01-14-2004 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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6 Page 1 of 1 Hanson, Joel From: Barbarajoallan @aol.com Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2004 8:51 PM To: WRBLES @hotmail.com; manderson113 @hotmail.com; mike .fahey @CenterPointEnergy.com; rick.montour @idq.com Cc: joel .hanson @ci.little- canada.mn.us Subject: Proposed Watershed Move to Little Canada DATE: January 7, 2004 TO: Mayor Fahey and Members of the Little Canada City Council FROM: Barbara Allan RE: Proposed Watershed Move to Little Canada The following is for your consideration and in answer to some very well thought out questions from Councilman Anderson: Many of our surrounding communities have nature preserves and nature centers supported by their cities and taxpayers. These centers serve as an educational resource to the community and encourage public participation in environmental activities. I have done field instruction with several elementary and secondary schools in our District but never from Little Canada. Watershed has tried unsuccessfully to solicit just one classroom from Little Canada. When I heard that the Watershed District was thinking about building a permanent home I suggested this particular parcel because I thought it was a perfect fit. Due to the Watershed District efforts the Gervais Grist Mill is currently ranked the highest CIP (Capital Improvement Project) in our Watershed District. This makes the parcel a good fit for them. Mayor Fahey suggested ; that if they were to move here they should provide some type of education. Education has become an increasingly important part of their program. Offering community education and instruction at this site would be a good fit for us. We would get all the benefits that other cities now have without spending our tax dollars. With 90% of the land in our District already developed the emphasis is now on low impact development/redevelopment. Thes, techniques require a certain amount of education and first hand knowledge if they are to be successful. Trying to get all elected officials, city staff, planning commission members, and consultants together for this instruction /education is probably not plausible. I see nothing but success for us if we have this resource right across from City Hall where all municipal officers could access it as their schedule permits. In my discussion with Mr. Aichinger he indicated that they would implement all the new low impact techniques on their site. In his words, "It is one thing to try to explain how we are reducing the impact on our environment and quite another to be able to walk outside and show someone what it looks like and how it's done ". A genuine concern of mine is the future maintenance of our storm water ponds and the newly created natural areas that come with further development. At the present time I am the only person doing maintenance on Lakeside Pond. With the new Market Place Pond and additional development we will need more educated volunteers to provide this maintenance. Having a community based agency that fosters this type of education would be beneficial to us. If the proceeds from the property sale were invested well I think the earnings would probably offset and quite possibly overshadow any loss in property tax revenue. The concern about what would happen to that building if Watershed should decide to move is a difficult one to answer. I can only tell you that they were established in 1975 under the Minnesota Watershed Act, they are funded through tax levy dollars, their future existence is not uncertain at this time and they have finally decided to investigate a permanent home versus a leased one. The parcel as it exists now is not what is typically being preserved by other cities. However, it is attractive and it is open so I do understand the careful approach to this. n conclusion, I am not an advocate for Watershed but rather one for our City. I see many benefits to us and very little downside. \s your representative to the Natural Resource Board, and with the knowledge that there may be some opposition to this idea.' elt that it might be inappropriate to air these opinions in a public forum and therefore decided to write them down. Respectfully, 3arbara Allan 4 1/8/04