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Ge.. aSe., <br />.4-r. �. <br />April 19, 1985 <br />BACKGROUND INFORMATION <br />BIG ISLAND VETERANS CAMP <br />Acreage 57.7 (52.2 Buildable) <br />Lakeshore Front Footage 6,560 <br />CAMP HISTORY <br />o Started to be used as a Veterans Camp about 1920 -operated by an ad hoc <br />committee on land owned by Twin City Rapid Transit. <br />o In 1923 a law was passed establishing a Board of Governors and <br />appropriating $10,000 for each of two years. This Board was authorized to <br />lease 50-100 acres for use as a disabled veterans rest camp. <br />o Various other laws allow counties to appropriate $3-9,000/year to such <br />camps. <br />o The State continued to appropriate $10,000 annually to the camp. <br />o In 1941 MN Statute 197.13 was amended to authorize the State Board of <br />Control to purchase a veterans rest/camp. <br />o In 1947 the law was amended, authorizing the Board of Governors to purchase <br />the leased camp on Big Island which they did on May 9, 1947 from the <br />Minnetonka and White Bear Navigation Company for $25,000. (The source of <br />the $25,000 is not disclosed., <br />o The camp operated on $10,000/yr, from the State, $3,000 from Hennepin <br />County, and fees from guests and donations. <br />o In 1967, the State stopped its appropriations, apparently because the camp <br />had accumulated a $50-70,000 surplus. About $49,000 remains in a fund new <br />under control of the Commissioner of Veterans Affairs. (This money reverts <br />to the re-established Board of Governors under HF 1033.) <br />o In 1976 the Legislature renuired the transfer of Big Island Veterans Camp <br />to the State and required .-,at the Commit) oner of Veterans Affairs operate <br />the camp. Veterans groups challenged the 1976 Legislation in a law suit <br />that was settled in 1979. The settlement agreement required the Board of <br />Governors to transfer the Camp to the State to operate it as a veterans <br />camp. The agreement prohibited the State from assigning the camp to <br />another entity. If the State violates the agreement, the deed contains a <br />reversionary clause that would vest title back in the Board of Governors, <br />pursuant to the conditions under which it .ras originally acquired <br />