Minutes of Regular Meeting # 637 Held in the Lake Elmo City Council Chambers
Thursday, January 25, 2001

CALL TO ORDER Meeting called to order by President Bucheck at 7:10 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS President Bucheck announced that the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) held its hearing on January 24, 2001, on the enlargement and name change of the Valley Branch Watershed District. BWSR did Order the enlargement and the name change to Lower St. Croix Valley Watershed District.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES After discussion of the minutes of the January 11, 2001 meeting, motion was made by Scheel, seconded by Borash, to approve the minutes as distributed. Motion carried unanimously.

ADDITIONAL AGENDA ITEMS Items added to the agenda: Under Engineer's Report, Updates on Various Projects; Weber Pond Outlet; Afton Natural Resources Inventory; Under Managers Report, CAMP; Meca 12^th Erosion Control Conference; Lake Gauges in 2001; Volunteer Stream Monitoring Project; Letter of Support for Study of Washington County Trail System along St. Croix River.

PUBLIC FORUM No discussion in Public Forum.

SECRETARY'S REPORT Secretary Scheel said he has distributed the mail received since the last meeting.

INSPECTOR'S REPORT Inspector Roemmich was not present.

ATTORNEY'S REPORT Attorney Barb Wolle reminded the managers that the pumping agreement with Indian Hills Golf Course will expire in April. Motion was made by Borash and seconded by Scheel to authorize the District attorney to renew the pumping agreement for one year, through April 25, 2002. Motion carried unanimously.

Progress Report - Valley Creek - Jim Almendinger and Mindy Zapp, St. Croix Research Station Jim Almendinger and Mindy Zapp presented a progress report on the BWSR Challenge Grant Project: "Nutrient Dynamics and Water Quality of Valley Creek, a High-Quality Trout Stream in Southeastern Washington County". The purpose of the project is to maintain and improve the high-quality trout-bearing water of Valley Creek. Written reports were distributed to the managers, and using an overhead projector, they described the monitoring of Valley Creek. The two-year project will be completed in one and a half years.

The managers thanked the two for the report and said that they looked forward to future reports.

ENGINEER'S REPORT Palecek Property Update Engineer Hanson had sent a memorandum to the managers listing a number of alternatives to prevent flooding at the Palecek property in Lake Elmo. The managers discussed the alternatives and said that when Jim Palecek is able to attend a meeting, the managers will discuss the options with him. Mr. Palecek is out of town at this time.

Alternative Urban Areawide Review (AUAR) Engineer Hanson had mailed to the managers a meeting notice of the Woodbury East Alternative Urban Areawide Review Issues Identification Meeting. The meeting will be held on Tuesday, January 30, 2001. The meeting will be held to discuss the next phase of residential development in the City of Woodbury. The AUAR process is intended to look at the cumulative environmental impacts over a large area, and over a longer time frame, rather than preparing individual Environmental Assessment Worksheets for separate projects as they occur. Engineer Hanson said he will attend the meeting and report to the managers at the next managers' meeting.

Weber Pond Outlet Engineer Hanson said he has been working with Attorney Marshall on getting both temporary and permanent easements in the area of the Weber Pond Outlet. He said the permits are in process now and he expects to hear from the MnDNR soon. Engineer Hanson also said that the City of Mahtomedi has requested that a VBWD representative attend a February City Council meeting to present information on projects and programs within the City of Mahtomedi, including the Weber Pond Outlet, that the VBWD has planned. The Council would also like to discuss the enlargement of the VBWD, and what it entails.

President Bucheck said he may be available to go to the Mahtomedi City Council Meeting on February 26^th. He asked that Engineer Hanson accompany him.

Afton Natural Resource Inventory Engineer Hanson said there will be a meeting in the Afton City Hall concerning the grant awarded by the MnDNR to conduct a Natural Resources Inventory and Stewardship Plan. In January 2000, the managers made a motion to support the grant, in the amount of $4,000.00, primarily in-kind, for the two-year project. The managers agreed that Engineer Hanson should attend the meeting on January 30^th at 7:00 pm.

MANAGERS Next Meeting - February 8, 2001 The managers said they expect to have a quorum for the meeting, to include Managers Bucheck, Borash, and Fetcher.

CAMP - Metropolitan Council Lake Monitoring Program President Bucheck said he has received a letter from the Metropolitan Council, asking the managers to determine certain lakes in the District that could be monitored by citizen volunteers. The program is sponsored and partially funded by the Metropolitan Council. The District has participated in the program for the last few years. After discussion, Engineer Hanson said he will provide the managers with information on the lakes monitored in the past, and suggest which lakes to have monitored in 2001, and also some information on possible volunteers to do the monitoring.

MECA 12^th Annual Erosion Control Conference An erosion control conference will be held on March 8^th and 9^th at the Doubletree Park Place Hotel in Minneapolis. The managers agreed that Inspector Roemmich may be interested in attending. Jeff Berg, Washington SWCD, said the Washington SWCD is hosting a county-specific conference on the same subject, on March 6^th. Motion was made by Scheel and seconded by Borash to pay any expenses and fees incurred if Inspector Roemmich attends both or either conference. Motion carried unanimously.

Lake Gauges Jeff Berg, Washington SWCD, asked the managers if they would like the Washington SWCD to again assist in placing the lake gauges in the eight lakes that Chuck Taylor, the CAC representative, monitors for lake level. The cost will be $50 per lake gauge. The managers agreed to this and asked Jeff Berg to invoice the District for the amount.

Volunteer Stream Sampling Jeff Berg, Washington SWCD, told the managers that the funding from the MnDNR for volunteer stream sampling in Washington County may be running out. He asked if the managers are interested in taking over the funding, if needed. He said the Washington SWCD is also considering taking over the funding if necessary. Melissa Lewis, also with the Washington SWCD, explained to the managers that the sampling would be done by two groups of biology students at the Stillwater Senior High School twice a year. The cost would be the transportation of the students and other costs. The managers agreed that if the program funding by the MnDNR ceases, and help is needed from the VBWD, they should be contacted.

Letter of Support for Washington County to Study the Possibility of Trail System along St. Croix River Jeff Berg, Washington SWCD, said there is a possibility that a grant will be provided by MnDNR to study the need for a trail system along the St. Croix River. He asked the managers for a letter of support for the study. There would be no money involved in the agreement to support the study. Motion made by Bucheck and seconded by Borash that the VBWD managers will sign a letter of support for the proposed natural resources inventory. Motion carried unanimously.

ADJOURNMENT Motion made by Borash and seconded by Scheel at 8:21 p.m. to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully Submitted,

Donald Scheel,
Secretary

Minutes Approved by Managers 02/08/01