It’s an unusual pastime, but Rich Kramer enjoys reading through the lists of surplus property that the state of Minnesota plans to put up for public auction.

A 1.5-acre parcel in particular recently caught his eye — a wild spit of land in the far southeast corner of St. Paul between the Mississippi River trail system and the city’s Highwood neighborhood.

Owned by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, it could be sold for private residential development.

Or it could fill in the gap between the river and Ramsey County’s 142-acre “Fish Creek Open Space” area on St. Paul’s East Side.

Kramer, who owns a small East Side print shop, chose the latter. He represents his corner of the metro on the Metropolitan Council, a regional planning body that is all about land use, but he needed a lot more people on board.

On Tuesday, weeks of organizing came to a head when the Ramsey County Board of Commissioners approved the $80,000 purchase. The long-term goal is to seek legislative funding and use the land for an off-road bike- and pedestrian-trail alternative to Point Douglas Road.

“It’s a real valuable piece,” said Tom Dimond, a longtime East Side activist, and Kramer’s first recruit to his quiet campaign. “While St. Paul has a lot of beautiful land along the river and bluff, we don’t have a lot of off-road hiking and biking trails, particularly in Highwood. You’ve got to walk and bike on the street, and that’s not always safe.”

Dimond noted that the Fish Creek Natural Area Greenway follows the creek from Carver Lake in Woodbury to Pig’s Eye Lake in St. Paul. About three blocks away from the county’s newly acquired land, Fish Creek carves a narrow channel through bedrock in an unusual spot known colloquially as Fish Creek Canyon.

The new land “provides a rare opportunity” to link the area with the Mississippi River Trail, Dimond said.

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Maplewood police asking for help in fatal pedestrian hit-and-run Saturday night To acquire the property, Kramer and Dimond approached St. Paul City Council Member Jane Prince, Ramsey County Commissioner Jim McDonough, state Rep. Foung Hawj, and state Rep. Sheldon Johnson, chair of the Mississippi River Parkway Commission for support. It was a start.

But their work still wasn’t done. MnDOT officials looked through their procedures and found they couldn’t simply cancel the auction and offer it to the county as surplus property. A competitive bid would still have to take place.

“It’s not that big a piece of land. … But it’s one of those connectors. It takes you down to Highway 61, and right down to the river. … This time, it made a lot of sense to buy it,” McDonough said.

The 1.5-acre property is zoned for residential development and has an assessed value of $96,000, according to Ramsey County.

The seven-member county board voted to submit a bid on July 18. MnDOT, which had set opening bids at $70,000, opened three sealed bids on July 25, of which Ramsey County was the highest bidder.

The county board agreed this week to finalize the $80,000 acquisition.