Crystal Mayor On Light Rail Vote: Municipal Consent A Misnomer

Crystal Mayor On Light Rail Vote: Municipal Consent A Misnomer

The Crystal City Council pushed back its vote on municipal consent on the Bottineau Blue Line LRT Extension on Tuesday (06/17/2024).

Municipal consent is a process laid out in state statute which gives cities the opportunity to weigh in the design of the proposed light rail line, but not the power to block the project from moving forward.

Crystal Mayor Jim Adams told CCX News he’s been unhappy with how the process has unfolded.

“I don’t like the way it’s gone,” he said. “The conversations and the negotiations have been all in the last few weeks. And the project office and Hennepin County have known our views and our concerns for 18 months … we have some experience with mistrust.”

When voting on municipal consent, city councils have three options. They can vote yes, they can abstain from voting, or they can vote no with a list of conditions that, if met, would lead to a yes vote.

For Adams, all three options feel like a way to say yes, making the term “municipal consent” a misnomer.

“The citizens are fighting this, the citizens don’t want this,” Adams said. “And, quite frankly, you take away — you take consent and you change the meaning, and have it mean yes in three different scenarios. That’s not consent. You need to use a different word. You need to be honest, you’ve got to stop trying to cover things and hide things.”

The Crystal Council pushed back its vote in an effort to get more details on roadway and rail construction plans. Adams said the city is still waiting on the project office to respond to a list of its concerns.

Adams said the potential impact to vehicle traffic are also a significant concerns with the project.

“My perspective? I know what my citizens want,” Adams said. “I’m not sure my yes [vote] is ever coming.”

The council expects to revisit the issue of municipal consent on Oct. 1.

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SOURCE: CCX MEDIA