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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-03-21 PACKET 04.A.i.REQUEST OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION COUNCIL AGENDA MEETING ITEM # DATE 3/21/12 PREPARED BY Engineering Jennifer Levitt ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT STAFF AUTHOR COUNCIL ACTION REQUEST Receive and place on file the approved minutes for the Environmental Commission's meeting on February 8, 2012. STAFF RECOMMENDATION Receive and place on file the approved minutes for the Environmental Commission's meeting on February 8, 2012. BUDGET IMPLICATION $N /A $N /A N/A BUDGETED AMOUNT ACTUAL AMOUNT FUNDING SOURCE ADVISORY COMMISSION ACTION DATE REVIEWED APPROVED DENIED ❑ PLANNING ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ PUBLIC SAFETY ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ PUBLIC WORKS ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ PARKS AND RECREATION ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ HUMAN SERVICES /RIGHTS ❑ ❑ ❑ ❑ ECONOMIC DEV. AUTHORITY ❑ ❑ ❑ ® ENVIRONMENTAL 3/14/12 ❑ ® ❑ SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS ❑ MEMO /LETTER: ❑ RESOLUTION: ❑ ORDINANCE: ❑ ENGINEERING RECOMMENDATION: ❑ LEGAL RECOMMENDATION: ❑ OTHER: Approved minutes of Environmental Commission meeting on 2/8/12 ADMINISTRATORS COMMENTS Administrator Date COUNCIL ACTION TAKEN: ❑ APPROVED ❑ DENIED ❑ OTHER Environmental Commission City of Cottage Grove Wednesday, February 8, 2012 A meeting of the Environmental Commission was held at Cottage Grove City Hall, 7516 — 80th Street South, Cottage Grove, Minnesota, on February 8, 2012, in the Council Chambers. Attendees Members Present: Karla Bigham, Rick Chase, Barbara Gibson, Patrick Lynch, David Olson, Thaddeus Owen, Rosemary Palmer, Emily Rixen Members Absent: Rita Isker Others Present: Jennifer Levitt, City Engineer David Thiede, City Councilmember Call to Order Chair Owen opened the meeting at 7:00 p.m. Approval of Agenda Motion was made to approve the agenda. Motion passed unanimously (8 -to -0 vote). Open Forum /Additional Agenda Items Olson stated that as part of the Commission's work plan, he will be listing the air and water per- mits for the area and believes he found a source to gather that data. He should have the list compiled over the next 30 to 60 days. Action Items 0.'1 0UUt11 VVAJ11111t{tU11 VValt;;1.911UU L11.1. U 14t "MV V — matt IVIU c, u V V V V v Matt Moore, Administrator with the South Washington Watershed District, provided an overview of the Environmental Assessment Worksheet that will address the impacts of the Central Draw Overflow Project that includes portions of Woodbury and Cottage Grove. Owen asked what issues there are with not having overflow capacity. Moore responded that cur- rently we are relying only on infiltration, explaining that the basins that receive the excess over- flow are large depressions in the landscape and have natural infiltration capacity. He stated that infiltration itself is not a good flood control technique and we need to provide controlled flow from those basins south through Cottage Grove to the river. Infiltration is great for water quality and a great on -site technique for small volumes of water, but is not good for flood control for large excessive runoff events. Olson asked who would own this project. Moore responded the Watershed District. Olson asked if there would be a separate contract from the County's road project or will it be a combined project. Moore responded it would be a combined project; one contractor will bid the entire Environmental Commission February 8, 2012 Minutes Page 2 of 5 project and they will have the same engineer. The SWWD is providing the engineering services for the project and the County will reimburse them for their portion. The County will then contract to build the project, and the SWWD will reimburse them for the construction. Olson stated that #11 in the EAW talks about reclaiming the right -of -way and bringing it back to an environmental standard after construction and asked if the contractor could do that. Moore responded that it will be part of the project. He explained that this corridor fits into the City's East Ravine AUAR. When construction is complete, it will be seeded with native vegetation. Owen asked about the start date for this project. Moore responded 2013 for the combined roadway and overflow project; the remainder of the project south of the immediate right -of -way will continue through the next five to seven years. The completion date for the total project all the way to the River will be around 2018. Owen asked if additional work would need to be done after the pipe surfaces. Moore responded that the ravine would be stabilized; they are also working with County on a potential upgrade to the entrance to the Park to control water levels on the roadway. Bigham asked if and how the SWWD will update the City on this project. Moore responded the Watershed District is working closely with the city and county. Communication with those part- ners occurs regularly. Currently the SWWD is working with the County and City on the 70th Street road realignment. He noted that they are mindful of the cost and will stage the project to deal with the costs. Palmer had a question about #25 in the document that talks about nearby resources including archeological sites and asked what their plans are if they uncover an unknown site during con- struction. Moore responded that the City has a lot of archeological information as well as the Natural Resource Inventory, so everything in the area is identified, but if something is discov- ered, they will handle that through the normal channels. The project would come to a halt until it is dealt with. Olson expressed concern about the excavation the north end of the project disturbing the dump on the land to the north. Moore explained that the area that will be excavated is where 70th Street would extend to the east. There is a farmstead on 70th Street with two bedrock knobs in the field. They don't believe they will run into any construction problems getting through there, and given the work on the ground water remediation system to the north, he believes the project will not have any impact or interaction with the barrier wells and groundwater in that area. Olson stated that there should be a clear message that this project will not impact the ability of the bar- rier wells to protect the groundwater. Moore stated that this operation is very similar to what the Met Council did when they put the interceptor in, and this project will be above the Met Council's pipe. Levitt stated that the interceptor was installed at a depth of 50 feet. In 2007, a sewer con- nection was installed up Military Road near 50 feet in depth and we did not find any deviation in the remediation or water patterns with those two projects. She stated that there have been more aggressive projects than this project that did not have any negative impact on the pump out water. Lynch asked about turning over the volume in Ravine Lake. Moore explained that this is a draft EAW, and the SWWD has been struggling with the volume of overflow in comparison to the vo- lume in that lake but given the infrequency and length of time we would see any overflow, we don't believe there is going to be a major impact to the lake regarding turning its entire volume Environmental Commission February 8, 2012 Minutes Page 3 of 5 over. Ravine Lake used to be a very small cattail fringe wetland and over the past ten years it has become an open body of water with fish. He believes that adding water to the lake may im- prove its water quality. Jack LaVold, a board member of the South Washington Watershed District Commission, stated that it should be noted that the areas that will be ponded are part of this City's development ponding system. These are not additional areas; these areas will be the same that the City will use for ponding stormwater during the long -term development of the East Ravine. 5.2 Washington County Grant Report — Jennifer McLoughlin, Sustainability Specialist Jennifer McLoughlin, Sustainability Specialist with the City of Woodbury, stated that she has been contracted to also work with the City of Cottage Grove on the recycling grant the City receives through Washington County and the recycling projects that are associated with that grant. She summarized the memorandum regarding the Washington County recycling grant and asked which four grant projects the Commission wants to do. Owen asked if the additional funding is based on our proposal for the year. McLoughlin re- sponded yes, explaining that the additional funding is voluntary. Owen then asked if we have to use all of those funds for the activities we listed and how the budget gets broken out. McLoughlin responded that it can get a little complicated, because the funding can be used for purchasing products needed to implement the program and for staff time involved. Lynch noted that gauging success by tonnage is difficult to measure so overall participation seems like a good way to gauge success. He asked if Woodbury is using other ways to gauge their success. McLoughlin responded that Woodbury keeps track of how many contacts have been made, such as at events. The County is in the midst of updating their waste management plan as required by the State. They will try to figure out better ways to track progress and how programs are working. Lynch asked if our projects are in line with what Woodbury is doing. McLoughlin responded that they are comparable to Cottage Grove's. Woodbury did the Get Caught Recycling program only once a month instead of two times a week. This year Woodbury will participate in a school carnival and Woodbury Days. They are also doing a sustainability and landscape workshop. They also have a newsletter. Rixen noted that to receive the full funding, the City must complete four eligible projects a year. She asked if that number can differ, such as doing two projects that are of a comparable size to the four projects or more, smaller projects. McLoughlin responded that the County wants four projects. Levitt noted that we have outlined two specific projects that qualify for the grant, the Get Caught Recycling program and compost bin distribution at Arbor Day, and asked the Commission to recommend two other projects for 2012. She noted that the representative from the School Dis- trict was not able to attend this meeting, but he would have highlighted the recycling efforts that are going on in the School District and where he sees inroads to be made. Two schools, Cottage Grove Elementary and Woodbury Elementary, are pilot schools for the next school sea- son and he is looking for ways that we can partner to encourage those students to recycle. When you reach a student, you also reach a whole family, so we are trying to find ways we can partner with the School District. In addition, we are going to continue to run articles in the City's newsletter. In the Environmental Commission's work plan, it was indicated that the Commission Environmental Commission February 8, 2012 Minutes Page 4 of 5 wanted to participate in events such as Arbor Day and Strawberry Fest. Another idea that was proposed was to put together a box of recycled materials such as plates and napkins that would be provided to the Night to Unite parties. Bigham suggested partnering with the School District on a carnival would be a very effective way to educate both children and their families about recycling. McLoughlin stated that she has had two meetings with Jim Bain from the School District to talk about how we can help with the schools. She had initially tried to encourage them to do the "food to hogs" program. We are pro- posing to look at Woodbury Elementary and Cottage Grove Elementary and select dates to do a waste sort to see how much recycling material was put in the garbage and how much garbage was put into the recycling bins. An effective recycling program would lower waste removal costs. She stated that they need about eight people to do the waste sort and asked the Commis- sioners to help participate in this. Gibson stated that another program could be putting up a display at either Arbor Day or Straw- berry Fest. McLoughlin stated that the city is going to do the compost bin distribution for Arbor Day. Owen summarized the list of suggestions and asked if there were others. There were none. Bigham stated that she thinks any of the three events, Night to Unite, Strawberry Fest, or Arbor Day, will get to a diverse group of people in one location, so she does not think we can go wrong on any of them. Gibson asked what the usual participation is for Arbor Day. Bigham stated that it is pretty well attended and free trees are handed out. Olsen stated that a number of the other commissions utilize Strawberry Fest as an opportunity to feature some of the work that they do. Bigham stated that with the Night to Unite, the Council and staff are out and can help support the message of recycling. Olson stated that free paper shredding is offered at the Arbor Day event and that material is recycled. Owen summarized that the grant would include the composting bins, elementary school part- nership, Caught Recycling program, and Strawberry Fest/Arbor Day. Olsen welcomed McLoughlin and thanked her for her help. He is excited to have her as part of the Cottage Grove family. Unfinished Business 6.1 Get Caught Recycling Program Update — Jennifer Levitt, City Engineer Levitt summarized the staff memorandum to update the Commission regarding the Get Caught Recycling program. Approval of Environmental Commission Minutes Bigham made a motion to approve the minutes from the Environmental Commission meeting on January 11, 2012. Gibson seconded. Motion passed unanimously (8 -to -0 vote). Environmental Commission February 8, 2012 Minutes Page 5 of 5 Reports City Council Update Olsen stated that on Saturday, February 11, the City Council and staff will have their annual all - day goal setting session. He asked the Commission to contact him prior to Saturday if they had any issues they would like discussed. He reported on the All Commission Meeting held in Janu- ary. One the issues discussed was the re -use of the municipal pool building, and the over- whelming majority of attendees favored utilizing that facility for a toddler park that could be used for indoor parties and play time. He stated due to the weather, this has been a good construc- tion year for the Public Safety /City Hall building. He then discussed the petition for a home rule charter. Enough signatures were collected to submit the petition to the court, which will be re- sponsible for appointing a charter commission. If anyone is interested in serving on this com- mission, they should contact the City Administrator. He reported that the Council decided to take another look at our pavement management process and postponed the 2012 project for a year. He explained the history of the program. The Public Works Commission and members of the In- frastructure Management Task Force who want to participate will re- examine the program. Olsen then noted that for Council meetings only, the use of the iPads has saved at least $3,000 so far in costs related to paper, postage, and staff time. Response to Commission Inquiries None Olson stated that it would be handy if our agenda could include a brief explanation as to why the Commission will be looking at that item. He also asked for an update on the 3M East Cove Remediation Project. Adjourn Bigham made a motion to adjourn. Olson seconded. The motion passed unanimously, and the meeting adjourned at 8:15 p.m.