I was recently made aware of a mailing by Sandy Colvin Roy, who is running for
12th ward of the city council.
I can't speak to many of the issues brought up, and it is important to note
that it may all be true, but I must make public a stated victory that seems
quite misleading to me.
In this letter it states that she, and this is in bold print, "Protected the
bureau of mines land (Camp Coldwater) from parking ramp and other development
through a conservation easement that guarantees open use of the area by the
public."
This is factually correct. (For those who don't know, Coldwater is at the
southeast corner of Minneapolis)
However while that easement guarantees no parking ramp, it still allows for a
seven acre surface level parking lot. Either way, Coldwater gets paved over.
Further that conservation easement would expire in 2049, leaving the area open
to development after that date. That agreement allows the sale from the Federal
Government to the State would remove existing Federal 106 and other protections
currently in place for the Historic Camp Coldwater area, including Coldwater
Springs. The State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) has noted that the sale
would also eliminate certain State protections and remove existing coordination
between State agencies.
Instead Coldwater Springs is set to be protected by a Memorandum of Agreement,
but any provisions built into the agreement are virtually unenforceable.
Violations would require civil lawsuits to resolve. This is unacceptable given
the current level of Federal enforcement available.
Once it is sold to the airport, the MAC, being the Local Governing Unit, would
be able to kill any request or petition for an Environmental Assessment
Worksheet for potentially threatening activities in the Historic Camp
Coldwater, Coldwater Springs and its groundwater recharge area..
This is an unthinkable and unacceptable encumbrance on a Dakota and Iowa Sacred
Site and the Birthplace of Minnesota.
I understand that the deal with the MAC was made under duress, and the city
council may have been doing the best it could, but I find it very unbecoming to
advertise the area years later in bold print as "Protected" knowing all this.
This is NOT my idea of protection. Coldwater is still in major danger of
dewatering activities by MnDOT in their final step of construction of the Hwy
55 reroute, the 62/55 interchange. In fact, three separate hydrologists have
come out with studies showing up to a 33% permanent decrease in water flow to
the spring with current road designs. However, MnDOT who disputes all three
hydrologists can't seem to produce ANY evidence to show they made ANY mistakes
in their calculations, or why there would be "no impact" to Historic Camp
Coldwater as they have promised.
So far, the only letter that has been made public questioning MnDOT's
unsubstantiated work has been from the Mayor. If Colvin Roy, or any other
council members who feel that they *really* want to protect Coldwater, should
make their statements publically known. They did it once, with stopping the
airport dewatering plan. They need to do it again for the much longer known
threat of highway 55.
Throughout this entire sale process Coldwater has been the sacrificial lamb to
other projects. It was sacrificed not only to make room a widened highway 55 to
be built right next to a rail line. It was sacrificed to generate $6 million,
for other (good) projects, like Mills Ruin Park, the Science Museum, and
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge. It was sacrificed for maintenance
sheds and a parking lot for the airport.
Seems like possibly a tradeoff, but consider this; The National Congress of
American Indians, representing well over 300 tribes, has declared the area to
be a Sacred Site to multiple tribes (Resolution # PSC-99-127) The Iowa, and
other tribes have consistently questioned why their religious rights are
continued to be violated by this project (Resolution I-99-87). This has major
religious significance, it's at the center of the Dakota Creation Story. It's
also the Birthplace of the State of Minnesota, and it would serve as a
connecting piece between Minnehaha park and Fort Snelling State Park, and it's
the last spring of size in the county, all others having been previously
destroyed. Why has the city and state decided not to act in good faith, instead
coming up with stupid arguments of "Where were they 30 years ago, if it's so
sacred?" completely disregarding the fact that the Federal Government had laws
outlawing such statements for decades. (It was finally repealed by the freedom
of religion act of 1978). Who honestly believes that after decades of literal
violations by the government, anyone will be quick to publicly state what is
closest to their hearts?
They say there are no burial grounds there, yet in books like "Sketches of
Minnesota" (1850) easily accessible at many libraries talks of them, other
documents show other cemeteries in the area, but the state "digs" went down
only one to three feet to look for them, in areas known to have been covered by
fill from the railroad line. Their studies missed the most basic of
information, found on library shelves, (see Bruce White's report), followed by
seriously questionable archeological practices, to draw conclusions that show
why more roads do not hurt the area as a whole.
But when you look closer, it just gets worse. The land was taken by a treaty
that was never ratified by the government(1805), followed by a second treaty
that the government failed to make good upon(1850), directly leading to a war
in 1862 that killed thousands, produced a prison encampment below Fort
Snelling, that "lost" hundreds, eventually got most Indians banished from the
state, and we are feed a line that "the Indians must be mistaken" this was not
the land they say it is. Never mind you found 6000 year old stone axes on it,
or there is a documented Indian village on the site.
This is so convoluted, that now when the airport looks at it, even they are
saying they want out of the deal. But the Contract that supposedly "Protected"
this site, seems to be the promise of money that wont allow the airport out.
Further the DNR and State Parks have come out and said they want to manage the
area, but don't have and extra multimillion cash flow to buy it at the moment.
The Iowa tribe, originally from this area, want to buy it and save it as a true
park, but they get ignored. Other options exist. But we hear nothing of them.
My heart sinks, when I read statements in mailings that seem to claim that the
area is already "Protected".
But hey, that's just me...
Tom Holtzleiter
King Field
Member of Preserve Camp Coldwater Coalition
www.preservecampcoldwater.org
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