09-07-2010 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION September 7, 2010 APPROVED 133 Shawn Turcotte, 850 Olive Street,addressed the council. He suggests that it is hard to 134 see that the city has a storm water management problem so he doesn't understand the 135 need to dedicate funds to solve the problem. 136 137 It was explained that there are federal mandates involved and also that the matter isn't 138 just about visible problems like flooding but also about water quality. It is also important 139 to do proper maintenance that keeps pipes open and flowing. 140 141 The council concurred that they would not be considering first reading of the ordinance at 142 the September 13 council meeting but rather would be continuing to receive public 143 hearing comments. 144 145 5. Illicit Discharge, Detection and Elimination Ordinance—Community Development 146 Director Grochala noted that this ordinance was approved for first reading but the council 147 requested additional information and posed certain questions on requirements. The 148 ordinance is required under national pollutant discharge elimination system legislation as 149 the city's regulatory mechanism to regulate, inspect and enforce illicit discharges into the 150 storm water system. 151 152 The council and staff discussed the need for an education component to let people know 153 about discharge activities that are harmful and/or illegal. Although the level of 154 enforcement that the city will be able to provide is not clear, it is clear that the regulations 155 are required in order for the city to maintain its permit for discharge and to avoid a 156 possible fine. 157 158 The council will consider second reading of the ordinance at the September 13, 2010 159 council meeting. 160 161 6. Comprehensive Plan Review (and Item 7,Housing Goals,LCA)—Community 162 Development Director Grochala briefly reviewed the changes proposed to the Land Use 163 and Housing chapters of the Plan. They are the same changes that were reviewed at the 164 August work session. He added that the changes were informally presented to the 165 Metropolitan Council (staff) and it appears they(the changes)would not impact their 166 current review. He noted that a comment was offered on the possible impact to the city's 167 eligibility for the Livable Communities Program and discussed the difference in how 168 housing goals are being calculated for that program. 169 170 There was confirmation from staff that the city's qualification for the Livable 171 Communities Program comes through the bond payments in the interchange project 172 (because certain affordable housing would not have been built but for those 173 improvements). 174 175 City Planner Smyser remarked that since the only downside to participating in the Livable 176 Communities Program is that you could be committing to spend money to be eligible and 4