Kate itty Minnesota State Representative : House of proba and Rarsey Goons Representatives May 10", 2011. Dear Mark Wilf and Zyat Wilf, Ihave read the agreement you have made with Ramsey County to develop a new stadium at the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant (TCAAP). 1 represent Arden Hill in the Minnesota House of Representatives. A stadium on the TCAAP site would have major impacts on my community and the surrounding area, and | am interested in ensuring the Vikings stadium is a positive development for my community should it move forward. Arden Hills and surrounding communities are great places to live, work, play and raise a family. The Vikings stadium is 2 huge undertaking for the area. A new stadium development would clean up a long- contaminated site and create economic development in the area. A new stadium at the site would also challenge community unity. Residents are divided about tax dollars being used to fund a private endeavor. On game day, the population of Arden Hills would increase by many times. | ask you to work closely with local elected officials, reach out to neighbors, and listen to and take action on concerns about taxes, roads, congestion, and other issues. As a representative of Ramsey County taxpayers, | would like your organization to pay, at a minimum, half of the cost of a new stadium. ‘The TCAAP site and the surrounding area offer unique development opportunities and challenges. | have been listening to the views of people in my district about a potential stadium on the site, and | have heard a diversity of opinion. Like many residents in the area, | would like to see the contaminated areas of TCAAP cleaned up and brought back into productive use, but | also have some concerns about a stadium on the site. The following are the challenges and opportunities | see at the site. | would like you to take these ideas and concerns into consideration should a stadium plan for the site move forward. ‘The following are my concerns about a stadium being built at the TCAAP site, 1. County Taxes: Ramsey County residents would pick up part of the cost of a stadium in Arden Hills, | have heard from many that in such difficult budget times, spending tax dollars on a new stadium is not a priority. | am particularly concerned about tax implications for residents of Ramsey County. In order for the stadium to be a true public-private partnership, the Vikings should pay at least half the cost of a new stadium. 2. Transportation Infrastructure and Freeway Impacts: Arden Hills is disproportionately impacted by freeways, Since a new stadium would increase traffic in the area, the Vikings should work to mitigate road access, traffic, and noise concerns in the area. Arden Hills isa relatively small city oF 10,000, but itis impacted by 3 major freeways. On the West side, 35W runs the length of the P.O. Box 120822, New Brighton, Minnesota 55112 (651) 07-7029 State Office Building, 100 Rev Dr Martin Luther King Jr Bivd, St.Paul, Minnosota 55155-1208 (651) 296-0141 al: op kate.knuth@house.mncity, and 694 divides the city in two, Highway 10, which serves as a reliever freeway for the 35W/694 intersection, also divides the city. I would ask you to partner with Arden Hills to relieve the noise impacts of these freeways, ensure community residents have access to the freeways and to help develop connections across freeways both within the city and to surrounding communities. 3. Arden Manor and Other Neighbors: The Arden Manor manufactured home community is just across the road from the TCAAP site. The neighborhood is bordered by 35W, Highway 10, and Highway 96. Arden Manor provides affordable housing, and its residents have had many concerns over the years with road developments related to TCAAP. The Vikings must be aware of and work with Arden Manor residents to make sure their neighborhood and homes are not threatened. | have also heard concern about increased activity and noise from other bordering ‘neighborhoods, and | hope the Vikings will be a good neighbor and work with local residents to alleviate concerns. ‘The following are unique opportunities the Vikings organization should consider on the site. 1. Diverse Economic Development: Arden Hills has been developing plans at the TCAAP site for ‘many years, and the plans call for diverse residential and economic development, If the Vikings ‘move to Arden Hills, | would expect the organization and its jobs would move to Arden Hills as well. The Northern suburbs are home to a well-educated, productive workforce. Locating other professional businesses or government institutions at the site would increase economic development in the area and ensure transportation infrastructure developments benefit the region and state. More diverse economic development would also make transit investments more practical. 2. Transit: Transit should be considered as part of a Vikings stadium development in the suburbs. | have heard many concerns about lack of transit capacity at the TCAAP site compared to downtown sites. Because of the large influx of people expected at the site, transit options need to be increased. A railroad spur goes into the site, and the 35W corridor is a busy part of the ‘metro transportation system, Rail and/or bus rapid transit at the site would improve development and lessen resident concerns about traffic 3. Parks and Recreation: The TCAAP site has some of the last sizeable open space in Ramsey County. Additionally, the site has distinctive natural characteristics. Many species make their homes on the site, Rice Creek runs through it, and the terrain on the site (including some the areas now controlled by the National Guard) is some of the best for cross country skiing in the metro. | hope the Vikings would work with Ramsey County and the state to increase park space beyond the current trails along Rice Creek. In particular, the site could be used as a winter recreation hub if the Vikings, Ramsey County, and the National Guard work together to develop cross-country skiing infrastructure.4, Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency: The TCAAP site provides an opportunity to showcase innovative energy technologies. My understanding is a new Vikings stadium would be built using energy efficient construction practices and renewable energy, and | would encourage you to think broadly about how to utilize the most innovative energy technologies possible, Because of groundwater contamination on the site, millions of gallons of water travel through a pumping system daily, and this geothermal energy source could be utilized for heating and cooling. Wind ‘energy may also be possible on higher portions of the site. In recent years, Minnesota has taken action to increase the solar manufacturing in our state, and | would encourage you to use Minnesota-made solar panels as well as other Minnesota-made building materials. 5. Minnesota History: The TCAAP site represents a unique part of Minnesota history and US history as a manufacturing site for munitions. At peak production, over 26,000 people worked ‘on the site to arm the United States during World War Il. President Roosevelt visited factories on the site. | hope a stadium on the site would share this history with Minnesotans and other Visitors. ‘As discussions about a new Vikings stadium continue, | would ask you to take the ideas in this letter into consideration and work to make them a reality. | also encourage you to solicit input from local residents to hear their concerns as well as their ideas about the ways in which the Vikings could be an excellent neighbor to the residents of Arden Hills and nearby communities. | am happy to meet with you or others from the Vikings organization to discuss the local impacts and opportunities of a stadium in ‘Arden Hills, Sincerely, kate Knuth State Representative Cc: Governor Mark Dayton Arden Hills City Council Ramsey County Board