City Council - 08/13/1985 - Special Meeting }
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APPROVED MINUTES
EDEN PRAIRIE CITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING
TUESDAY , AUGUST 13, 1985 7!30 PM, SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION BOARDROOM
COUNCIL MEMBERS: Mayor Gary D. Peterson, Richard Anderson, George
Bentley, Patricia Pidcock . and Paul Redpath
CITY COUNCIL STAFF: City Manager Carl J. Jullie, Assistant to the
City Manager Craig Dawson . City Attorney Roger
Pauly, Planning Director Chris Enger. Director
of Community Services Robert Lambert, Director
of Public Works Eugene A. Dietz and Recording
Secretary Karen Michael Y
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
I. ROLL CALL
` All members were present,
II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
MOTION: Bentley moved, seconded by Anderson, to approve the Aqenda as
published. Motion carried unanimously,
III. PUBLIC HEARINGS
A. WOODLAKE SANITARY SERVICES INC. Request for Planned Unit Development
Concept Amendment for approximately 313 acres; rezoning of approximately
14.44 acres in the Rural District to a district created specifically to
allow the establishment of a temporary landfill or rezoning to a district
Presently identified in the Zoning Code by amending the permitted use
section of such district to allow the operation of a temporary landfill ;
Development Stage approval for approximately 313 acres: and authorize an
expansion of area to be used for sanitary landfill purposes from approxi-
mately 107. 1 acres to approximately 148.9 acres , Location: southeast of
Flying Cloud Drive-In Theater. (Ordinance No. 4-85 - rezoning and
Resolution No. 85-1.62 - PUD Concept & Development Stage Approval )
continued Public Hearing from July 2, 1985.
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City Manager Jullie said the intended purpose of tonight' s hearing was
to review the grading and final end-use plan that was to be prepared by
the proponent; but,for reasons which they will explain that plan has not
been finalized or prepared. The proponent, however, does wish to address
the Council on the question of dealing with the contaninants which have
been found at the site and to also discuss some of the work they have
done regarding impacts on property values.
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City Council Minutes -2- August 13, 1985
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Jullie noted there were representatives in the audience from the Pollution
Control Agency (PCA) , the Metropolitan Council . Hennepin County, the Minne-
sota Geological Survey as well as State Representative Sidney Pauly.
Dick Nowlin, attorney with the Larkin Hoffman firm, was the spokesman for
the proponent, Woodlake Sanitary Services and BFI , fie explained that after
the emanation incident the focus of this meeting had changed. He noted
that volatile organic contamination was discovered at the landfill ; the
source of that contamination is under investigation. As a results the
focus has switched from a permitting process in early July to a remedial
action/enforcement setting designed to uncover and identify the problem.
The PCA told them to wait until this process has been completed so that
the results can be included in the final plans . He stated that they are
now in the process of developing a consent order which will identify the
pollution contaminant situation and the remedial action necessary.
Roy Ball , expert on hazardous waste, gave a status report on the investiga-
tion. Ball stated this is a remedial investigation. He used charts to
illustrate the location of the test wells . Ball noted the different
pattern of contamination and said it appears to be restricted to a
relatively small area. Paint strippers and degreasers are the source
of the Contamination. He stated the remedial investigation will ; determine
the extent and severity of the problem: prepare an evaluation report and
work plans which will be reviewed and approved by the PCA; once that is
done they will proceed with the remedial investigation (a remedial inves-
tigation report is due in t1ay 1986; , an al ternati ves' report is due in i
July 1986) . Once the contamination is satisfactorily defined and the
risk to human health and the environment has been addressed alternatives
as to what to do, along with a schedule of timing will be presented. Ball
said this will be followed by a detailed report along with an analysis
of what is to be done. Once this is approved, implementation will begin .
Bali said the remedial investigation will help to negotiate a consent
order.
Bail said they felt some additional wells will be required. He noted that
vapors will be collected. This will result in a soil- gas survey which will
determine the boundaries of contamination . Ball stated that at this time
there is no risk to human health perceived. He said that with these types
of studies a source can be isolated, encapsulated and the ground water can
be controlled.
Bentley questionned the timetable. Nowlin said he did not think anyone
had decided whether or not the resolution of the permit process was depen-
dent upon the study being completed. Bentley said he felt that the permit
process would be delayed as a result of the study. Nowlin said he felt
the same way and they would like this to be done in an expeditious manner.
Peterson asked if it was BFI's intention to continue to apply for 300
acre feet at a time. Nowlin stated a determination would have to be made
whether or not to keep the landfill open and, if so, under what conditions.
Nowlin said whether or not it should be allowed to expand was another
consideration and those considerations are all interrelated. Peterson
asked if it was the intention of BFI to apply for interim permits in
the meantime. Nowlin said he thought this would be the case.
City Council Minutes -3- August 13, 1985
Bentley asked how often the testing is done in the monitoring holes.
Nowlin indicated this is done on a quarterly basis . Ball said not all
the wells are done on that basis.
Bentley asked how long it takes to fill 300 acre feet. Nowlin said six
months.
Anderson asked about the harm to wildlife of the run-off from the land-
fill . Ball stated the remedial investigation will look at the impact
on the environment.
Anderson expressed concern about the fact that wells are now showing
indications of being contaminated and yet the dumping goes oni he ques-
tionned what will happen 15 - 20 years from now. '
Bentley asked if there were any major landfills that were unlined which
have not ultimately created significant levels of ground water pollution.
He recalled an article in the Minneapolis Star and Tribune abeut six
months ago in which major landfills were listed as "superfund sites."
Ball said most of the pollutants were the result of industrial wastes.
Anderson asked who is responsible for checking what is being dumped at
the landfill . Nowlin related that the PCA allowed liquid waste to be
deposited until a few years ago and that has resulted in some of the
contamination. He said he could assure the Council that no liquid waste
was being deposited now and has not since the mid 1970's . Nowlin stated
that BFI contracts with all commercial-waste generators that should BFI
find any liquid industrial waste not permitted by the contract. BFI has
-. the right to go back to the company. He said there is also employee train-
inq, a program which helps employees to identify those wastes which are
not allowed in the landfill . Nowlin noted that it is , for the most part, p
difficult to monitor household wastes. k
Juliie asked about the advisability of drilling some additional water-test
holes through the refuse. Ball said it is difficult to drill through
refuse -- tires and mattresses pose a problem; it would be good to be able t
to do that, however.
Redpath asked what effect there would be on the ground water if the landfill
was not granted the vertical expansion or if it was shut down for a year
or a year and a half. Ball said anything that would increase the amount
of water in the landfill would increase the amount of chemicals. Redpa th
said that would then indicate that the faster the hole is filled, the
better. Ball said the level of chemicals which can be tolerated must be
determined
Peterson asked what proportion of the present landfill is under a perman-
ent cap. Nowlin and Ball said they did not know, Nowlin stated the south-
west and west portions of the landfill are near completion,
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City Council Minutes -4- August 13, 1985
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Anderson noted that since the landfill is nearing its limits now, would
it not be best to permanently cap it as soon as possible. Ball said
there was no evidence that that was necessary to do at this time and
based on his experience there was nothing to point to that and he would
not recommend any immediate action.
Pidcock asked why someone from BFI was not here this evening. Nowlin
stated that John Curry had intended to be here but was called out of
town . Nowlin apologized for no one being here to answer questions
relating to the operation of the landfill .
Pauly asked what effect the methane collection system would have on the
gathering of volatiles. Ball said it would have a considerable effect.
The methane probes will be sampled; the entire collection system will
be examined. Pauly asked what the vapor collection was designed to show.
Ball said they would hope to be able to determine concentrations of
volatiles . Pauly asked if the studies would show the impact of the
leachate flow on, and possible discharge into, Grass Lake. Ball said
it would. Pauly noted that Hennepin County consultants had, in their
report, questionned the assumption that the leachate, once it gets into
the Jordan aquifer will percolate into Grass Lake and the River. He
asked if this had enough environmental significance to warrant further
• investigation. Ball said if they were to get to a "worst case" they
would stop there, with the PCA's approval . Ball said they will be making
further investigations in this area, but he could not determine yet what
those will be.
Rick Rosow, Assistant City Attorney, asked where the PCA is in terms of
the consent order. Bruce Nelson, hydrologist with the PCA, stated the
PCA is now preparing a draft consent order to present to BFI and its
consultants for their review. He said tonight was the first time they
had seen the schedule and that will be part of the PCA' s review; they
have not formally received this information from BFI . Rosow asked if
August was a realistic date for the consent order. Nelson said it was
possible. Rosow asked if the PCA had addressed the issue of a issuing
a temporary permit for the 300 acre feet, Nelson said that there was
75 acre feet of fill capacity remaining according to their calculations.
This would mean there is capacity until September 16, 1985, at which
time capacity would be reached. Nelson said the PCA has not agreed to
any extensions at this time. Rosow stated the PCA "s data did not agree
with that of Hennepin County. Nelson said he understood that to be
correct, but they had not received Hennepin County' s data yet.
Pidcock asked how many people were working on this at the PCA. Nelson
said there was one engineer, a hydrologist, and one other person. Once
they are into the super fund program, more people will be involved.
Pidcack asked -about the level of experience of these people. Nelson
said they all had a Bachelor's degree or a Master's degree the engineer
on the study has five years of experience with the PCA.
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City Council Minutes -5- August 13 1985
Bentley noted the issue before the Council is that of expansion of the
landfill . Bentley said he understood the PCA would not deal with the
issue of expansion until such time as the contamination issue has been
determined. Nelson stated that permits had not been issued in the past
to those landfills where super funds had been initiated or where there
was an on-going investigation . Nelson said he did not expect there would
be a permit reissuance until the study is completed. Bentley said it
could be a matter of several months before the PCA was ready to examine
the expansion question. Bentley said the City Council must attempt to
determine a date when it, too , can look at the expansion question. Nelson
said the expansion permit has been postponed indefinitely by the PCA.
Redpath asked if the PCA was 1 ooki nq at issuing temporary perrni is
through January of 1987. Nelson said the PCA would stipulate a volume
or an end date in a consent agreement should it agree to authorize
continued operation.
Peterson asked for clarification as to the permitting authority. Pauly
said the original authorization by the City terminates when the completion
of the fill authorized by the PCA is arrived at. The City still has the
authority to control additional use. Peterson asked what the City' s
options are. Pauly said 1) to ignore the situation - do nothing; or 2) to
go through the process . Pauly said the City probably would piggy-back the
PCA' s original permit. Bentley noted that the temporary permitting process
goes from the County where it originates and then goes to the PCA. He
asked at what point does the City have anything other than input; when
does the City exercise its zoning rights to preclude the possiblity of
an on-going series of temporary permits . Pauly said this would happen
at the time when the landfills capacity, according to the PCA permit,
was reached. Bentley said the only option open to the City would
be to enter litigation. Pauly concurred.
Tim Homes, 10391 Greyfield Court, asked if the proponents are legally
bound in regard to the environment -- have they contacted the Chicago
Office of the Environmental Proctection Agency (EPA) . Ball said there is no
regulatory requirement to contact the EPA. Homes asked if the Department of ¢
Natural Resources (DNR) had been contacted. Ball said he knew of no require-
ment to contact that agency. Homes said that according to thFe Environmental }
Impact Statement (EIS) , the proponent must notify Hennepin County and the j
PCA seven months prior to closure regarding final cover, procedures , etc.
He asked if that process had been implemented Nowlin said that a closure
plan had been prepared. He said no one had been notified as referred to
by Homes .
Steve Fritz , 10382 Greyfield. Court, asked if the City intended to do any
testing of the water. Jullie said the City had no immediate plans to do
any testing; however, the PCA has been testing and the results of those
tests will be available soon. Nelson stated that copies of those tests
will be provided to the City as soon as possible. Bentley noted that City
well water is constantly monitored and tested; anyone "on" City water i
does not have a problem.
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City Council Minutes -6- August 13 . 1985
Pat Grant, 12438 Sandy Point Road, asked about the effect of the methane �
closure on the neiqhboring homes . Ball said the effects have not been
calculated yet but they will not endanger any of the homes . He said they '
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will have to satisfy themselves as well as the PCA.
Cary Cooper, 12033 Jasper Lane , asked Ball what his qualifications were .
Ball said he is a consultant and works on a project basis. BFI is one
of 40 - 50 clients at present. He stated he was hired to carry out an
investigation. to do a specific job. Bentley noted that the law requires
the proponent to pay for the study because the City and/or the PCA does
not have the funds to do so; therefore, the proponent hired a consultant.
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Judy Giddings , 12510 Sandy Point Road, asked why building permits were
granted in the area in which she lives when as recently as two years ago
there was talk about the environmental impact of the landfill on the
residential area. Bentley stated there has not been any legal reason
why the builders could not build on these lots as they were platted i
and zoned f
quite some time ago. Bentley said there was no indication
at that time that there were any contaminants. State Representative
Pauly said she had served on the City Council in the 1970's. At that
time representatives from BFI came before the City Council and said the
landfill would be closed in two or three years and then it would be
open space and a park. She stated the Council did not foresee at that
time there would be all the requests for extensions . She said the original
platting and zoning was granted in 1978. t
Rick Baker, no address given. asked what the turn around time is on the
testing. Ball said it was two weeks. Baker questionned why the testing
which was done in April was not made available until June. Ball said
he understood the routine analyses "go on the back burner". three months
would be a long time. Baker asked what type of testing is done by the
PCA. Nelson said their test results are available from the State Health
Department and take four weeks. Baker asked what is presently being done
to address the situation , other than the study which is underway. Ball
said the consent order is being negotiated; there are no clear-cut remedies
which he can recommend today. He noted that an investigation is being
initiated with the prime objective being that a solution be the result.
Anderson asked if it was ethical to do testing and not notify people of
the results. Ball stated the routine process is to retes% if there is
an indication of a public health problem with severe impact then there
is notification and retesting. Anderson asked what the PCA's rules and }
regulations were regarding notification. Nelson stated the WSS is required
to sample quarterly and to send the results to the Ft"►. He said he felt
Woodlake Sanitary Services (WSS) should have contacted the PCA but they
had not done so. Ball said it is not unusual to be suspicious of test
results. He said he can understand why PCA is unhappy but he can under- '
stand why it was not done.
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City Council Minutes -7- August 13, 1985
Peterson asked if there is a specific time when the test results are
( to go to the PCA. Nelson said there is a time specified in the permit.
The PCA was notified by phone by BFI of the test results.
Bentley said it would seem that a stepped-up testing program should be j
implemented immediately when contaminants are found. Ball said there
have been three tests in six weeks . Nowlin said their permit legal
obligation was to provide the PCA,as well as the City and the County,
with their monitoring activities for the second quarter by July 31 .
The first indication that there was a problem was received by BFI
toward the end of June. There was immediate resamplin4. There had i
been two other incidents where the sampling had been wrong. therefore,
retesting was called for. Not revealing the results of the first
tests was a conscious business choice based on background and precedents.
The question as to why the proponent did not come forth with this infor-
mation at the July 2, 1985, meeting of the City Council has been raised,
and Nowlin said the proponent had asked that that meeting be postponed
for a week or two.
Homes stated that according to the final EIS, there was a 90-day limit
imposed on the review process. He wondered whether or not a new EIS
would be drafted. John Rafferty, Metropolitan Council , stated there
would not be a need to do a new EIS.
Homes asked if the issue of property values was going to be addressed .
Nowlin said a study had been conducted (copies were made available to i
those who so desired a copy) . Nowlin reviewed cases which have been
in court regarding diminution of property. He said the problem, as
they perceive it, is not one of diminution but rather of insurance
against diminution. The study which was done did not show any diminution
in property values in the area of the Flying Cloud Landfill . He said
the company has tried to determine what is going on with property values
over the last two years .
Rosow summarized what had transpired at the County Commissioner's Meeting.
He said he had told the Board that BFI had told the City that as long
as the City kept beating the company over the head at public meetings ,
it was not willing to discuss the property values issue. Consequently,
the City had decided there were many fronts on which to fight the battle '
so the City was withdrawing its objection from supporting the proposal .
In a gesture of good faith the City would attempt to evoke some response
from the company in this regard.
Representative Pauly noted that during the last session of the Legislature
she had presented three bills regarding compensation. None was passed.
She said she felt people who live next to a landfill deserve compensation.
Pauly said she hoped that landfill expansions would be treated in a manner
similar to new landfills .
Rosow noted the proponent had none to the Hennepin County Board and the
PCA to request authorization for temporary expansion and he asked if the
company's intention was to come before the City Council with •the same
request. Nowlin said they would like to request the City Council to
table consideration of the pending applications to a date not certain.
City Council Minutes -8- August 13 1985
Bentley asked what the status of that would be in terms of the public
hearing process. Pauly said the matter has progressed through the Planning
Commission , public hearings have been intitia ted, and he felt the matter
could be tabled with the understanding that when it is revived it would
be republished and renoticed as a new public hearing. It would be agreed
that all the matters entered into the record so far would be a part of
the record. Nowlin stated they would like to have both items tabled.
Rosow asked what the company' s intent would be on its requests before
the PCA and Hennepin County should the Council vote to table the items.
Nowlin said the company was not intending to come back before the City.
Stan Johannes, 12134 Chesholm Lane, asked about the timing; he said it
appears that we are looking at the potential of another long delay.
He wondered if the company was ready to offer some form of compensation
to the homeowners. Nowlin said they were; they are willing to negotiate
in good faith. Nowlin noted the landfill matter will again come before
the Metropolitan Council on August 21st.
Doug Reuter, 8750 Black Maple Drive,, asked if there had been any discussion
on the part of the City as to using part of the landfill tax as remuneration
to the homeowners. He said compensation seems to be based on expansion.
Juliie said there is no specific amount assured to the City; at this point
the City is looking at the company to fund that separately.
Anderson noted that once contaminants were found, doubts were raised in
the minds of many regarding any expansion.
Pauly asked if Nowlin was in agreement with the following conditions: the
proponent requests that items A & B on the Agenda be tabled for an indefinite
period of time with the understanding the City would have the right to
request further hearings on those matters and that upon such a request
it would be necessary for the City to go through the publication procedures
used for those hearings: and to further understand that the proponent will
grant to the City an indefinite continuation of the 90-day EIS. Nowlin
said that the conditions were correct with the addition that the materials
presented earlier be made a part of the record. Pauly asked if there were
copies of the exhibits available to the City. Nowlin said yes.
MOTION: Bentley moved, seconded by Redpath_ to close the Public Hearing
and to table this request to a date not certain . Motion carried unanimously.
B. WOODLAKE SANITARY SERVICES INC. to amend Chapter 11 of the City Code to
rezone approximate y 1 -9 acres described below from the Rural District to
a District which permits its use for first, landfill . and second, Public-
recreational and Industrial uses; and, to amend the City Comprehensive
Guide Plan to designate approximately 149 acres described below for Public-
Recreational/Industrial uses. Location southeast of Flyina Cloud Drive-
In Theater. (Ordinance No. 24-85 - rezoning and Resolution No. 85-163 -
Amending Guide Plan) - continued Public Nearing from July 2, 1985.
City Council Minutes -9- Audust 13, 1985
MOTION: Bentley moved, seconded by Redpath_ to close the Public Hearing
and to table this request to a date not certain. Motion carried unanimously.
City Attorney Pauly noted that it is understood that the City would have
the option to initiate or reinstate these Public Hearings should it
so desire. Nowlin concurred.
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Peterson thanked those present for their insightful comments.
IV. NEW BUSINESS
There was none.
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VI . ADJOURNMENT
MOTION: Redpath moved, seconded by Pidcock, to adjourn the meeting at
10:25 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.
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