Crown Hydro at it again legislature may force hydroelectric plant on Minneapolis
If passed (and not declared unconstitutional by the courts) a new bill could force Minneapolis to lease public parkland along St. Anthony Falls (above) to a private company to build an unwanted power plant.
Crown Hydro is at it again.
The group proposing a hydroelectric facility in Mill Ruins Park is at the legislature again trying to make an end-run around the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board. Bills introduced this month in the House and Senate (House File 1440 and Senate File 1191) would effectively force the Park Board to sign a lease agreement with Crown Hydro to build their hydroelectric plant on public parkland. That is, assuming the proposed legislation is not unconstitutional, a concern raised by some legislators and advocates.
Crown Hydro attempted a similar bill two years ago, but the 2009 bill was withdrawn after an ad-hoc hearing with legislators drew a packed room of detractors. The 2011 legislation goes even further, specifically calling out a federal permit number, leaving no question that this is legislation designed to benefit one party. The original version of the bill even attempted to prohibit the Park Board from receiving state funding until an agreement was made.
FMR has been tracking the ups and downs of this proposal for a number of years, but to date we have not taken a formal position for or against the project as the details have never been clearly spelled out by the project sponsors. FMR strongly opposes this legislation, however, and we are concerned that it sets a very negative precedent to give a private entity full access to public land over strong objections from the body elected to own and manage that land for the public good.
This is a heavy-handed attempt to force a private development on a local government that doesnt want it said FMR Executive Director Whitney Clark. We hope the legislature and the Governor will reject this bill he said.
For additional information, see recent articles in the:
- Minnesota Daily and the
- Downtown Journal.