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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
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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 on May 19, 2026, to approve the agenda and prior minutes, discuss and authorize a $350,000 fund balance transfer and engineering agreements for the RiversEdge project, and receive a corridor update on the Bronze Line project. All items were approved unanimously.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the agenda of May 19, 2026 (2026-187) unanimously.
  • Approved the minutes from March 17, 2026 (2026-188) unanimously.

Discussion Items

  • Fund Balance Transfer and Engineering Agreements for RiversEdge (2026-169): Mike Rogers, Deputy Director of Public Works Multimodal Planning, presented the item. The authority authorized (1) a transfer of up to $350,000 from the Ramsey County Regional Railroad Authority fund balance to the capital fund for preliminary engineering review by railroads, (2) accounting for the transfer in the Riverfront Redevelopment project budget, (3) approval of preliminary engineering agreements with Union Pacific Railroad Company and Soo Line Railroad Company (doing business as CPKC), (4) chair execution of the agreements, and (5) authorization for the county manager to enter subsequent engineering agreements within funding limits. Rogers explained that these agreements are standard for progressing a project with railroads; they allow the railroads to assign staff and review 20% design plans, identify impacts, and set the stage for a non-binding memorandum of understanding (MOU). The MOU process is estimated to take about 12 months. Commissioners asked about the railroads’ willingness to engage—noting that the railroads could have said no—and the complexity of right-of-way title issues due to historical mergers. The Chair noted the county’s strong relationship with railroads, citing the successful Union Depot project, and linked RiversEdge to future capacity for a third train. Commissioner Ortega expressed support but clarified the expenditure does not detract from other transit commitments. Following discussion, the item passed unanimously.
  • Corridor Update – Bronze Line Project: Commissioner Zhang reported on a meeting with the Real Life Co-op on the East Side, near the proposed Bronze Line. Community members raised concerns about a planned bridge over Johnson Parkway and Phelan Boulevard and requested consideration of at-grade options. Zhang noted the project is at approximately 1% engineering and community engagement, allowing ample opportunity for input. Staff committed to reporting back on questions received.

Key Outcomes

  • Unanimously approved the agenda and minutes.
  • Unanimously approved Item 3 (2026-169), including the $350,000 fund balance transfer and execution of preliminary engineering agreements with Union Pacific and CPKC, along with authority for future amendments within funding limits.

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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