Minneapolis Park Board seeking city funding for parkways, stormwater management

The Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board is asking city officials for millions of dollars to repair its dilapidated parkways and clean polluted public waters.

A 1999 service agreement determined the Park Board would maintain the urban forest while the city would assume responsibility for the parkways and storm drainage system. But city spending on parkways over the years has stagnated despite inflation, and maintenance of the extensive stormwater infrastructure on park land isn't covered by the city's stormwater utility fees.

As a result, park roads are steadily crumbling, while harmful algae blooms and trash collect in city lakes, staffers told the Park Board in a series of committee presentations last month.

So the Park Board on Wednesday approved resolutions asking the city to increase parkway spending to $6 million a year and hike sustainable stormwater utility fees at a rate of $2 per month per equivalent storm water unit (ESU), to be paid by property owners.

Both funding requests are supported by the public, according to a 2022 survey of park users. Whether Mayor Jacob Frey and the City Council will support the funding requests in next year's budget remains to be seen.

Commissioners Tom Olsen and Becky Alper voted against seeking the parkway funding after arguing vociferously for an amendment to expand the purpose of the funding for "reimagination of the parkways system" to reduce car use.

"When thinking about our legacy and thinking about the next seven generations and what we want to leave for those who come after us, what comes first in my mind is climate, climate, climate," Olsen said, "and being able to look at them and say that we have done everything we can with a full heart to prevent a further worsening of the crisis we are in."

The city's current annual parkway rehabilitation budget of $750,000 allows for one-third of a mile of a two-way parkway to be maintained each year, leaving segments of the city's 55-mile system in dire need of costly reconstruction after years of deferred work.

"We do want to truly look at climate resiliency," said Park Board President Meg Forney. "But the first thing is, we need to move this resolution to be fiscally responsible."

Members of the Park Board have previously butted heads over the purpose of the city's parkways — whether they are overused by speeding commuters when they were intended to be recreational roads, and whether parts of them should be closed to cars for more biking, in-line skating and open walking events.

The redesign of streets throughout Minneapolis to encourage biking and busing, at the cost of car lanes and parking, has been a constant source of friction in major planning projects.

"Maybe a few more potholes would help discourage the driving habits that we are seeing today on our parkways and have the effect that we are unwilling as an agency to push for or implement," such as curb extensions, traffic islands, raised crosswalks and speed bumps, Alper said.

The request to raise stormwater utility fees passed easily, with only board Vice President Alicia D. Smith voting against.

Most of the city's stormwater drains untreated into lakes and creeks, picking up pollutants and trash from streets. According to Park Board environmental management director Deb Pilger, the board and the city jointly hold the federally-mandated National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit. But while the Park Board conducts annual water quality monitoring and education, it lacks funding sources dedicated to maintaining the stormwater infrastructure on its property.

Increasing the stormwater utility fee by $2 a month to benefit park water quality projects would raise total annual revenue to $6.26 million, at an additional annual cost per household of $24, Pilger said. The average single family home currently pays one ESU at a rate of $14.45 per month.