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HomeMy WebLinkAbout20141208 UC Minutes UTILITY COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES December 8, 2014 CALL TO ORDER Pursuant to due call and notice thereof the regular Utility Commission meeting of the City of Rosemount was called to order on December 8, 2014, at 5:35 p.m. in the Conference Room of the City Hall, 2875 145`h Street West, Rosemount. President Speich called the meeting to order with Commissioners Mulhern and Harmsen, City Administrator Johnson, Council Member Demuth, Rosemount Mayor Droste,Assistant City Engineer Olson, and Recording Secretary Kladar attending. ADDITIONS OR CORRECTIONS TO AGENDA None AUDIENCE INPUT None APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion by Harmsen. Second by Mulhern. Motion to approve the minutes of the August 11, 2014 Utility Commission meetings. Ayes: 3. Nays: 0. Absent: 0. Motion carried. Motion by Mulhern. Second by Harmsen. Motion to approve the minutes of the October 13, 2014 Utility Commission meetings. Ayes: 3. Nays: 0. Absent: 0. Motion carried. OLD BUSINESS None. NEW BUSINESS 6.a. Maintenance of City Owned Properties Assistant City Engineer Olson provided a summary of the staff report. In October the Utility Commission toured several sites to review specific issues as well as those common throughout the City ponds. As a follow-up to the tour, staff would like a recommendation from the Utility Commission as to which projects to move forward next year. A city wide plan to manage volunteer 1 tree growth around all the ponds in the City is currently being developed and will be brought to Council. Meadows of Bloomfield Pond—Removal of Volunteer Tree Growth Olson advised that the City has already moved forward with removing the volunteer growth around the pond. The work started today and should be completed by next week. The Mayor asked Harmsen how the City of Apple Valley handled their ponds and he advised that the street department took care of maintaining those areas and worked on them during down time in the winter. Bacardi Avenue Olson advised that the Bacardi Avenue project should be completed by July 1,2015. Well 16 Olson reported that the trunk water main and raw water main have been extended to Well 16. Work will continue on Well 16 pending council approval of the alternatives to resolve the radium issue found in the samples from the test well. Stillwell Pond Outlet This pond has had flooding issues and the water has come up to the back of the house at 12785 Bacardi Avenue. The City has pumped in the past couple of years. It has been proposed to install a permanent outlet to this pond to prevent flooding. An outlet is now possible with the recent improvements on Bacardi Avenue. The necessity of easements and construction costs of an outlet to Horseshoe Lake may potentially make pumping a better option until this stretch of Bacardi is improved. Dredging the pond has also been suggested. Olson advised that survey information is needed to determine the best design for the outlet from Stillwell Pond to the low point south of 128th Street. Ultimately the water will end up in Horseshoe Pond. Bringing the water directly south would be the least expensive. The City could move forward with recommending design plans or continue to treat as a pumping situation. Mulhern wants to move forward with design plans. Johnson stated that City Council will want to know the cost of pumping versus moving forward with design changes as it may be cheaper to keep pumping. One problem with pumping is that the pump may be needed in more than one area at a time. Demuth added that the house she lives in was flooded through the walkout in the past. The homeowner had to change the walkout and put in a retaining wall at their expense. Demuth 2 inquired if we could ask the homeowner to make changes to their home instead of the City paying the bill. Johnson suggested that the City discuss this situation with their attorney to determine the City's obligations. Olson advised that the next time to address this issue would be when the road is extended north as the water will have to be moved somewhere. The Utility Commission determined that they would like to see more information on the various options including costs, consult with the City's attorney as noted above and possibly get a survey done. McAndrews/Shannon Parkway Storm Outlet This is a similar situation as Stillwell in that it is a basin that doesn't have an outlet. It has been proposed to install a permanent outlet at the low point along the north side of McAndrews Road, west of Shannon Parkway. The City has also spent time pumping this area in the past. The outlet pipe is proposed to be extended to the pond on the east side of Cobblestone Lane. A connection to Lift Station 6 along Shannon Parkway could help alleviate the flooding but it would cost more. As with Stillwell,there is no survey information available yet but the water needs to be moved through the existing low points to the basin east of Cobblestone Lane. Putting a trunk storm line along the side of McAndrews could also be an option. There is no plan for a formal lift station. Digging out catch basins has also been suggested which would involve requesting Dakota County to address the issue and potential county funding. The Mayor advised that there is a possibility that the county will change McAndrews Road into a 3 lane road with turn lanes. The Mayor advised there is a traffic flow issue on this road and alternatives are being discussed. More research is needed to determine the county's plans and consider potential funding for the project. Mulhern thinks the City should look at the different options and provide more information and cost estimates. This project could potentially be postponed if Dakota County has plans of making modifications to McAndrews Road. Innisfree Park Trail Replacement, Clearing and Revegetation The City is moving forward with trail improvement fund to clean up the growth along the trail and repave the trails in Innisfree Park. The trees have damaged the trails and clearing is required prior to replacing the paved trail. Diamond Path Trail Replacement/Wensmann Pond Slope Clearing and Revegetation It is proposed that the City remove volunteer growth and vegetation along the paved trail on Diamond Path. This would involve cleaning up the evergreens and pulling out the willow trees that are growing up and then repaving the trail area. This area needs to be aggressively maintained or the 3 City can install concrete sidewalks. This expense would come out of the trail budget. The City has an 80/20 split with Dakota County if the City has a trail maintenance plan in place. 7. PRESIDENT'S REPORT President Speich did not have anything new to report. EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S REPORT 8.a. City Projects Update The attached project report was reviewed and Olson provided a quick summary. Olson advised that most of the projects are now on hold for the winter. Ryland recently submitted Greystone 4th Addition and Lennar is planning Prestwick Place 11th this winter which will finish everything south of Connemara and west of Akron Avenue. 8.b. 2014 Well Pumping Report The attached report was reviewed and it was noted that pumping was still down 7.6% for the year. The Mayor shared some information recently provided by Director Brotzler regarding the City of Woodbury and their conservation efforts. The Mayor stated that the City needs to do more conservation or we will be forced to by the Met Council. He also believes that we need to design parks for better use of grey water and the City needs a plan regarding water use. Further,he thinks we need more data on the use of second meters for irrigation and conservation. Johnson suggested that the Woodbury plan be discussed in more detail at a Council work session. The Mayor then raised the issue of sustainability and UMore Park which has a lot of opportunity as the City would be building from the ground up. He noted that effluent water could be used for irrigation. Discussion ensued regarding a potential water treatment facility. Demuth inquired what would be the deciding factor for moving forward with a water treatment facility. She noted that there is no health concern to iron and manganese which are treated through a water treatment facility. Johnson added that the resident survey pollster noted that he sees no differences in complaints between cities with water treatment facilities and those without. Demuth discussed water softeners and the discharge that has to be treated from those. She wants to manage the brine from the softeners so it doesn't travel to Empire where they have to deal with it. Demuth advised that the Met Council said there could be a potential cost benefit to the City if we reduced the salt use on our end. The Mayor brought up the groundwater issue in the metro area. A ruling came out last week regarding White Bear Lake. Five cities have to agree to the plan and the state legislature has to come up with money to remove the cities from the aquifer. Demuth inquired whether the City should 4 wait on drilling Well 16 if things are in flux. Mayor said it needs to be drilled before City gets into trouble with needing more water and the well not being ready. 8.c. Set Next Meeting Agenda for January 12, 2015 ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to discuss the meeting was adjourned by President Speich at 6:26 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Karin Kladar Recording Secretary 5