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Meeting
Minutes
Tuesday, March 25, 2008, at
6:30 p.m.
1. Introductions/Roll
Call
Commission
members present: Randy Neprash, Dwayne Stenlund, Jan Vanderwall, and Jim
DeBenedet
Commission
members absent: Ernie Willenbring
Staff
present: Duane Schwartz, Public Works Director; Deb Bloom, City Engineer; Pat Dolan, Fleet & Facilities Supervisor
Others
present: Chuck Janske, Bonestroo
2. Public
Comments
None
3. Swearing in of
New Member
New member Dwayne
Stenlund was sworn in.
4. Approval
of February 26, 2008, Meeting Minutes
Chair
DeBenedet requested a change on Page 3, Item 7, Paragraph 2, the radius of a
school bus turn should have been stated as a diameter of 106’ rather than
160’.
Member
Neprash requested a change on Page 3, Item 7, Paragraph 3, his question had
not been why aren’t we telling them to not use Iona Lane, but why are we
letting them build it. The response to the question was changed as follows,
“Mr. Schwartz said the City has been telling them Iona Lane wasn’t part of
the infrastructure plan and if the developer wanted to build it, they would
have to pay for it in its entirety. The developer was also told the city was
against them rebuilding it.”
Member
Vanderwall moved to approve the minutes of the February 26, 2008, meeting of
the Public Works, Environment and Transportation Commission. Member Neprash
seconded.
Ayes: 4
Nays: 0
Motion
carried
Member
Neprash asked if McGough would be attending a future PWETC meeting to discuss
the Twin Lakes Development as was suggested at the February meeting. Mr.
Schwartz said that at this point the City Council has approved the concept
and it is now up to McGough to work out details and formalize a plan, and
when that’s done it would be a good time for them to visit the PWETC.
5. Communication
Items
AWWA
Advisory
Mr.
Schwartz presented an advisory from the AWWA regarding trace amounts of
pharmaceuticals in the drinking water. Information will be included in the
annual drinking water report in June. Member Stenlund suggested putting an
article in the Roseville paper on how to dispose of drugs.
Highway
36 Mill & Overlay
Deb Bloom updated the Commission on this Mn/DOT project.
Comprehensive
Plan Update
Chair
DeBenedet said things have really taken off and that Thursday evening from
5:30-7:30 there’s an open house to give people an overview of the process so
far and the opportunity to ask questions.
County
Road C Streetscape
Ms.
Bloom updated the Commission on this 2008 Engineering Project.
Pathway
Committee
Chair
DeBenedet asked about the status of the Pathway Committee. Mr. Schwartz said
that the City Council had approved the structure, work plan and members
proposed and there should be an initial meeting within the next two to three
weeks.
6. Annual Storm Water Public
Comment Meeting
Pat Dolan, Fleet & Facilities Supervisor, presented the annual storm water report.
Member
Stenlund spoke on the importance of training staff especially as the city
moves into additional storm water management practices.
Member
Stenlund asked about the City’s spill response onsite and if the City would
want to work with him to develop and modify inlets for oil capture. Mr.
Dolan said the City puts stickers on catch basins for education and that
there are snakes (a 4” tube to absorb spills) by the fuel pumps and there is
clean up powder on hand for spills.
There
was no public comment.
7. Presentation
of Draft Inflow / Infiltration Report
Chuck
Janske from Bonestroo, the consultant hired by the city, was in attendance to
explain the report.
Member
Vanderwall asked about sump pumps and where the water should be draining.
Mr. Janske said the water should be directed to drain out over the lawn and
not go directly into the sewer system.
Mr.
Schwartz said the report would be presented to the City Council at the April
14th meeting.
8. Presentation
on Tree Use in Storm Water Best Management Practices
Member
Neprash gave a presentation on integrating trees with storm water
management.
Mr.
Schwartz asked if there was a way to quantify how much rainfall a tree of a
certain age could manage. Member Neprash said he could but didn’t have the
information with him to do it.
Member
Vanderwall questioned the problems with tree roots and sewer pipes, is there
any way to avoid the problems. Member Neprash said there isn’t an easy
answer but there are ways to minimize the potential for problems.
9. Follow-up
Discussion of Storm Water Report from February Meeting
This
topic was held over from the February meeting for further discussion.
Member
Neprash asked about current problem areas. Ms. Bloom presented information
on these areas.
Chair
DeBenedet questioned whether the storm water at the new Rainbow Foods site was
going to be pretreated. Ms. Bloom said that final plans have yet to be
reviewed. Chair DeBenedet questioned whether there would be groundwater
monitoring. Ms. Bloom said they haven’t proposed groundwater monitoring.
Ms.
Bloom said funding is always an issue for developing storm water projects.
Member Neprash responded that Roseville has very low storm water utility rates
compared to other cities and if there’s an issue with funding, maybe the
rates should be raised. Mr. Schwartz said the rates remained the same for
many years; but for the past few years, the City has been increasing them to meet
the City’s needs.
Member
Stenlund asked if Roseville was part of the Mosquito Control group. Ms.
Bloom said the City provides them with maps of sump man holes and basins, and
they provide us with pellets for killing eggs.
Member
Stenlund said he believes true water quality comes down to street sweeping,
which may even have to be done once a week. He’s frustrated with snow
storage and the locations that are used because of the chemical and debris
that’s left behind after it melts.
Chair
DeBenedet mentioned the possible grant for the new type of street sweeper.
Mr. Schwartz said that he had checked into the grant, and there was no money
available at that time but he’ll keep his eye on the program. He also spoke
with other cities about possibly sharing the cost of a new sweeper, plus it
might be something to add to the Capital Improvement Program. Member
Stenlund proposed to privatize the work. Member Vanderwall said that
privatizing would take it out of Capital Improvement and put it into
operations costs so that becomes a budgeting issue. Member Neprash said the
watershed district might be interested in helping to fund street sweeping.
Chair DeBenedet asked Mr. Schwartz to check with the watershed districts to
see what their interest may be. Mr. Schwartz said he knows of some watershed
districts partnering with cities on this issue.
10. Sewer / Water Utility
Service Ownership / Cost Participation Discussion
Mr.
Schwartz introduced this topic to the Commission to see if they wanted to
explore it further. City Code states residents are responsible for their
sewer service up to the main, which can put a huge financial burden on them
in certain situations when lines have to be repaired. The question is does
the Commission want to explore changing City Code and adding City
responsibility to certain sewer repairs.
All
agreed they would like to discuss it at a future meeting.
11. Agenda for Next Meeting –
April 22, 2008
Draft
Department Strategic Plan
2009
Budget
Rice Street Design Discussion by Ramsey County Staff
Sewer/Water
Utility Service Ownership/Cost Participation Discussion
10. Adjournment
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