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Conservation Commission - 09/10/2013 APPROVED NOTES CONSERVATION COMMISSION TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2013 7:00 P.M., CITY CENTER Prairie Room 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Olson (Chair), Kurt Lawton (Vice Chair), Stacy Bettison, Laura Jester, Prashant Shrikhande STAFF: Regina Rojas, Planning Division Jan Curielli, Recording Secretary Leslie Stovring, Environmental Coordinator Hagen Kaczmarek, Environmental Tech Jackie Schwerm, Human Resources/Administrative Analyst STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Sonja McPherson, Alyssa Minder, Olivia Urbanski GUEST: Jeff Lee, Barr Engineering I. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL Commission Members Bettison, Lawton and Shrikhande were absent. At 7:05 PM Chair Olson and Ms Jester agreed to proceed with the items on the agenda that would not require a vote. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA III. MINUTES VI. REPORTS FROM STAFF A. Goose Management Update (taken out of sequence) Stovring said the numbers were down this year. Jester asked if staff reacts to complaints only. Stovring said we respond to complaints and a consultant surveys spots and target areas for collection. V. PRESENTATION A. Pumatory Creek Conservation Area Plan--Barr En0neerin2 Jeff Lee, representing Barr Engineering, gave a PowerPoint presentation of the draft Conceptual Operations and Maintenance Plan for the Purgatory Creek Conservation Area (PCCA). He said the plan will meet the requirements for the CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2013 Page 2 DNR permit. He reviewed the history of the PCCA. It is a wetland that was created with a berm separating the larger lower pond from the upper pond. The upper pond is used to retain stormwater runoff and to help improve water quality. Mr. Lee reviewed the objectives of the PCCA concept plan: to prepare an operations and maintenance plan; to control flooding in the PCCA's stormwater basin; to manage fisheries; to provide desirable habitat for wildlife species; to maintain a diversity of submerged aquatic and emergent vegetation; to manage small trees atop the dike; and to maintain park amenities. He said the PCCA serves as a spawning and juvenile rearing area for common carp. He noted the vegetation is generally of good quality, except for a recent influx of brittle naiad which the DNR lists as a prohibited invasive species. Stovring added that the brittle naiad has become more widespread this year, and it is difficult to control. Mr. Lee said there is a concern that it may spread to Staring Lake from the PCCA. Mr. Lee said the PCCA acts in a flood control capacity and is used to treat stormwater runoff. Stovring said during construction of Highway 212 a board control structure was removed at the outlet end of the PCCA and was never replaced after the highway construction was completed. The removal of the boards caused the PCCA to have an operating elevation of 815 feet rather than 819 feet as it was originally. She said the DNR does not recommend putting the boards back because that might adversely affect the carp control. Olson asked how putting the boards back in would affect the carp problem. Mr. Lee replied putting the boards back in would raise the level of the wetland and could raise the numbers of carp that survive. Adult carp move to Staring Lake when they get too large for the wetland ponds. They could manage the carp situation by keeping the water level up and doing a draw down in the winter or by placing some kind of fish barrier to keep the juveniles in and then freeze them out. He noted carp are very sensitive to water level, and dropping the level in the winter would kill them. He said they also plan to fill in a deep pool area near the stormwater pond outlet that currently acts as a refuge for the carp in winter. Olson asked if they plan to put the boards back in. Mr. Lee said they are trying to determine what would be the correct elevation of the wetland area and will then work out details in the actual management plan. He said replacing the boards would allow us to manipulate water levels for fisheries and vegetation management. Jester asked if they have received preliminary approval of the concept plan from the DNR Mr. Lee said at last week's meeting the DNR and the Corps of Engineers were in favor of everything we proposed except for our proposal for adaptive management. Jester asked if the Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District is involved. Stovring said they are splitting the cost with us. Mr. Lee said we are scheduled to finish the plan by November. Stovring said there will be a public meeting in a couple of weeks, and staff would like to receive any comments on the plan by the end of next week. Olson asked if there are any CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2013 Page 3 points to which she would like the Commission members to speak. Stovring said Commission members should be sure to review the revised plan handed out at tonight's meeting rather than the one emailed in the meeting packet. Jester said she liked the concept plan and had no specific comments. Olson noted there is nothing that seems controversial. VI. REPORTS FROM STAFF B. Green Crawl Update Schwerm reviewed her memo on the plans for the Green Crawl/Solar Regatta event to be held on May 17, 2014. She said the event will be similar to the Eden Prairie Art Crawl, and event participants will visit different residences and businesses that use sustainability concepts. The current plan calls for the City to partner with the Minnesota Renewable Energy Society to host their annual solar regatta race at Riley Lake Park that day. She noted May 17 is also the date for the Eden Prairie Arts in the Park event, so they plan to include some green events at Arts in the Park. The planning team is working on including a Fix-It Clinic and a "Shred-It" truck at Riley Lake during the event. They plan to include locally- grown wines that are featured at the Eden Prairie Liquor Stores. Schwerm said they plan to send out requests for participants for the Green Crawl portion of the event. She asked the Commission members to make suggestions for participants. Olson asked if they plan to reach out to GE Capital. Schwerm said they have a contact at GE Capital, and they are definitely on board. Olson asked if they are doing anything green at the new United Health Group project. Rojas said they have rain gardens there. Jester asked if there will be a specific set of questions on the application forms. Schwerm said they need to list the criteria participants should follow to participate in the event. Jester suggested featuring the porous pavers at Birch Island Park as well as an example of a residence that uses permeable pavers. She suggested the team look through the files Ms Stovring keeps of those who have received rebates for sustainability projects. She noted there is a Planning Commission member whose residence has solar panels, and a local dental office that has a green roof. We should also include the wind turbine at Best Buy. She said she has seen articles about a man in Eden Prairie who owns an electric vehicle. The edible playground at Prairie View Elementary School might also be a stop. Minder said she is President of the Tree Huggers Club at the High School, and they would like to be involved in the event. Olson suggested featuring the Dunn Bros rain garden. Olson said he would want to make sure we have a good mix of sustainability projects. He asked if we know CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2013 Page 4 anyone who has a yard with native plants. Jester said there is a residence on Duck Lake Trail with native plantings, and we have the prairie restorations on City property. Jester said she would like to reword the phrase, "live green" in the Call for Participants. She asked what criteria for the event stops will be included in the call. Rojas said we may want to include a set number of stops,perhaps 12 or 15. Jester noted there would have to be someone available at each stop to answer questions or describe the feature for the entire time. The project should be in good working condition and should be accessible to visitors. Schwerm said they have discussed incorporating a bike map into the event map. She said the team will take feedback and will draft more of a final copy of the Call for Participants for the next meeting. They would like to have the call out in November. Olson asked if this event will get us credit on the GreenStep Cities checklist. Rojas said it will count as an educational effort. Olson noted the Commission should receive an update soon on the progress with the GreenStep Cities program. Urbanski asked about signage for the event. Schwerm said they will include that in a planning document closer to the time of the event, and they plan to promote it as much as possible. Rojas said they would include information in the places where we communicate our City-wide events. VII. REPORTS FROM CHAIR VIII. REPORTS FROM COMMISSION A. LRT Community Advisory Commission (CAC) Update Rojas noted Ms Bettison is our representative on the LRT CAC. There is up-to- date information about the LRT on the Met Council website. Olson asked if there were any findings from the last couple of open houses. Rojas said the project office is requesting municipal consent by the end of the year; however, we have not yet received a set of plans to review. We expect to receive those in early October and will then do public meetings for input from residents. The City Council will make the decision on it. Kaczmarek said reviewed some numbers he got from Matt Bourne about recycling in the parks from May through July 5. The information reported collecting 162 large trash bags of recycling, which was just over a ton of recyclable material. Jester asked if there was enough uncontaminated material in the bags not to put them in the trash. Kaczmarek said he did not discuss that with Mr. Bourne. Olson asked what the follow up will be. Kaczmarek said they will have to do some analysis of the data for the first year of collecting. Jester CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2013 Page 5 suggested the Commission get a further update when things have slowed down for the winter. She would like to expand the program to other parks if it is going well. IX. REPORTS FROM STUDENTS Minder said they are working with the High School to put out their recycling bins for the football games. X. NEW BUSINESS XI. CONTINUING BUSINESS A. Communication Topics--Website,Life in the Prairie, Facebook, etc. XII. INFORMATIONAL MATERIALS/HANDOUTS A. Upcoming City Projects and Development--Project Profile Rojas reviewed the Hennepin County Plat request and the United Health Group amendment. She noted the People's Organic Coffee &Wine Bar request will go before the Council on September 17. Olson asked if that is a stand-alone building. Rojas said it is. They are doing a rain garden and their product is considered "green." Rojas said St. Andrew Haven is a four-lot subdivision that has a wetland on the site. Jester noted the property is all trees now. Rojas said they would have to meet our tree replacement plan. Olson asked about the request for a 40-foot sign by Great Plains Restaurant Group. Rojas said that project is considered incomplete at this point. It is the IHOP restaurant, and they have a previous variance for a 30-foot sign. XI. UPCOMING CITY EVENTS XII. NEXT MEETING-- October 8, 2013 Jester noted an update of the 20-40-15 program was scheduled for the August meeting that was cancelled due to lack of a quorum. Rojas said Ms Stovring has asked to have Wenck Associates come to the October meeting and that will take up a large portion of the agenda. Jester said in the past Ms Stovring has used the Commission meeting to fulfill requirements for the water management plan and asked if that is the plan for October. Rojas said it is, and she will check to see if there will be a presentation by Steve McComas. She would like to reschedule the 20-40-15 and Fleet Management update for November or December and would also like to include a tour of the City's electric vehicles. CONSERVATION COMMISSION MINUTES September 10, 2013 Page 6 Jester said she would like an update on the GreenStep Cities program and an update from Matt Bourne on recycling in the parks. XIII. ADJOURNMENT The meeting ended at 8:35 PM.