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RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING ACCEPTANCE OF LETTER OF INTENT FOR DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT WITH UNITED STATES STEEL CORPORATION FOR DEVELOPMENT WORK RELATED TO CITY-OWNED PROPERTY ON AND ADJACENT TO THE U.S.STEEL SITE.
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CITY PROPOSAL:
RESOLVED, that the proper city officials are hereby authorized to execute an acceptance of Letter of Intent for Development Agreement, a copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibit A, with U.S. Steel Corporation (“USS”) for the development of recreational facilities on city-owned and USS property on and adjacent to the site of the former U.S. Steel plant sight in western Duluth.
Statement of Purpose
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE:
The purpose of this resolution is to authorize acceptance of a Letter of Intent for Development Agreement with U.S. Steel Corporation (USS) stating the intention of the City of Duluth and USS to enter into a development agreement under which both parties would take specified actions aimed at advancing the appropriate redevelopment and use of current US Steel lands and adjoining City property.
USS and EPA intend to commence the Spirit Lake Sediment Remediation project later this year to clean up contaminants originating from USS’s former Duluth Works plant located on over 500 acres between the Morgan Park and Gary-New Duluth neighborhoods. USS property is bordered to the east by a 200-foot-wide strip of City-owned riverfront that is home to the historic Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad.
Under the intended development agreement, USS will commit to a variety of actions beneficial to the City of Duluth including:
1. Restoration to federal historic preservation standards and contemporary railway engineering standards of any portions of the Lake Superior and Mississippi Railroad that may be damaged by USS cleanup activities.
2. Construction of a 1.4-mile-long riverfront segment of Waabizheshikana - The Marten Trail (formerly the Western Waterfront Trail) and a connector trail to the Morgan Park neighborhood. Both will be ten-foot-wide, ADA-accessible, crushed stone surface multi-use trails constructed to Minnesota DNR standards.
3. Payment of $105,000 for implementation of natural and cultural heritage interpretation along the new trail based on a plan to be developed in partnership with the community, the Fond du Lac Band, the State of Minnesota, and US EPA.
4. Conveyance of 44 acres of ecologically valuable property to be protected as part of the St. Louis River Natural Area.
5. Public access improvements to a new peninsular land form including ADA-accessible, crushed stone trails, sandy shoreline, climbing rocks, and plantings.
All improvements and conveyances will be generally consistent with the Waabizheshikana - The Marten Trail mini-master plan approved by City Council on November 25, 2019 and the St. Louis River Natural Area Nomination and Management Plan approved by City Council on March 23, 2020 .
Under the letter of intent for development agreement, the City of Duluth preliminarily commits to:
1. Count green space conveyed as part of the current agreement as green space preserved in association with future development of the adjoining USS property.
2. Help USS research opportunities to cover USS project costs with competitive grants and to sign on as a public sponsor for any appropriate grant requests USS may prepare.
3. Approve a future secondary access road to the US Steel property via existing City roads through the Duluth Economic Development Authority’s Atlas Cement redevelopment site.
4. Accept ownership of the surface of the new peninsular landform and maintenance of the park improvements located there.
This Letter of Intent, along with the companion License Agreement (see Resolution No. 20-0667) is the next step in the process of finalizing the development agreement which will specifically define all of those improvements and provide a definitive timeline for the implementation of them.