Carver County staff recommend drafting joint powers agreement with Three Rivers Park District

County staff and Three Rivers Park District officials outlined a proposed partnership under which Three Rivers would operate Carver County’s regional parks and trails through a joint powers agreement. Lyndon (county staff) framed the proposal’s scope, and Bo Carlson, superintendent of Three Rivers, said the district’s scale—"about 27,000 acres of land" and approximately "16 and a half million visits"—would let the agencies integrate operations and deliver services by creating a Carver cluster inside Three Rivers’ system. Bo described precedent joint arrangements with Scott County and Bloomington as models for the proposal.

The presentation said county park employees would become Three Rivers employees under a lateral-entry process while a dedicated Carver County manager would serve as a county liaison. Staff emphasized a policy committee structure and an annual work plan that would preserve the county board’s budget and policy authority while Three Rivers would administer operations. The board generally supported proceeding to draft a JPA but requested more detail on employee transitions, union negotiations, equipment transfers and termination provisions before final approval.