ramsey county

Ramsey County will buy and clean up a 427-acre tract of polluted land in Arden Hills that had been considered as the site for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium. County commissioners voted 5-2 Tuesday to spend $30 million on a portion of the Twin Cities Army Ammunition Plant site.

Ramsey County officials say they have a deal with the federal government to buy the 430-acre parcel in Arden Hills where the Minnesota Vikings want to build a new stadium.

Governor Mark Dayton and legislative leaders say the Minnesota Vikings and their supporters should find a way to pay for a new stadium that doesn't include local or state tax increases. That leaves a large hole in the current proposal for a $1.1 billion stadium in suburban Ramsey County.

A Ramsey County panel is holding a public hearing to discuss whether county voters should get to approve a proposed half-cent sales tax increase to help build a Minnesota Vikings stadium.

The Vikings and Ramsey County have a plan to pay for the estimated $131 Million in road improvements around a proposed new Vikings Stadium in Arden Hills. Team officials say both sides have identified state and federal grants that could supply $50 Million.

A lobbyist says the Minnesota Vikings and Ramsey County have a plan to pay for about half the $131 million cost in road improvements for a new stadium site in Arden Hills. Ramsey County lobbyist Nick Riley says the county could raise its share through grant money, toll lanes or a surcharge on car sales and the state would be asked to pay the other half of costs for commuter lanes.

The proposal to build a new Minnesota Vikings stadium in Ramsey County is running into stiff opposition from elected officials in its largest city. Six of seven St. Paul City Council members oppose a proposed half-cent county sales tax to help fund construction of a stadium in Arden Hills.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation estimates it will cost $131 million to fix up roads near the proposed Vikings stadium site in Arden Hills. That's $44 million less than the agency initially estimated.

Top Democratic and Republican party leaders in Ramsey County are teaming up to call the proposed Vikings stadium in Arden Hills a bad deal for their county. Ramsey County DFL Chairman Rod Halvorson and James Carson, the county GOP's 4th Congressional District chairman, released a joint statement Wednesday.

Gov. Mark Dayton and several of his Cabinet members met behind closed doors with legislative sponsors of a new Vikings stadium as they try to make the team's site choice in Arden Hills viable in the waning days of the legislative session.