DNR gets permission to spend more for Vermilion park'

A provision tucked into the 2010 state bonding bill paves the way for Minnesota to buy land on Lake Vermilion for a new state park, a purchase that could take place in the next few months.

The provision in the bill, signed into law Sunday by Gov. Tim Pawlenty, gives the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources legal authority to pay more than appraised value for 3,000 acres of undeveloped Lake Vermilion shoreline.

The DNR has an agreement with U.S. Steel to buy the property for $18 million.

“We’re probably going to meet next week within the department to develop our plan going forward and then meet with the company to finalize a purchase agreement,” said Peter Hark, acquisition and development manager for the DNR’s Division of Parks and Trails.

A final real estate deal could be completed within months, Hark said Tuesday.

State law forbids the DNR from paying more than appraised value. But because the DNR and company could not agree on an appraisal price, they struck a tentative sale deal in January pending an exemption from the appraised value law. U.S. Steel had sought $20.3 million for the land.

The new property would add 3,000 acres to the existing 1,014-acre Soudan Underground Mine State Park and become one of the state’s largest lakefront parks. Hark said limited public access, such as day-use hiking or boating, could be available this summer and that a full-fledged park design could be ready to start construction by 2011.

With only $2 million remaining after the sale, it’s not clear when the DNR might have the money to build the kind of “crown jewel” state park envisioned by Pawlenty in 2007 when he first announced the effort to buy the land.

DNR leaders have said the park should have state-of-the-art amenities such as wireless Internet, a boat ramp and docks, utilities, campsites, lodges, an interpretive center, beaches, trails and more.

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