Lawsuit filed against MnDOT may wipe out funding plan for whitewater surf park
A lawsuit filed by Anoka County over the Minnesota Department of Transportation's planned distribution of millions of dollars for a whitewater surf park in the city of Anoka claims the move would violate the state's Constitution.
Court documents say a part of the 139-page omnibus transportation bill passed in June includes what is called in the lawsuit Section 19. The legislation, introduced by state DFL Representative Zack Stephenson, commands the MnDOT commissioner to ignore the agency's guidelines and policies regarding money management and to take funds used to benefit transportation projects across the county and redirect them to the City of Anoka for a new pedestrian overpass where the Rum River dam is located.
The bridge would be the first stage of what Anoka County calls a "dubious boondoggle of a plan" to build a surf park on the Rum River in downtown Anoka that is estimated by the city to cost $55 million. The county also calls the park a "pet project" of Stephenson's.
The document says voters and elected officials for Anoka County don't want a third pedestrian bridge over the Rum River. In addition, the county says it wasn't notified of the proposed bill or given time to consult about it.
Although republican Representative Harry Niska attempted to amend the bill during a House special session, that amendment failed with a vote of 62-67.
"This is one of the backroom deals that's still in the bill, unfortunately. It's a provision, a mandate on Anoka County to spend a portion of its sales tax money on something that was never a bill that was presented to the legislature. It's a pet project for the co-chair of Ways and Means Committee," said Niska.
"There is nothing about this that is as nefarious as he would indicate. This is a project that received vetting in a committee that was included on a House floor vote, and that was agreed to in a signed spreadsheet by leaders and held out in the public," said Stephenson.
The project also doesn't fall within any categories authorized by the legislature when it passed a law in 2023 regarding a special sales tax to support transportation projects within the seven-county metro area, according to the lawsuit. It goes on to say the sales tax fund law was created to be used on projects that would benefit residents of an entire county.
According to the lawsuit, the Minnesota Constitution prohibits this type of special legislation unless the local government unit affected by it approves it. The lawsuit, filed in late September, says Anoka County hasn't approved Section 19, and won't consent to the decision to divert transportation funds to the City of Anoka.
However, MnDOT has said it will distribute more than $6 million of transportation money to the city starting next year, even if Anoka County doesn't consent to it. Once the funds are given to the city, the lawsuit says they are lost forever to the county, and there's no independent source of funds that could replace the diverted money.
Anoka County says the funds could instead be used to create a grade-separated underpass on the Rum River Regional Trail in St. Francis, make improvements to trails in Kordiak Park in Columbia Heights or reconstruction work in Blaine's Bunker Hills Regional Park.
The lawsuit goes on to say the plan "sets a dangerous precedent" that would allow a single legislator to divert county funds to a city in his district.