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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 04/18/2000 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP/FORUM TUESDAY,APRIL 18,2000 CLOSED SESSION 5:00—5:30 PM, CITY CENTER 1999 CITY MANAGER PERFORMANCE REVIEW HERITAGE ROOM III COUNCIL WORKSHOP 5:30- 6:55 PM, CITY CENTER HERITAGE ROOM H CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Jean Harris, Councilmembers Sherry Butcher,Ronald Case,Ross Thorfinnson, Jr., and Nancy Tyra-Lukens CITY COUNCIL STAFF: City Manager Chris Enger, Parks & Recreation Services Director Bob Lambert, Public Safety Director Jim Clark, Public Works Services Director Eugene Dietz, City Planner Michael Franzen, Community Development and Financial Services Director Don Uram, Management Services Director Natalie Swaggert, City Attorney Ric Rosow and Council Recorder Peggy Rasmussen I. CALL MEETING TO ORDER—MAYOR JEAN HARRIS Mayor Harris called the meeting to order at 5:50 p.m. H. APPROVAL OF AGENDA M. LAKE WATER QUALITY DISCUSSION Perry Forster, Chair of the Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District, presented a report on the District. The RPBCWD covers approximately 65 square miles, with 11 lakes and 3 creek basins. Funding sources are: • Administrative Levy: $200,000/year(fixed) • Basic Water Management Levy: approximately $500,000/year (changes based on assessed valuation) • 509 Levy: $300,000 (can vary depending on tasks to be undertaken) • Stream Water Maintenance and Repair Levy: $15,000/year(fined) The administrative budget does not contain any contingency money. The controversy over damage to the cranberry bog in the Bearpath community has been very costly for the Watershed District. However, the buffer will soon be put in place, and the District hopes to recover some of its costs. COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES April 18, 2000 Page 2 The programs undertaken by the Watershed District are: (1) To issue permits for any projects having more than one acre. Projects are reviewed for minimizing impacts on water resources, flood protection and water quality. (2) To collect data on water quality. They have collected data on an annual basis for both streams and lakes since 1971. The data are summarized on reports sent yearly to the city. The Watershed District's Water Management Plan was summarized. It focused on water resource integrity and beneficial uses. Use Attainability Analyses (UAAs) for lakes and streams seek ways to obtain/maintain optimal water-quality conditions and to achieve beneficial uses. UAAs will result in cooperative projects involving the Watershed District and its constituent cities and/or other agencies to resolve water quality problems. District rules and regulations pertaining to storm runoff management may change to prevent stream channel degradation, and to protect habitat structure for aquatic biota (e.g., detention basin design criteria and "rainwater gardens"). The Plan anticipates the requirements of U.S. EPA/MPCA Phase 2 NPDES stormwater permitting program. Mr. Forster explained that "rainwater gardens" hold pollution at the source. They are placed in a swale adjacent to a road, with prairie plantings to hold the water. Rainwater gardens are controversial because cities wonder if their physical integrity will stand up over a long period of time. They are used in combination with detention ponds. The second generation Water Management Plan was also explained. It builds upon historical flood-control efforts, places new emphasis on the ecological integrity of lakes and streams and sets beneficial-use goals for all water bodies. Lake UAAs determine the current and historic water quality conditions, set beneficial use goals, assess attainment or nonattainment for current watershed land-use conditions, and if nonattainment is predicted for ultimate development conditions, recommend feasible alternative remedial measures. Stream UAAs considers current and potential future conditions and physical conditions described according to Rosgen Stream Classification and habitat evaluated according to the Wisconsin Classification of Physical Integrity for Streams rating procedure. Barringer said Purgatory Creek was a trout stream at one time but the rise in water temperature caused by pollutants eliminated trout. The work schedule for monitoring and use attainability analyses of lakes was reviewed. A report is expected by mid-summer, Forster said. A meeting was held with City Staff a month ago to go over the proposed rules and to hear objections, questions and comments. The goal is to try to stop what is happening in terms of erosion and degradation of lakes and streams and take them back to where they used to be 30-40 years ago. Lambert said he encouraged Bob Obermeyer to set up this meeting to discuss the different roles of the Watershed District and the City with regard to the study on Round Lake, and where they are in their separate processes. A method has been suggested for continuing the use of Round Lake as a swimming beach while addressing the various issues, including goose management, etc. COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES April 18, 2000 Page 3 Dietz said everyone there had the same agenda. The Watershed District has finished its Water Management Plan and has a process to implement that plan. Up to this time, the City has not had a chance to be included. The next step is a two-year process to do Eden Prairie's Water Management Plan with the help of a consultant. To make sure the City's goals are consistent with those of the Watershed District's, the City's plan has to be brought to the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BOWSR) and the Watershed District for approval. The City needs to know what the choices may be in order for that to be accomplished. Forster said the City first has to get BOWSR's approval of its Water Management Plan. The Watershed District's plan had to be redone after BOWSR saw it, requiring them to change the way they thought about some things. Forster suggested getting people from the RPBCWD citizen advisory committee involved. He invited the City to look at water- quality data the District has collected. Leslie Stovring replied that City Staff has been actively involved with the citizen advisory committee and she has talked to Bob Obermeyer. Dietz said the City does utilize the data the Watershed District has on water quality. Forster said the lakes in the Watershed District are interconnected all the way to Chanhassen. That means it is necessary to work from where the pollution starts all the way to the end. The idea of retention ponds and rainwater gardens came from the desire to contain pollution where it starts. Butcher asked if there is any urgency to completing the Water Management Plan. Forster responded that federal and state agencies say they have to be in place within two years. There are also certain mandates coming from the EPA in 2003, which will change the way water is managed. The Watershed District has been taking a pro-active approach. The objective is to present various options and alternatives as to what can be done to improve water quality in the District. To maintain the integrity of Riley Lake and Round Lake, decisions will have to be made, such as whether citizens want to spend money to improve the lakes. The purpose of the Use Attainability Analysis is to lay out what it will take to improve those lakes. Butcher asked if funding is available at the state level for lake improvement. Bob Obermeyer replied that the Use Attainability Analysis gives an opportunity for cities to petition the Watershed District for money to undertake these improvement projects. Money is available to fluid its portion of a project through the taxes it receives from the cities. If the City wanted to petition the District for work on Round Lake,the District can fund it for 16 consecutive years. However, other cities are also petitioning for funds. Butcher asked where other cities are in completing UAAs, and was told they are at about the same point as Eden Prairie. Bob Obermeyer has that information. Butcher said all cities in the RPBC Watershed District benefit when improvements are made, because of the way the lakes are interconnected. Dietz said he didn't know if there are any federal funds available to cities, but Eden Prairie has money in the stormwater utility fund. The first thing to do is determine a priority of actions to take and think through the process for protecting against the access COUNCIL WORKSHOP MINUTES April 18,2000 Page 4 of pollution, and then decide how to improve the water quality of the lakes. When citizen surveys were done, water quality was near the top of the list. The City was waiting for the Watershed District's 509 plan to get through the Bowser process, so did not start on its Water Management Plan. Forster said Eden Prairie has to get agreement with the other cities in terms of increasing the number of retention ponds and rain gardens. That will make it easier later on. He also recommended charging for field inspections and finding other sources for funding lake improvement. Mayor Harris asked what is the status of Riley Lake. Forster replied he believed the lake quality to be much improved. There are a lot of fish living in it, mainly walleye and northern pike. He recommended alternative ways of doing shoreline management, such as not having lawn running all the way to the shore. It is a high-use lake with a lot of water skiing. Enger said ten years ago when the MUSA line was extended around Riley Lake the Met Council thought the lake was ruined. Forster said the development of Bearpath and the golf course helped stop pollution on the lake. Otherwise the development would have been denser than it is, causing more pollution. Enger said the crux of the land-use issue is that lower-density, single-family houses are better because not as much impervious surface is created. Forster said with either high- density or low-density housing, the goal should be to limit the amount of impervious surface. The City needs to be vigilant and monitor what is happening. Mayor Harris thanked the representatives of the Watershed District for coming, and Forster thanked Council and Staff for inviting them. VII. OTHER BUSINESS VHI. COUNCIL FORUM IX. ADJOURNMENT Mayor Harris adjourned the meeting at 6:52 p.m.