A Ramsey County District Court judge has given the city of St. Paul until noon on April 26 to provide an opponent of the proposed Summit Avenue bike trail with public documents requested under the state’s Data Practices Act.
Judge Patrick Diamond issued his order in the civil case, filed last month by attorney Robert Cattanach, on Wednesday afternoon. Diamond has allowed another bike trail opponent, the Summit Avenue Residential Preservation Association, to join Cattanach as an intervenor in the lawsuit against the city.
The judge ordered representatives of the city of St. Paul to appear in court on April 27 to defend their handling of multiple data requests against likely cross-examination by Cattanach and SARPA’s attorneys. Cattanach’s request for a temporary injunction against the city, which would delay the bike trail hearing process from moving forward, will be heard at that time.
In legal filings, the city has argued that it had attempted to comply with Cattanach’s 10 or more requests for documents, emails and text messages, some of them calling for data going back 10 years, but that some of the requested information was held by private engineering firms.
Planning for the nearly five-mile bike trail along Summit Avenue continues. An initial hearing before the St. Paul Parks and Recreation Commission is scheduled from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, April 13, at Palace Community Center, 781 Palace Ave., St. Paul.
