Metro briefs: Ramsey County to put trail on Arden Hills land

Ramsey County will convert part of the old Army ammunitions plant site in Arden Hills into a bike and pedestrian trail that will connect two east-metro trails, officials said.

The county plans to acquire 93 acres of the former plant site through a program that transfers unused federal land to local governments for use as parkland once they clean it of pollution.

Most of the $1.9 million remediation cost will be covered by a Metropolitan Council grant of $1.7 million, along with $716,000 approved last week by the County Board to clear the area of physical structures.

That work will be finished next year.

The trail will run through Rice Creek Commons, the county's name for the large Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant site that it purchased in 2013 from the federal government for $28.5 million.

County officials expect that the site will be cleaned to residential standards by the end of the year.

They plan to select a master developer to oversee a redevelopment with residential, commercial and office uses.

Dakota County may partner with more schools and districts to increase the amount of organic material — such as scraps and food-stained paper — that the schools recycle.

Recycling has been a high priority for the county in recent years, and currently 75 percent of Dakota County public schools collect organics, according to county documents.

Five new schools applied for county aid to implement organics collection this school year, and several districts asked the county for additional help to expand their recycling programs by increasing education and moving to compostable products.

County commissioners will vote on whether to partner with the schools at a committee meeting Tuesday.

The county would help finance the recycling efforts. The county's proposed Environmental Resources Department budget for 2016 includes $50,000 that would pay for recycling containers, labels, compostable products and educational materials, county documents state.

Love walking when the moon is full or nearly so? Here are a couple of great chances to do just that coming up at Three Rivers parks:

• Wednesday, Nov. 25 (a really full moon), from 5 to 6:30 p.m.: Cleary Lake Regional Park, Prior Lake. The cost is $6; reservations are required. Call 763-559-6700 to make a reservation and reference activity number #424506-03. There is a 20 percent discount for groups of four or more. This program is for ages 6 and up; children 17 and younger must be accompanied by a registered adult.

• Friday, Nov. 27 (close to a full moon), from 7 to 8:30 p.m.: at Lowry Nature Center, in Carver Park Reserve, Victoria. Note that this falls on Black Friday, the big shopping day — here's your chance to escape the crowds! The cost is $5 and there is a 20 percent discount for groups of four or more. This program is for ages 6 and above; children 17 years and younger must be accompanied by a registered adult.

STAFF REPORT

A Boy Scout troop based in Wayzata is celebrating its 100th anniversary this month, which makes it the oldest continuously chartered troop in Minnesota.

The troop serves boys ages 11 to 18 in the Wayzata and Plymouth areas.

For more information, go to troop283.net.