Road is rocky for Shakopee, tribe

Yahoo

09-02-2025

Shannon Fiecke of the Shakopee Valley News reports:
Poor relations between the city of Shakopee and the Shakopee Mdewakanton Dakota Community boiled to the surface earlier this month during discussions over a proposed road project in Shakopee.
Because of other unresolved issues, city leaders came close to putting off an offer from the tribe to repave McKenna Road for free.
For more than a year now, the city says the tribe has either cancelled or not responded to the city's requests for meetings to discuss long-term issues – such as the handling of future road and sewer projects.
The Shakopee City Council ended up approving the road project on a vote of 3-2 at a July 3 meeting, but only with the verbal promise from tribal Administrator Bill Rudnicki that tribal leaders will meet.
Shakopee Mayor John Schmitt, who opposed approval on July 3 along with Councilor Steve Clay, wanted to first meet with tribal leaders.
Schmitt said the project, which Shakopee was planning to do in 2010, isn't something the city needs right now.
'What we do need is the opportunity to sit down at the table,' he said.
Proposed project
The tribe wants to repair and put another layer of pavement on the approximately 1.4 mile-long McKenna Road, portions of which lie in Shakopee and Prior Lake. The tribe originally paid to upgrade the road from gravel years ago.
McKenna Road is used by the tribal community but also by Shakopee residents.
Traffic on the road has increased and the tribe found 72 longitudinal cracks on the road, Rudnicki said.
Last year, two bends were taken out of the road when the Shepherd of the Lake Church expanded. Traffic on the road has increased, he said.
While Rudnicki agreed that the tribe and city have unresolved issues requiring attention, he was flabbergasted that city leaders would consider turning the project down.
'I saw it as a benefit to the city,' he said. 'I'm taken aback – speechless.'
He said he was surprised to be asked to the city council meeting on the eve of the Fourth of July to discuss the project, instead of it being handled at a staff level. He said that's how it proceeded with the city of Prior Lake.
Government relations
While he's upset with the lack of communication with tribal leaders, Councilor Matt Lehman said he supported the road project and considered it a separate issue.
'I'm not going to stoop to the level of either we get this or you don't get that,' he said.
The city planned on improving the road in 2010 for an estimated cost of $170,000, 30 percent of which would be picked up by neighboring properties, said city Public Works Director Bruce Loney.
From a public works perspective, it's never too early to do an overlay, he said.
Councilor Steve Menden said he appreciates the tribe picking up the cost. He echoed his colleagues' frustrations over other matters.
'We're neighbors and we don't always treat each other like neighbors,' Menden said.
Because of the lack of face-face-interaction, Councilor Terry Joos said the communication with the tribe is left to e-mails, faxes, letters and lawyers.
'This is a frustration for all of us – not being able to sit down and talk,' Joos said. 'We don't want a bad working relationship. We just want a conversation with you about the future.'
'We want to know we disagree, versus we think we disagree,' Lehman said.
The dispute over the tribe's application for putting land into trust (which removes it from property tax rolls and city zoning authority) might have been avoided had there been a good working relationship, it was suggested.
Schmitt and Joos said the tribe overly paints itself as having good cooperation with the city for PR purposes and the land-trust application.
The mayor said the tribe told the federal Bureau of Indian Affairs, which recently approved of a tribe's land-trust application, that it provided the city a temporary easement for a storm-water project, but neglected to mention it charged Shakopee $50,000.
Rudnicki took issue with the mayor's point.
'I negotiate to the best advantage of the community – on the same token you probably did your cost analysis' and found the easement beneficial, he said.
Allowing the tribe to do things because they have dollars to do so doesn't mean the city and tribe work together, Joos said.
While they haven't done a lot together, Rudnicki said there are some agreements for what have done, although 'we do have a lot to go from here.'
He pointed to areas of cooperation – like serving together on a Scott County association of local governments and the mutual-aid agreement between fire departments.
The tribal administrator also said the tribe must promote projects it participates in because of public misperception that the tribe doesn't do anything to help with local infrastructure.
Improving dialogue
Rudnicki pointed out that during his time as a tribal administrator, there have been six or seven mayors and a slew of different council members – all with divergent views.
Some don't care to see the tribe participating at the Relay for Life event; others do, he said.
Clay said he wants the same relationship with the tribe that Shakopee enjoys with its neighboring cities.
The city's relationship with the tribe has been one-way – only when the tribe needs something – Schmitt said.
'This has to stop being a one-way street,' he said.
Rudnicki noted that the drawn-out battle over the land-trust application has been a sticking point.
'The gorilla on our back is the fee-to-trust application,' he said.
Both sides must commit to 'toning down' the dialogue, Clay said.
Rudnicki said he knows there are issues that need discussion: 'I'm here to say, yes, we do want to have a meeting.'
Shannon Fiecke is a staff writer for the Shakopee Valley News. She can be reached at [e-mail].