10-24-2001 Council Agenda - Laserfiche WebLink

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October 18, 2001 The Honorable Mayor and City Council City of Little Canada 515 Little Canada Road Little Canada, Minnesota 55117 RE: ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR SCULLY DRAINAGE REVIEW CITY OF LITTLE CANADA Dear Council Members: The City Council held a workshop meeting on July 12, 2001 at the Little Canada Fire Hall to review the wetland issues for the area located east of Arcade Street and southeast of LaBore Road. The property owners in this area contend that the impact from adjacent development and altered drainage patterns have increased the wetland impacts to their properties. They feel this has resulted in limited development possibilities and lower property values. Residents feel that a significant cause of the problem is a berm that was constructed along the Little Canada - Maplewood border within the wetland in the 1980's as part of the residential development in Maplewood. The result of the workshop was a council request to investigate the possibility of a cooperative drainage study involving Little Canada, Maplewood, Ramsey/Washington Watershed, DNR, and Ramsey County. A meeting was held with representatives from the above organizations to discuss the possible study and determine what if any conclusions could be found. The finding of the meeting was that there are limited records documenting what has taken place in the area over the last 30 years. However, all parties agreed to review their records and report any applicable information to the City. The agencies present felt that it would be difficult to determine changes in the wetland size due to the fact that the wetland has never been field delineated and the only information available for determination of past wetland boundaries is aerial photography. If a significant change in wetland size can be shown, determining the cause of the change would be difficult to prove (i.e. construction of the berm) due to the number of factors involved. After further discussion, it was determined that a review of the available data would be completed to determine if significant changes in drainage patterns and /or wetland size could be documented. The Ramsey Washington Watershed agreed to review and compare aerial maps of the area to determine if the size of the wetland has been significantly increased. (We provided them with additional aerial maps that are more germane to the period in question.) In addition Howard R. Green Company would provide the following services as part of the wetland study: • Coordinate with the watershed and provide a topographic survey of the area to determine the elevation of the wetland as compared to Kohlman Lake. In addition, a survey of the berm and the wetland around the berm would be completed. • Review and compare topographic maps of the area to determine the affects of the berm construction and other grading on drainage patterns in the area. Page 34