Minutes of Regular Meeting
# 789 Held in the
Lake Elmo City Council Chambers
Thursday, February 28, 2008
MANAGERS PRESENT: Lincoln Fetcher, President; Dave Bucheck, Vice President; and Ray Lucksinger, Manager
MANAGERS ABSENT: Don Scheel, Secretary; Dale Borash, Treasurer
STAFF PRESENT: John Hanson, Barr Engineering; Barbara Wolle, Attorney; and Karen Schultz, Recording Secretary; Ray Roemmich, Inspector
STAFF ABSENT: None
OTHERS PRESENT: Brian Buchmayer, Long Lake Association; Daniel Gaudette, Du Residence Permit; Wendy Griffin, Washington Conservation District; Sandy Pederson, Teacher; and Stillwater Area High School Students, Valley Creek Stream Monitoring; Jeff Weiss, Barr Engineering, Raleigh Creek
CALL TO ORDER President Fetcher called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm.
ANNOUNCEMENTS There were no announcements made.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES After discussion of the minutes of the January 24, 2008 meeting, motion was made by Bucheck and seconded by Fetcher to approve the minutes as corrected. Motion carried unanimously.
ADDITIONAL AGENDA ITEMS Added to the agenda under Managers: Letter from Silver Lake Improvement Association; Ramsey Soil and Water Conservation District; Under Engineer: Report on Watershed District Association of Administrators Meeting.
PUBLIC FORUM Stillwater Area High School Students
= Presentation on Valley Creek Stream Monitoring Students of Stillwater Area High School, and their teacher, Ms. Sandy Pederson, made a presentation to the managers on their progress in monitoring sections of Valley Creek. They answered questions of the managers, and thanked the managers for funding the project. The managers thanked the students for their good work.SECRETARY
=S REPORT Secretary Scheel was absent; Engineer Hanson picked up the mail and distributed it.INSPECTOR=S REPORT Inspector Roemmich said he had nothing new to report.
ATTORNEY=S REPORT Attorney Wolle had the Watershed Outlet Monitoring Program (WOMP) II contract ready for signatures. She also the agreement with Bolander and the Memorandum of Understanding with Afton for the Oakgreen Avenue Infiltration Basin Project. President Fetcher and Vice President Bucheck signed the documents.
TREASURER=S REPORT Treasurer Borash was absent. Engineer Hanson distributed copies of the Administrative and Program Budgets for Fiscal Year 2008 dated 1/31/2008, and the Treasurer=s Report dated February 28, 2008. After discussion, motion was made by Bucheck and seconded by Fetcher to approve the Treasurer=s Report. Motion carried unanimously.
WASHINGTON CONSERVATION DISTRICT No report was given from the Washington Conservation District.
ENGINEER=S REPORT Friends of Long Lake Brian Buchmayer, with the AFriends of Long Lake@ was present to report that the meeting held on January 30th with the presentation by Keith Pilgrim from Barr Engineering and Treasurer Borash, went very well. He said that the lakeshore owners were very interested and appreciative for the help that VBWD has given. From that meeting, came several questions from the Long Lake Association (Friends of Long Lake) concerning the proposed water quality improvements for Long Lake. Engineer Hanson had mailed to the managers a memorandum from Keith Pilgrim, answering the questions. The mangers shared the memorandum with Mr. Buchmayer, and he said he would review the memorandum with the Long Lake Association and return to the managers with the association=s position on the proposed water quality improvements. Mr. Buchmayer then handed out a draft of the association=s first newsletter. President Fetcher complimented him on the newsletter and suggested that he send copies to Dr. Mike Manthei and Paul Anderson of the Silver Lake Association.
CHANGE IN ORDER OF AGENDA ITEMS At this time President Fetcher authorized a change in the order of agenda items.
Permit Revision Request: Du Residence Afton Engineer Hanson had mailed to the managers information on a permit that had been approved at the managers= January 10, 2008 meeting. The project has had a revised grading plan because of a driveway culvert extension. After discussion of the proposed grading change, motion was made by Fetcher and seconded by Bucheck to approve the proposed grading change by updating the permit approval date to February 28, 2008. Motion carried unanimously.
Raleigh Creek Jeff Weiss of Barr Engineering presented a summary of the Raleigh Creek studies regarding the stabilization of Raleigh Creek. After the presentation, motion was made by Bucheck and seconded by Fetcher to direct Barr Engineering to initiate the design documents for the stabilization of the Raleigh Creek erosion sites, per the recommendations, and to explore easement access issues. Motion carried unanimously. The managers will plan an outreach strategy, once the preliminary design is complete and the easement issue has been reviewed.
Permit Request: Steve Johnson Sand Blanket on Lake Elmo Engineer Hanson presented information on a project located at 2915 Lake Elmo Avenue North, Lake Elmo, in part of the NW 1/4 section 24, Township 29 North, Range 21 West. The purpose of the project is to install a 10-foot by 30-foot (approximately 6-10 cubic yards) sand blanket over existing sharp gravel.
After much discussion of the project, motion was made by Bucheck and seconded by Fetcher to approve Permit # 2008-04 with the inclusion of comments similar to Comment # 1 on the review memorandum pertaining to 35-foot wide buffer strip and suggested site specific conditions. Motion carried unanimously.
Meeting Recessed At 9:03 President Fetcher called for a five-minute recess.
Meeting Called Back to Order President Fetcher called the meeting back to order at 9:07 p.m.
Water Quality Monitoring The managers discussed a report mailed by Engineer Hanson, concerning water quality monitoring in the VBWD. Engineer Hanson also had mailed to the managers a list of the volunteers who will be monitoring various water bodies in 2008 through the Metropolitan Council=s Citizen-Assisted Monitoring Program. Engineer Hanson suggested a recognition event for volunteers. The managers agreed with this, and suggested a presentation to volunteers showing the results of their efforts. President Fetcher said this will be discussed again in the summer of 2008, with a plan for an event later in the summer or early in the fall.
After discussion, motion was made by Fetcher and seconded by Bucheck to follow the recommendations listed in the February 8, 2008 memorandum report by Barr Engineering. Motion carried unanimously.
Prior to the meeting, Engineer Hanson had handed out copies of the Silver Lake Watershed and Bioretention Area Watershed Monitoring and Modeling Report. President Fetcher directed Engineer Hanson to send the report to the Metropolitan Council, the City of North St. Paul, and Ramsey County.
Legal Boundary Engineer Hanson had mailed to the managers a memorandum dated February 5, 2008, concerning the legal boundary issues of the watershed districts and water management organizations in Washington County. After discussing the memorandum, motion was made by Fetcher and seconded by Bucheck to authorize Engineer Hanson to work with Washington County and adjacent watershed districts and water management organizations to clean up the boundaries along the whole VBWD boundary.
FEMA Flood Insurance Rate Maps At the last meeting, the managers directed Engineer Hanson to review the preliminary FEMA flood insurance rate maps, and compare the mapped floodplains to the VBWD-adopted flood levels and determine where properties and homes will be mapped inside the proposed FEMA floodplains. After reviewing a memorandum that Engineer Hanson had mailed to the managers concerning this, the managers directed Engineer Hanson to send a brief letter to the VBWD communities, encouraging them to inform their citizens of the mapping results.
Stormwater Pond Inventory and Maintenance Engineer Hanson had mailed a memorandum to the managers concerning the pond maintenance project and a report regarding the 2007 pond inventory project. After reviewing the memorandum and report, motion was made by Fetcher and seconded by Lucksinger to authorize the soil borings and revised plan, which combines the maintenance of the 2007-identified ponds with the 2006-identified ponds, and to conduct the maintenance next winter. Motion carried unanimously.
Washington County Landfill Engineer Hanson had mailed to the managers copies of a draft letter to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency concerning the Washington County landfill. The managers reviewed the letter, and with some suggested changes, approved it for President Fetcher=s signature, and directed Engineer Hanson to mail it.
West Lakeland Storage Site Engineer Hanson had mailed to the managers a memorandum concerning information on securing the West Lakeland Storage Site. After reviewing the information, motion was made by Fetcher and seconded by Bucheck to remove the Ajump@ and install the ANo Trespassing@ signs, and hire Mr. John Buelow to do this work. Motion carried unanimously.
Oakgreen Avenue Infiltration Basin This item had been discussed previously by Attorney Wolle.
Xcel Energy Fly Ash Facility Draft EIS Engineer Hanson reported on a meeting with the MPCA staff and Ray Wuolo of Barr Engineering, regarding the groundwater aspects of the fly ash landfill DEIS. No action was required by the managers.
Watershed District Administrators Meeting Engineer Hanson had gone to the meeting of the Watershed District Administrators, and told the managers that it generally focused on the legislative breakfast to be held March 13, 2008.
MANAGERS
= REPORT Next Meeting - March 13, 2008 The managers may not have a quorum for the next meeting. They agreed they will not cancel the meeting until they know for sure.Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program After discussing the final documents, motion was made by Fetcher and seconded by Bucheck to approve the Best Management Practices Cost-Share Program at an amount of $100,000, and begin implementation. Motion carried unanimously. The managers directed Engineer Hanson to post the information to the VBWD website.
BWSR Review of Metro Watershed Districts Engineer Hanson had distributed copies of the BWSR Performance Review and Assistance Program. The managers agreed to review the document for discussion at the next meeting.
Advisory Committees President Fetcher had distributed copies of the description of Citizen Advisory Committees and the responsibility of watershed districts to appoint advisory committees. The managers will discuss it in the future.
2008 Goals Motion was made by Bucheck and seconded by Lucksinger to approve the list of 2008 goals and initiatives. Motion carried unanimously.
Manager Continuing Education President Fetcher reported that on April 10th at 6:00 p.m. before the managers
= regular meeting, Keith Pilgrim and Brian Huser will speak on methods and efforts of lake treatment of algae and/or phosphorus, as part of the continuing education efforts. Dinner and beverages will be provided for all the attendees.2007 Annual Report Recording Secretary Karen Schultz distributed the first draft of the 2007 annual report for the managers
= review.Legislative Breakfast Motion was made by Fetcher and seconded by Bucheck to approve payment of expenses and registration costs for any manager attending the legislative breakfast on March 13, 2008 at the Kelly Inn in St. Paul. Motion carried unanimously.
Letter from Silver Lake Improvement Association President Fetcher summarized a letter he had received from the Silver Lake Improvement Association. The letter requested support from the VBWD in conducting another whole-lake aquatic plant treatment in 2008. No action was taken by the managers.
Ramsey Soil and Water Conservation District President Fetcher had received a letter from the Ramsey Soil and Water Conservation District, asking for a $750 contribution to their groundwater protection plan. After discussion, motion was made by Fetcher and seconded by Bucheck to support the $750 request for their groundwater protection plan. Motion carried unanimously.
ADJOURNMENT Motion made by Bucheck and seconded by Fetcher at 10:50 pm to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully Submitted,
/s/ Don Scheel, Secretary
Don Scheel, Secretary
Minutes Approved by Managers 03/13/08