St. Paul Regional Water Services will allow St. Paul and Ramsey County to lease 4.3 acres of grassland just south of the Historic Water Tower on Snelling Avenue for recreational uses.

The city and county were among 11 potential developers who responded to a request for proposals last summer. When the Board of Water Commissioners chose to lease out rather than sell the property, six proposals dropped out of the running.

The five that remained included proposals for a new Hy-Vee grocery, a solar panel project, an organic berry farm, city soccer fields that could also be devoted to softball or lacrosse, and a more open-ended proposal from Ramsey County that could include indoor ice rinks but would follow a community process.

The Board of Water Commissioners voted unanimously on Tuesday to support a merged city-county plan.