City Council - 04/17/2018 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM
TUESDAY,APRIL 17, 2018 CITY CENTER
5:00—6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOMS
6:30—7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER
CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Nancy Tyra-Lukens, Council Members Brad Aho, Sherry Butcher
Wickstrom, Ron Case and Kathy Nelson
CITY STAFF: City Manager Rick Getschow, Police Chief James DeMann, Public Works Director
Robert Ellis, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, Communications Manager Joyce
Lorenz, Senior Project Engineer David Modrow, City Attorney Ric Rosow, and Recorder Jan
Curielli
RILEY PURGATORY BLUFF CREEK WATERSHED DISTRICT: Manager Dorothy
Petersen, Manager Dick Ward, Administrator Dr. Claire Bleser
Workshop - Heritage Room H
I. JOINT MEETING WITH RILEY PURGATORY BLUFF CREEK WATERSHED
DISTRICT
Getschow said the City Council is well aware of the work done in our community by the
three watershed districts within our boundaries and also understands the need to partner with
them. When setting the 2018 workshop calendar, the Council suggested we meet with the
watershed districts as we do with the School Board and other groups. Tonight's meeting is an
opportunity to share information and a chance for the watershed district board members and
the Council to have a dialogue.
Dr. Claire Bleser, Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District(RPBCWD)
Administrator, gave a PowerPoint presentation reviewing the watershed district's new ten-
year management plan. She noted about 2/3 of Eden Prairie is within the RPBCWD. There
are five managers on the RPBCWD Board, and the watershed district has a staff of five. The
Board of Managers appoint two committees to provide recommendations on matters
affecting the district: a Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) and a Technical Advisory
Committee (TAC). The two committees played an important role in guiding the development
of the ten-year management plan. The RPBCWD also has a volunteer program that had 40
members in 2017 who put in 345 hours of work for the watershed district.
Dr. Bleser said the RPBCWD needed to redo the 2011 ten-year management plan and to
update plans for all the water resources. In order to develop the goals and strategies for the
plan, they went through a process to obtain extensive input from public stakeholders such as
the advisory committees, community members, city partners, and local and state government
organizations through the use of forums and a survey. Staff organized the comments and
feedback received from the various groups and individuals into topic areas and created a first
draft of the management plan. There was a public hearing last month to present the plan, and
the final plan was recently submitted to the State Board of Water Management.
City Council Workshop Minutes
April 17, 2018
Page 2
Dr. Bleser reviewed the 13 goals developed for the management plan, which included such
topics as: Operate in a manner that uses District resources and capacity efficiently and
effectively while advancing the District's vision and goals; Collect data and use the best
available science to recommend and support management decisions; Include sustainability
and the impacts of climate change in District projects,programs, and planning; Preserve and
enhance habitat important to fish, waterfowl, and other wildlife; Promote the sustainable
management of groundwater resources; and Limit the impact of stormwater runoff on
receiving waterbodies. A total of 175 individual projects were identified to help restore our
water bodies. The RPBCWD developed a process for prioritizing the projects according to
ten benefit criteria. City and County stakeholders were asked to help with the prioritization
process, and a decision management tree was developed.
Dr. Bleser reported the process identified a total of 34 projects to be worked on over the next
ten years. The projects were scattered throughout the district, with ten for Riley Creek
watershed, seven for Bluff Creek watershed and 17 for Purgatory Creek watershed. She
reviewed several of the projects on the list and described the outcomes they expect as a result
of completing the projects. She described the regulatory program to improve water quality,
their outreach and education efforts, and the outcomes of their plan.
Tyra-Lukens asked if they are still removing carp from the lakes. Dr. Bleser replied they are
still working on that with such methods as the barrier in Purgatory Creek and restocking of
bluegills in the lakes. Aho asked if they did a winter trapping of carp in Lake Susan and other
lakes. Dr. Bleser replied they tagged carp in Lakes Riley, Susan and Staring in order to
monitor the fish to see if carp school during the winters.
Nelson asked about the lakes with fish kill. Dr. Bleser said they are aware of fish kill in Duck
Lake and Rice Marsh Lake, but there may be other lakes that experience fish kill as well
because this winter's conditions were just right for that to occur. Nelson asked if it will
happen in all of the Eden Prairie lakes. Dr. Bleser said they don't expect it to happen in
Staring Lake.
Aho commented he did not see any mention of recreation goals or projects in the list and
asked why improving the quality of water for recreation was not part of their philosophy. Dr.
Bleser replied that goal did not come through as a strong factor in the community workshops.
The purpose of the RPBCWD is to protect, manage and restore water bodies within the
district. The MPCA has set standards for water quality, and improving water quality will
improve the habitat within the water body. The watershed district is looking at keeping
invasive plant species from taking over from native plant species. Aho said he has heard
concerns from the lake association groups regarding the quantity of vegetation growth which
makes it difficult to use a canoe or kayak and makes the lake unusable for recreation. Dr.
Bleser replied it is very difficult to keep a balance of vegetation in shallow lakes to keep the
water from becoming turbid. Getschow noted we had the shallow lake workshop here with
discussion about resources for lake management. The City puts resources to vegetation
management to enhance the recreational potential of the lakes, while the watershed district
emphasizes treatment of invasive species vegetation.
Aho said Round Lake was in tough shape for a long time, but our efforts have resulted in our
being able to swim in it again. He noted he is not a fan of alum treatments and asked if there
City Council Workshop Minutes
April 17, 2018
Page 3
is any new technology to control lake vegetation. Dr. Bleser replied other chemicals can be
used for internal control, and they can also draw down the lake. She believed more tools will
be developed and noted the University of Minnesota has researched the use of iron filings in
storm water ponds.
Aho asked if there has been any more work on aeration. Dr. Bleser replied that has been done
on Lake Lucy. There are some problems with it, and they did not see any drastic changes.
Aho commented he talked to a resident who was involved in aeration at Lake Sweeney, and
they seemed to have a lot of success with that process. Dr. Bleser responded there are
limitations to that process, and success may depend on the size of water body.
Tyra-Lukens asked about storm water reuse. Dave Modrow, Senior Project Engineer, replied
the popular methods of storm water reuse do not work well in Eden Prairie because the
underground systems become very large as a result of the clay soils here. He noted we have
tried reusing irrigation water. There are many different agencies involved in water reuse, and
there are health regulations that would apply to the different treatments required. Dr. Bleser
noted there is a project at Chanhassen High School to use storm water from the ponds on the
ballfields, and another similar project at Lake Susan. Tyra-Lukens commented that would
save money for cities and schools. She asked why we aren't doing more of that and if we
should be requiring that of developers. Dr. Bleser replied we are seeing more of that as new
rules and requirements have been developed.
Butcher Wickstrom asked who is required to do storm water reuse. Modrow replied it
depends on what will be done with the water because there are different treatments required
and there are high capital costs.
Tyra-Lukens asked what we can do as a city to reduce barriers and to encourage water reuse.
Modrow said Fire Station 2 is a good educational location to show how residents could use
some of the best practices for storm water reuse. He said the Minnesota Storm Water
Coalition also has information. Tyra-Lukens asked if the industries are lobbying for the
changes. Modrow replied both the Storm Water Coalition and the Fresh Water Society are
promoting water reuse.
Nelson asked if there is some resource for people to use to see which of our lakes may be
suitable for swimming, including being safe to jump into from a boat. Dr. Bleser replied the
MPCA and the DNR classify all of the lakes in the state as to their suitability for full body
immersion, partial immersion or scenic viewing. Tyra-Lukens asked where that classification
could be found. Dr. Bleser said the Minnesota lake finder is a website with information about
how they classify the lakes. She noted the Department of Health is the agency in charge of
beach closings because of E.coli readings.
Aho asked whose responsibility it is to monitor water quality of a lake. Lotthammer replied
we depend on the Department of Health and Hennepin County to do water testing at beaches.
Tyra-Lukens suggested we put a link to the lake finder on our park website.
Open Podium - Council Chamber
City Council Workshop Minutes
April 17, 2018
Page 4
III. OPEN PODIUM
A. JOHN MALLO, SEN. STEVE CWODZINSKI—GUN CONTROL
John Mallo, 14000 Forest Hill Road, said there is a group of citizens at the
meeting tonight who are asking the City Council to ban assault-style weapons in
Eden Prairie. Now is the time to act on this issue as recent national polls show
67% of all Americans favor such bans. In the past Eden Prairie has been in the
forefront on issues such as this. He noted there are two businesses in Eden Prairie
that sell guns. He distributed a sample of the recently-passed ordinance in
Highland Park, Illinois.
Rev. Rod Anderson, Eden Prairie resident, asked the Council to take the issue of
gun control under serious consideration and to ban assault-style weapons. He
commented he has been engaged with young and old in his occupation as a pastor,
and cited several Biblical references regarding life, death and peace on earth. He
noted all Dick's Sporting Goods stores have announced a ban on assault-style
weapons and, further,plan to start disassembling their stock of such guns in order
to reuse them for another purpose.
Carlie Kotyza-Witthuhn, candidate for House of Representatives District 48B,
added her support to the request to ban assault weapons.
Ron Whitman, 6617 Harlan Drive, stated he was a 38-1/2-year veteran of the St.
Paul Police Department, a life member of the NRA, and the proud owner of an
Arl5. He reminded the audience the Minnesota State law passed in 1985 does not
allow cities to ban firearms except for their discharge. He wanted to make sure the
Council knows there are other views regarding guns among City residents.
Tyra-Lukens said the City Attorney will give a report later in the meeting about
what the City is legally able to do regarding gun control. Case noted he also plans
to address this during the Council Member reports and will propose some action
for the Council to take at a future meeting.
B. ARRIVE EDEN PRAIRIE
David Saltzman, 17635 Wiedman Way, said he is a member of the Eden Prairie
Housing Coalition, a community group that supports affordable housing
opportunities in the City and supports residents who are living in rental units. He
said a group of residents from the Arrive Apartments is here tonight to bring
forward the difficulties they have experienced with the management company of
the apartments since the building was acquired by Arrive in 2017.
Several residents of the Arrive Apartments reported their bad experiences in
trying to deal with such problems as rats out of control in the building, safety and
security issues resulting from garage doors and other doors being kept open,
problems reported to the management company but ignored by them, and a
general lack of communication with the office.
City Council Workshop Minutes
April 17, 2018
Page 5
Jonathan Luebbers, a resident at the Arrive Apartments, reported all 508 units in
the building have problems. In addition, there are severe safety issues in the
building. He noted he has mobility issues and must use the elevator; however, the
elevator in the building is often deliberately shut down and disabled so no one can
use it.
Tyra-Lukens said this issue is new to the Council, and City staff will investigate
these reports.
IV. ADJOURNMENT