A parks partnership between Carver County and Three Rivers Park District first proposed about a year ago could come together by the end of this year.
At a work session on Aug. 18, county commissioners heard details about the proposed arrangement developed between the two parties over the past several months and agreed to move forward with finalizing a joint powers agreement for board consideration.
Carver County Parks manages about 706 acres of parkland and 21 miles of regional trails in the county. Over the past several years, county parks staff, the parks commission and county board have been working through projects and expansion plans with all three regional parks — Lake Waconia, Baylor and Lake Minnewashta. County leaders point out that parks and trails have become extremely popular as the county grows and now get nearly 2 million user visits annually.
Three Rivers is an even broader parks entity encompassing 27,000 acres, 180 miles of regional trails and welcoming more than 16.5 million visitors annually. Features include 10 parks, seven park reserves, six golf courses and two ski areas.
Three Rivers was established by the Minnesota Legislature in 1957 as a special park district to secure park property and preserve open space in suburban Hennepin County. Three Rivers has since become a leader in the delivery of outdoor recreation, education services and facilities. It has its own taxing/funding authority and a full organization of services, including operations and maintenance, finance, human resources, marketing and other support functions.
That makes Three Rivers an appealing partner from many standpoints, commissioners noted — from gaining efficiencies in parks maintenance and operations, to supporting other functions such as reservations and programming, regional planning, and securing funding for parks and trails parks projects and development, like the recently developed long-term Baylor Park plan. County leaders have called the potential partnership revenue neutral and value added.
Scott County has had a similar partnership with Three Rivers for some time or some time, while the city of Bloomington has been operating under an arrangement for the past year and a half, noted Superintendent Boe Carlson, adding that Three Rivers also is excited about the prospect of a partnership with Carver County.
Luke Skinner, Three Rivers assistant superintendent pointed out that the parks groups already are closely connected. For example, namesake Three Rivers property Carver Park Reserve operates within Carver County, while Gale Woods Farm and Lake Minnetonka Regional Park are nearby with common trail connections.
Both parties agreed that the arrangement reflects plans for growth and career opportunities.
Carver County currently has about 15 full-time employees, generally around 10 full-time and the rest seasonal. Three Rivers has 430 employees in eight park clusters and central support functions. Under the proposed partnership, county parks employees would transfer to Three Rivers. So would the department’s equipment assets.
Details of that transfer will be worked out in the joint powers agreement. The final agreement also will lay out proposed governance for parks policy, priorities and relationship structure. Both parties agreed that the parks manager position would be a key liaison within that relationship.