Parks, Trails & Recreation Master Plan

Park and Trail Dedication

Grants

Minnesota Statutes allow local governments to require dedication of land or cash-in-lieu of land for parks and trails from new subdivisions. The dedication must be reasonable and rationally related to the recreation demand created by the development. It may only be used for new equipment additions, not replacement. Shakopee is growing rapidly and park dedication is a significant income source at this time. The Park Reserve Fund is the major fund for parks capital projects. The city partners with the local School District, particularly in the use of athletic fields. The continued collaboration between the city and Shakopee Public Schools is important in ensuring adequate access to facilities and minimizing overlap in programs. Collaboration should occur annually at a minimum with planned projects and additional opportunities to jointly develop open space and public facilities as appropriate. Shakopee has partnerships with both public and private organizations. These relationships have historically led to improvements to city parks and other public facilities. The business climate in Shakopee is significant and partnerships could be important for both facilities and programming. These businesses are eager to keep their employees closer to work and prevent them from moving to competition. Using the park system to keep them closer could be a win-win for businesses and the city. School Districts Partnerships

Grants are a way to make Shakopee’s dollars go further. The city has been successful in securing grant funding. The following tables are samples of some grant opportunities that

Donations

Private donations are another potential funding source. These may be financial donations from individuals or area corporations.

Volunteers

Volunteer efforts of labor from recreation clubs or use agreements related to trail and park maintenance are very successful in Shakopee today to help raise awareness.

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