Valley Branch Watershed District

Minutes of Regular Meeting # 741 Held in the Lake Elmo City Council Chambers
Thursday, December 8, 2005

MANAGERS PRESENT: Lincoln Fetcher, Vice President; Don Scheel, Secretary; and Dale Borash, Treasurer;

MANAGERS ABSENT: Dave Bucheck, President; Duane Johnson, Manager

STAFF PRESENT: John Hanson, Barr Engineering; Ray Marshall, Attorney; Ray Roemmich, Inspector; Karen Schultz, Recording Secretary;

STAFF ABSENT: None

OTHERS PRESENT: Andrea Wedul, Washington Conservation District; Chuck Taylor, Citizens Advisory Committee; and Dean Otteson, Permit # 2005-27

CALL TO ORDER Vice President Fetcher called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.

ANNOUNCEMENTS There were no announcements.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES After discussion of the minutes of the November 10, 2005 meeting, motion was made by Scheel and seconded by Borash to approve the minutes as distributed. Motion carried unanimously.

ADDITIONAL AGENDA ITEMS Added to the agenda, under Managers, Sunnybrook Lake.

PUBLIC FORUM There was no discussion in the Public Forum segment of the meeting.

SECRETARY=S REPORT Secretary Scheel reported that he had distributed the mail.

INSPECTOR=S REPORT Inspector Roemmich reported on his activities since the last meeting.

ATTORNEY=S REPORT Attorney Marshall said he had nothing new to report.

TREASURER=S REPORT Treasurer Borash distributed copies of the Administrative and Program Budgets for Fiscal Year 2005 dated 10/31/05 and 11/30/05, and the Treasurer=s Report dated December 8, 2005. After discussion, motion was made by Borash and seconded by Scheel to approve the Treasurer=s Report. Motion carried unanimously.

WASHINGTON CONSERVATION DISTRICT Andrea Wedul, Water Resource/GIS Specialist with the Washington Conservation District, introduced herself to the managers and staff, and said she was present to discuss the land cover mapping with the managers later in the meeting.

ENGINEER=S REPORT Permit Request: Drainage Swale Grading from Manning Avenue to 27^th Street North, West Lakeland Township Engineer Hanson described a project located between Manning Avenue and 27^th Street North, West Lakeland Township, in the NW 1/4 of the NW 1/4 of Section 19, Township 29 North, Range 20 West. The purpose of the project is to grade a ditch with constant slope between Manning Avenue and 27^th Street North so that water does not back up onto property west of Manning Avenue.

The property owner had contacted President Bucheck, who directed Engineer Hanson to meet with the property owner. Engineer Hanson did meet with the property owner, Dean Otteson, but a permit application form had not yet been submitted.

After much discussion regarding the potential effect to downstream properties and possible wetlands, Vice President Fetcher said the applicant needs to show the project will not increase the peak discharge rates going downstream and that it will not impact wetlands, and that all property owners of the project area agree to allowing the work to be done. Until more information is submitted, the permit application will be considered incomplete, which requires no formal action by the managers. The managers did not issue a permit for the work.

Permit Request: Exhibit Building AD@ at Washington County Fairgrounds, Baytown Township

Secretary Scheel dismissed himself from the discussion.

Engineer Hanson described a project located northeast of 40^th Street North (County Highway 14) and McFair Avenue North, directly east of Exhibit Building AC@, Baytown Township, in the SW 1/4 of Section 7, Township 29 North, Range 20 West. The purpose of the project is to construct a 12,000 square foot exhibit building and stormwater management features.

This issue was on the managers= agenda at the October 27^th meeting. At that meeting, President Bucheck had directed Engineer Hanson to work with Steve Anderson, President of the Washington County Agricultural Society, in the construction plans. Engineer Hanson had developed the plans mailed to the managers, and he had also mailed the plans to Mr. Anderson, but had not been able to discuss the plans with him.

The managers discussed the water management concerns, wetland management concerns, and erosion control concerns. Because Mr. Anderson was not in attendance at this meeting, and it was unclear if the Agriculture Society was comfortable with the proposed grading plan, the managers tabled the discussion until hearing from the Agriculture Society.

Permit Request: Mahtomedi Water Tower No. 2, Mahtomedi Engineer Hanson explained a project located at the northeast corner of the existing Century College campus on the east side of Century Avenue, in Mahtomedi in the southeast quarter, Section 31, Township 30 North, Range 21 West. The purpose of the project is to construct a water tower and to drain and disinfect the tower before putting it into use.

After discussion of the water management concerns, the wetland management concerns, and the erosion control concerns, motion was made by Scheel and seconded by Borash, to approve Permit # 2005-29, with the engineer=s suggested site-specific conditions, and standard conditions. Motion carried unanimously.

Update Weiss Property, Lake Elmo Engineer Hanson reported that the project on the Weiss property has been completed, except for some yard restoration and seeding. After discussion, motion was made by Scheel to pay the $12,000 invoice for the stabilization project, as had been agreed upon by the managers at the October 27^th meeting. After more discussion, the motion was withdrawn. Treasurer Borash will investigate the agreed upon amount for the project, and recommend the appropriate payment at the next managers= meeting.

Update Tom Johnson Property, Afton and Park Meadows Pond Emergency Overflow, Lake Elmo Engineer Hanson reported that he had left a message with Tom Johnson, but hadn=t heard back from him. Engineer Hanson also reported that he had contacted the property owners of the land downstream, of a potential emergency overflow of the proposed Park Meadows= pond adjacent to Kelvin Avenue. However, the landowners had not decided if they would agree to the proposed emergency flow route.

319 Clean Watershed Partnership Grant - Valley Creek Repair and Rehabilitation Program Engineer Hanson had mailed draft copies of a Grant Project Summary for the Valley Creek Repair and Rehabilitation Program. The managers discussed the draft and grant process.

2005 Pond Inventory Engineer Hanson had mailed to the managers a copy of the 2005 Valley Branch Watershed District Pond Inventory dated November 2005. After discussing the report, motion was made by Borash and seconded by Scheel to accept the report and to work with the City of Oakdale and to proceed on the recommendations. Motion carried unanimously. The managers will discuss the 2006 inventory at the next meeting.

2005-2015 Watershed Management Plan Engineer Hanson reported that he and Karen Chandler are finalizing the Plan, and have contacted the agencies concerning the preferred format for each agency for their files. Engineer Hanson said the goal is to send the Plan before the end of the year.

The managers had a short discussion on possible covers for the Plan, then agreed to place the issue on the agenda for the next meeting.

MANAGERS= REPORT Next Meeting - January 12, 2006 The managers expect to have a quorum present at the next meeting. Secretary Scheel said he may still be in of town at that time, but that his plans are to be out of town from mid-January until mid-March.

Report on MAWD Annual Convention Engineer Hanson reported on the MAWD Convention in Alexandria, and distributed Watershed District Handbooks. No VBWD manager was able to attend the convention.

Land Cover Mapping Andrea Wedul said she would like to postpone the discussion of the Minnesota Land Cover Classification System (MLCCS) until all the managers are present. It will be placed on the next agenda.

Silver Lake Aquatic Plant Management Vice President Fetcher had attended a meeting of the Silver Lake Improvement Association on Thursday, December 1^st. He had e-mailed to Engineer Hanson and the managers, a memorandum regarding the meeting. In the memorandum, Vice President Fetcher suggested meeting with DNR managers and/or administrators to discuss the issue.

Engineer Hanson said that the DNR has been reluctant to treat more than the allowable area of Silver Lake until a larger percentage of the residents on the lake apply for permits to treat their own area on the lake. He also said that the DNR allows a total of up to 50% of the lake to be managed either by harvesting or a combination of harvesting and chemicals. Up to 15% of the lake area can be managed with chemicals.

Vice President Fetcher had requested that Engineer Hanson draft a vegetation management plan for him. Engineer Hanson distributed a rough draft.

Sunnybrook Lake Vice President Fetcher read aloud a letter that he had received from the Mayor of the City of Grant. The letter, dated November 22, 2005, contained an explanation for the City=s refusal to begin a project to raise the roads in the City of Grant, as the City had previously agreed to implement.

The managers discussed the issue and the letter was given to Attorney Marshall to copy for distribution.

ADJOURNMENT Motion made by Scheel and seconded by Borash at 9:32 p.m. to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried unanimously.

Respectfully Submitted,

/s/ Don Scheel, Secretary

Don Scheel, Secretary

Minutes Approved by Managers 01/12/06