega. Hi.

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