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HomeMy WebLinkAboutConservation Commission - 04/12/2011 APPROVED MINUTES CONSERVATION COMMISSION TUESDAY,APRIL 12, 2011 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Prairie Room 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Laura Jester(Chair), Greg Olson (Vice Chair), Sue Brown, Ray Daniels, Kurt Lawton, Anthony Pini, Prashant Shrikhande STAFF: Regina Rojas, Staff Liaison Jan Curielli, Recording Secretary Leslie Stovring, Environmental Coordinator STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Joshua Auerbach and Rachel Wood GUESTS: Kevin Bigalke, Nine Mile Creek Watershed District I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Jester called the meeting to order at 7:00 PM. Brown was absent. Shrikhande left at 9:05 PM. A. New Member Welcome Jester welcomed Mr. Pini and Mr. Lawton to the Commission. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Jester added Item VII.C. Groundwater Sustainability—Prashant Shrikhande. Stovring added Item XII.D. Tuesday, May 3, Evening With the Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District. MOTION: Daniels moved, seconded by Olson, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 6-0. III. MINUTES A. Approval of Minutes for the March 8, 2011 Meeting MOTION: Olson moved, seconded by Daniels, to approve the minutes of the March 8, 2011 meeting as published. Motion carried 6-0. IV. SPEAKERS A. Lake Projects, Flood Status, TMDL's, Summer Education Series—Kevin Bis!alke, Nine Mile Creek Watershed District Conservation Commission Minutes April 12, 2011 Page 2 Kevin Bigalke, Nine Mile Creek Watershed District, gave a PowerPoint update on some of the projects that the Watershed District has undertaken in the past two years. He reviewed the water quality improvement projects on Eden Prairie lakes. He said the level of Birch Island Lake had dropped over the course of 15-20 years, largely due to the construction of County Road 62. They completed several projects that are intended to bring that lake back to the historic elevation of 880 feet. In the fall of 1998 they completed an alum treatment of Bryant Lake and have seen good water quality improvements since that time. They have not yet restored a wetland to the west of Hwy 494 that drains into Bryant Lake because easements are needed for the trail from property owners on the south side of the area. He said the highest profile projects are those involving the Anderson Lakes. They used a draw down in the fall of 2008 to manage pond weeds on Northwest and Southwest Anderson Lakes. Bloomington requested work on Southeast Anderson Lake, so they also did a chemical treatment on that lake. Jester asked if they expect any impact from the Hwy 494/169 construction. Bigalke said if anything there will be an improvement in water quality. They are not changing the outlet elevations. Lawton asked how much longer the projects will take. Bigalke said the expensive part is the treatment,but there will be five years of post project monitoring. Pini asked where the funding comes from for the projects. Bigalke said Watershed Districts have taxing ability, and cities petition the Watershed Districts for projects. The Watershed Districts pay 100% of water-quality related components and split the costs for trails 50150. B. Storm Water Management Update—Public Education—Leslie Stovrins! Stovring described the term "stormwater runoff' and reviewed the permit process required by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). She said the current permit period expires this year. She reviewed the Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP) that has six minimum control measures with best management practices under each of them. hi 1987 Minnesota passed a nondegradation plan and chose 30 cities, including Eden Prairie, to be held to a higher standard. The goal of the 1987 plan was to get the water resources back to 1987 levels. In 2008 the City's nondegradation plan was finished and submitted to the state. Stovring reviewed the types of water bodies included in the total of 915 in Eden Prairie. She said since the early 1990's the City has used the Nationwide Urban Runoff Program(NURP) ponds as the standard for capturing sediment from stormwater runoff. Stovring reviewed the annual maintenance measures and the projects completed through 2010. She said the City started collecting a stormwater utility fee to cover the costs of the maintenance and other projects. In 2010 they collected $818,340 in Conservation Commission Minutes April 12, 2011 Page 3 fees and spent$1,005,124. She reviewed the projects scheduled for 2011, as well as a list of pending and unscheduled projects. Olson asked if it is the State that issues stormwater permits. Stovring said it is. Olson asked how often they monitor compliance. Stovring said we file an annual report and that was given tonight just prior to the Commission meeting. She said we take comments and then summarize the activities for the previous year to present to the City Council and to include in the annual report. Olson asked if there is any outside verification of what we have done and what the consequences would be if we are found to be out of compliance. Stovring said there is no verification done at this time and there is a fee structure set up for a certain fine level per day until we come back into compliance. Olson asked if the State mandated the stabilization of the Minnesota River bank. Stovring said they did not,but we want to attack it before it gets worse. Pini asked if the 915 water bodies are owned by the City. Stovring said 80% of them are under a drainage easement and the rest are privately constructed or owned in private drainage areas. Pini asked if the City gets an easement over a private storm water pond. Stovring said we do not if it receives only private drainage. Olson asked if the possible ban on asphalt seal coats would be put before the City Council. Stovring said it would. Olson asked if the Conservation Commission could look into that and make a recommendation. Stovring said the League of Minnesota Cities has a sample resolution prepared for that. Olson asked what the timing would be to get an ordinance before the Council. Stovring said she hoped to have it in this month but she hasn't started it yet. Pini asked what the asphalt ban would include. Stovring said there are two types of sealants, and the coal-tar based ones are bad. She said the main issue is the use on private driveways. Pini asked if we would deal with it by not allowing the sealant to be sold. Stovring said we could not allow it to be used,but she did not believe we have the ability to stop the sale. Jester thought we might have Ms Rojas put the item on one of our agendas. Lawton asked about the process for prioritizing projects. Stovring said some of the items are required. She has approval to hire an environmental technician from year to year to help with this process. V. REPORTS FROM STAFF VI. REPORTS FROM CHAIR VII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION A. Chamber of Commerce Home and Garden Expo Recap Jester said Ms Brown, Mr. Shrikhande and Mr. Daniels were at the Home & Garden Expo at Grace Church. Shrikhande said the stormwater display and the compressed Conservation Commission Minutes April 12, 2011 Page 4 cans exhibit were good draws. Daniels said the display boards were very nice. He said there was a fairly steady stream of traffic in the morning, but he thought overall there were fewer people than in the past. Jester said she didn't see a lot of advertisement for it prior to the event. She noted one of the display boards is for our use and one belongs to Ms Brown. B. Recycling Article Discussion—Grey Olson Olson said the article about Plymouth wanting organics recycling in their new hauler contract appeared in the paper shortly after our last meeting. He said Plymouth is trying to incent the haulers to offer education, service to multi-family dwellings and yard waste removal. He said he was interested in knowing what our bidding process is and when the next bids come up. Stovring said Plymouth and Minnetonka have organized collection for recycling but open garbage hauling. Eden Prairie has open recycling and garbage hauling so we don't go out for bids. Olson asked why the City does it that way. Stovring said that is the way it started here. Pini asked what an organics hauler is. Stovring said it should be called compostables and includes anything that can break down. Jester asked if we can require certain education elements in order for them to get a license. Stovring said we could. Lawton thought that would help with recycling. Daniels asked how often licenses are given. Stovring said it is every year. Pini said it would be interesting to see what statistics the haulers have for the number of customers who recycle. Stovring said it is about 95% for the single family households, and multi-family units are not tracked. Pini said he would be interested in knowing where the recycled material actually goes. Jester said we just had a presentation on recycling from Hennepin County and only 55% is being recycled. They asked us how they could improve that. She thought having some requirements to get a license to work in Eden Prairie would be something to consider. Olson asked if the Commission members could get a copy of the current licensing requirements. Stovring said it is in City code. Jester suggested we bring in a recycling specialist from one of the bigger haulers to talk about the process. C. Groundwater Availability—Prashant Shrikhande Shrikhande said he updated the Commission last year on water conservation and wanted to follow that up with a discussion of our groundwater here in Eden Prairie. He would also like to bring in a speaker on groundwater. He said he has done some research on what the DNR has posted regarding our groundwater. He said the availability of water in bedrock is good but the levels in the monitoring wells have Conservation Commission Minutes April 12, 2011 Page 5 been dropping in the last 20 years. He thought we need to educate people more about the topic of groundwater sustainability. Jester asked if he is working with the DNR to find a speaker. Stovring suggested using the consultant her department is working with. We are in the process of updating our well head protection plan. Shrikhande said he found that the State is trying to adopt a model that Michigan uses. Pini asked if the State has any limits on groundwater removal by municipalities. Stovring said we have to have a permit and a conservation plan. We have restrictions on which aquifer we can use, limits on how much we can pump, and limits on how many wells we can have. She said she was not sure at what point they would deny our request. VIII. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS IX. CONTINUING BUSINESS A. Minnesota GreenStep Cities Update Jester said the GreenStep Cities program is a program that cities can voluntarily enter into that is run through the MPCA. There are a series of steps a city can take to get certified as a GreenStep City. She said we took action to pursue this and approach the City Council about starting in on it. We are hoping to get on the City Council agenda for June 14. We will use a work plan to approach the six best practices required, and the Commission could decide on which to work on. She said we will have a draft presentation and a proposed resolution for the May 10 Commission meeting so we can review it before we take it to the Council in June. Rojas said we will have our regular June meeting after the Council presentation so that everybody can attend the presentation to the Council. Pini said he would be happy to help with this. B. Pond Management Research and Framework Discussion Rojas said she had no update. She noted Bloomington did recently pass a resident volunteer program for pond management, and it would be interesting to see details of that at a future meeting. Jester asked her to get that material for the Commission. C. Upcoming City Projects and Development—Project Profile Jester said this is on the agenda every month. It gives an update on what developments are happening around the City. She asked about the item involving Redstone. Rojas said they are proposing an addition to the west side of the building. She said according to City code they are currently over parked so the addition will not affect the parking requirements. Conservation Commission Minutes April 12, 2011 Page 6 Jester asked what is going on to the east of Grace Church. Rojas said that is the ball field expansion project. Stovring said MAC owns the land,but we have a long-term contract for it. D. Ideas for Life in the Prairie Newsletter Jester noted this item and the website content item are always on the agenda. The Life in the Prairie newsletter comes out once a month in the Eden Prairie News. If we have any ideas for items in the Environmental Corner of the newsletter, we can pass them along to the Communications Department. Lawton asked if there is a list of what has been done in past articles. Rojas said she can get a list for him. Shrikhande said it would be nice to have something on groundwater. Stovring said May would be a good month for outdoor water conservation. Jester suggested we publish information on the rebates for irrigation systems. Stovring said her water report is due in June, and we could put something in that. Pini suggested doing something on recycling fluorescent bulbs. E. Website Content Jester said the Commission has a page on the website. We don't have a great amount of flexibility with it,but we can add links and files. X. NEW BUSINESS XI. INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS/HANDOUTS XII. UPCOMING EVENTS A. Saturday-Sunday, May 7-8—Living Green Expo (MN State Fairsrounds) B. Wednesday, May 11—Annual Boards and Commissions Banquet Rojas said Commission members will be receiving their invitations in the mail soon. The deadline to RSVP is April 29. C. Saturday, May 14—Arts In The Park—Purgatory Creek Park Jester said the Commission has been asked to have a booth and to help with recycling at the Arts in the Park event. She thought it would be good if the student representatives could help. Pini and Lawton said they could help. Rojas said she will help with the coordination. Shrikhande left at 9:05 PM. Conservation Commission Minutes April 12, 2011 Page 7 D. Tuesday, May 3—Evening with Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District Stovring said they have speakers twice a year, and this event is a good way to meet their representatives. She said the Watershed District is thinking about implementing a low impact development grant program. She noted this Watershed District covers 70% of the City, and they have money available for projects. XIII. NEXT MEETING A. Tuesday, May 10, 2011 XIV. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Jester moved, seconded by Olson, to adjourn the meeting. Motion carried 5-0. Chair Jester adjourned the meeting at 9:10 PM.