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2000-08-28 EC Agenda PktAGENDA GOLDEN VALLEY ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION Regular Meeting Golden Valley City Hall, 7800 Golden Valley Road Council Conference Room Monday, August 28, 2000 7:00 P.M. Call to Order II. Approval of Minutes — July 24, 2000 III. Presentation by Bassett Creek Water Management Commission IV. Other Business V. Adjourn GAEnvironmental Commission\Agendas\082800.doc Regular Meeting of the Golden Valley Environmental Commission July 24, 2000 The meeting of the Golden Valley Environmental Commission was held at the Golden Valley City Hall, Council Conference Room, 7800 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley, Minnesota on Monday, July 24, 2000. Present: Commissioners Richard Baker, David Fellman, Sue Hess, Dawn Hill, Alan Kuentz, Nancy Burke. City Staff: Jeff Oliver, City Engineer; Al Lundstrom, Environmental Coordinator; Deb Somers, Administrative Secretary Absent: Alicia Brown I. Call to Order Chairperson Hill called the meeting to order at 7:08 p.m. II. Approval of Minutes — June 26, 2000 MOVED by Fellman, seconded by Hess, and the motion carried unanimously to approve the June 26, 2000 minutes as submitted. 111. Approval of Revised Bylaws MOVED by Hess, seconded by Burke, and the motion carried unanimously to approve the Environmental Commission bylaws as submitted. IV. Commission Discussion Items Oliver explained the process in which items can be considered for review by the Environmental Commission. The Commission Chairperson must request in writing to the Mayor and the City Council any major items that the Commission would like to consider and that would require significant research and/or staff time. The Council will then review the request and decide whether or not the Commission should be assigned the topic. Each item will be decided on a case-by-case basis. Agenda items not requiring significant research or staff time will be dealt with at each Environmental Commission meeting. GAEnvironmental CommissionWinuteMEC Minutes 072400.DOC Hill asked if the Commission would be discussing the General Mills nature area issue in the near future. Oliver advised that the City must address the access issues into the nature area before the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) groundwater permit and nature area can go forward. Street construction is slated for 2001 for the neighborhood west of KARE 11. V. Surface Water Management Plan a. Staff Presentation Lundstrom began the presentation of the Surface Water Management Plan by explaining the reason for the development of the plan. The plan is in direct response to Minnesota State Statute 103B, passed in 1982, that requires municipalities within the seven -county metro area to develop surface water management plans. These plans must comply with the water management plans of the particular watershed district or watershed management organization the City is located in. The statute for preparation of the plans was modified in 1990. New rules for the plans (Minnesota Rule §410) were adopted in 1992. The development process for the Surface Water Management Plan began with the City entering into a contract with H.R. Green Company in the spring of 1995. The City Council appointed a citizen committee called the Surface Water Area Management Plan (SWAMP) to assist the City in developing the plan's objectives and policies section. The committee completed its report in October 1998. A revised plan was presented to the Planning Commission in the spring of 1999. The Planning Commission recommended approval. In the spring of 1999, staff distributed the plan to the appropriate agencies for review and comment. Both the Bassett Creek and Minnehaha Creek Watershed Districts approved the plan. The City Council adopted the plan the summer of 1999. The City has already accomplished and implemented the following items prioritized by the SWAMP Committee: • Adoption of the Grading, Drainage and Erosion Control ordinance. • Focused on the reduction of sediment by requiring silt fence installation around new excavation. • Begun construction of stormwater ponds that include a buffer zone of nature grass to the waters edge. • Increased street sweeping to reduce street run off into the stormwater sewers. • Implemented a citywide pavement management program that included the installation of curb and gutter to control street run off. • Regularly clean catch basins. Public education of environmental issues is very important. The City has developed a Comprehensive Environmental Communications Plan, which will soon be considered by the Commission. GAEnvironmental CommissionWinuteMEC Minutes 072400.DOC 2 The BCWMC has a draft Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Within the CIP is a Lake Management plan for significant water bodies in Golden Valley and the entire watershed. There are Best Management Practices (BMP's) listed for each Lake Management plan, which includes a water classification level. Each project has a dollar value assigned to it by the BCWMC. For example, the BCWMC determines the cost needed to clean up a certain percentage of phosphorous. BCWMC has a list of water improvement plan objectives and is prioritizing all projects for the nine -city watershed. Golden Valley's Surface Water Management Plan has adopted the BCWMC lake management plans by reference. Hill questioned whether the improvements approved are those of the BCWMC or each individual lake plan. If the BCWMC changes any improvements, Golden Valley will consider a change to its plan. The BCWMC developing a method to prioritize capital improvement projects. Chapter 5 of the Plan covers the implementation priorities. Level 1: As a result of the Grading, Drainage and Erosion Control ordinance, the City does weekly inspections of construction sites for possible erosion control. This ordinance has been in effect since spring 1999. A Tree Preservation ordinance has also been established. Golden Valley currently publishes an article addressing environmental concerns in each issue of the City News. With the help of the City's Communications Coordinator, a draft of the Comprehensive Environmental Communications Plan was developed. This program will take time and funding to implement. Level 2: Water Quality Pond Retrofits. Pond retrofits raise water quality storage by revising the outlet and bringing it higher. The City plans to retrofit the Wisconsin Avenue Control Structure later this year. This structure is located just north of Highway 55 and Golden Valley Road. New Water Quality Ponds. Late in 1999, the City constructed the Madison Avenue Pond. There are plans to construct a pond in Hampshire Park early this August. Streambank Stabilization. City crews regularly survey the banks along Bassett Creek and remove any fallen trees that obstruct the flow. . GAEnvironmental Commission\Minutes\EC Minutes 072400.DOC All level 2 priorities will be paid for through the capital improvement program and funded by the stormwater utility. Level 3: Shoreland Management Ordinance. The City has adopted a shoreland management ordinance from the DNR; however, this ordinance needs to be updated. Golden Valley does not have any critical issues regarding shoreland management, thus it is not listed as a priority by the State and will be updated at a later date. Storm Sewer Improvement. Presently there are no problems with the City's current storm sewer system; however, it does need to be expanded. Funding of these improvements are through the plan's CIP. As part of the storm sewer improvements, the City has installed a Stormceptor at the end of Zane Avenue near Bassett Creek Park. A Stormceptor, or environmental manhole, is an underground storm water pond. The Stormceptor, which is fourteen feet across and very deep, needs periodic cleaning. It accommodates a two-year rainfall event. The way the Stormceptor works is that all floatable items come to the top and are discarded, while the sediments fall to the bottom of the sump. Golden Valley presently owns a jet vactor cleaner, which is used to clean the Stormceptor, as well as the City sewers. Lundstrom passed around the Stormceptor brochure for everyone to review. Oliver explained the Surface Water Management Plan's CIP. He distributed the 2000- 2004 CIP for storm sewers index. The CIP describes the project, category, financing and expenditure timing for each proposed project. In early January 2001, the Environmental Commission will be asked to review and comment on the Surface Water Management Plan's CIP. Chapter 8 of the plan focuses on the stormwater utility fee analysis. Per the plan, the City increased its utility rates from $4 to $8 per quarter in March of 2000. In 2001, the rates will increase to $12 per quarter. This is an alternative fund. Paragraph 8.2 describes the land use and factors. In Chapter 7 the plan explains the aggressive program of stormwater pond maintenance in the City of Golden Valley. The maintenance program was implemented in late 1999. The stormwater pond maintenance agreements are for all commercial ponds in development or redevelopment areas of the City. These businesses are required to report to the City once per year regarding the condition of these ponds. Presently there is no annual fee charged for the City's annual inspection of these ponds in Golden Valley. GAEnvironmental CommissionWinuteMEC Minutes 072400.DOC 4 Fellman advised that the City of Minneapolis requires an annual stormwater pond maintenance permit fee, which covers the inspection and a portion of the engineering costs. Oliver would be interested in reviewing the Minneapolis permit. Fellman will bring a copy to the next meeting. To help with the stormwater pond maintenance, the City has increased their street sweeping schedule. The City's Street Maintenance department sweeps the streets as early as possible each spring and fall, and continues to sweep as needed throughout the summer. They also prioritize their sweeping by determining where the sweeping is needed the most, such as heavily traveled streets and the bottom of hills. Street sweeping also reduces the amount of leaf litter, which goes into water bodies. Again, this is a topic that needs public education since some residents continue to rake their leaves and grass clippings into the street, Bassett Creek, ponds and lakes. Finally, in Section 2 of the Surface Water Management Plan are examples of ordinances and sample plans. Lundstrom also reviewed each exhibit located in the back of the plan book. It was the recommendation of the SWAMP committee to implement a licensing procedure for commercial lawn fertilizer applicators. This ordinance went into effect in the spring of 2000 and requires applicators to use phosphorous free fertilizer. Staff also implemented an ordinance prohibiting the use of fertilizers containing phosphorous for all residents in Golden Valley. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) has imposed a Phase 2 rule that affects cities with populations of 10,000 or more, which includes Golden Valley. Lundstrom advised that the Surface Water Management Plan currently in place covers most items in the Phase 2 rule. However, the City must improve on its public education program. Staff will provide copies of the Comprehensive Environmental Communications Plan with the August agenda, but discussion on this will not occur until the September meeting. b. Discussion The flood storage capacity of the new Xenia Avenue pond and other flood control improvements have made it possible for the City to lower the flood plain levels in the area from Xenia Avenue to Sweeney Lake. The Commission also discussed pumping landlocked ponds in the Tyrol Hills area. VI. Other Business August 28 Agenda Items: Staff will ask representatives from the BCWMC to the August 28 meeting to explain why the BCWMC was created and how it works. GAEnvironmental CommissionWinuteMEC Minutes 072400.DOC General Mills Once Through Cooling System. Fellman proposed that the Commission study the issue of the uses for the groundwater from the once through cooling system. Discussion ensued regarding the cooling system, the possibility of an Environmental Assessment Worksheet and how the Commission should proceed. MOVED by Fellman, no second, motion to ask the City Council for staff resources to investigate the General Mills once through cooling system failed. Fellman withdrew his motion. Burke asked Oliver to keep the Commission advised of any crucial upcoming issues regarding the General Mills once through cooling system. VII. Adjourn MOVED by Fellman, seconded by Burke, motion carried unanimously to adjourn meeting. The next meeting will be on August 28, 2000. There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 9:04 p.m. Respectfully submitted, s I & _sc::!� Deb Somers Administrative Secretary Department of Public Works GAEnvironmental CommissionNinutes\EC Minutes 072400.130C ENVIRONMENTAL COMMISSION ATTENDANCE SHEET July 24, 2000 obs ,V, -.