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Page 7 Planning and Zoning Commission October 10. 1979 This would be a large effort unlesssometime in 'the future Rice Creek Water- shed undertook a local drainage study. Mr.'Gotwald noted that Rice Creek Watershed's criteria Were workable fora large development, but impratical for anything smaller, such as a local grocery store, a few lots, and so forth. He felt that although'the large amount Of wetlands within the city could be considered a detriment, it becarne4an asset when dealing with drainage be- cause there was no problem with finding areas to drain to. The large majority were already connected'by'existing ditches, which finally drained into the lake system. The area south of Equity Estate's, the old'dry lake' bed, could become a holding pond for everything from County Road J to just north of Birch Street, and possibly from Centerville Road over to Ware'Road. The water had to be held'and not run off -directly in the lakes' to protect downstream communities. In answer to a question on whether the county'maintained these ditches, Mr. Gotwald in- dicated that they had been put An by the' county on an assessment basis, but the law had made provision that at no time would the maintenance costs exceed the original cost of the ditch'. At present,'in order to'make an improvement, it would probably be the town Council who would have to hold hearings and have the cost assessed back to the benefiting' property owners. There was some dis- cussion as to Brian Dobie's problem with County Ditch No. 22, which was under Rice Creek Watershed's jurisdiction;and the situation with the ditches at the airpa rk,'where 42-inch concrete pipe was'eventually put in. Mr. Short noted that Rice Creek Watershed did have some influence then, other than'the county, in the administration of improvements, although the issue .;was still somewhat confused. Mr. Gotwald indicated that their concern was with any waterway or drainage, and in Brian Dobie's case, the issue had become somewhat complicated, which he further explained. He noted that county ditches were in need of maintenance because of erosion, trees and brush clogging them. Also, the sod farms had been moving those ditches around, and there was a lot of water -involved although their system was very clean; part of the problem lay with the south end of the city and the older ditches there. Mr. Short asked if this was something that the city would have to address as far as the capital improvements plan. Mayor Karth noted that in seven years the city would own those 40 acres of ponds, plus any additional ones as development occured, which represented a. lot of loss in acreage for the city. Mr. Gotwald indicated that forrthis reason he had included only actual wetlands on the map, and had left out those areas that were marginal and could possible be buildable with alteration by a developer. The elevations on the lakes all ran within a foot or two of each other--879 to 880--and fairly well established where the ground water was. The function of the ponding study at this point was to map out and preserve the wetlands; at some time in the future, the city would have to do a detailed ponding study for the areas where most of the development was taking place. Mr. Johnson brought up the point that ultimately the ponds could cost the city more in maintenance than the initial cost of the study; Mayor Karth also felt the study was vital, pointing out a problem with fencing. that had already occurred.Mr. Gotwald suggested this study be added as part of the implementation phase. He also indicated the city would be dealing with the'zoning of wetlands, which would either be zoned'as conservation land, or as Mr. Short suggested,drainage retention area. He pointed out that this zon•img could have legal implications, as it would have a direct impact on the owner of ' the land, who was paying taxes on it and perhaps considering filling and develop- ing on it. There would also be an impact on assessments as these areas, sometimes a quarter or half mile long, could not be assessed for improvements. Mr. Short noted there was some opportunity whereby the developable rights could be trans- ferred to other developable land;.in other words, credit for the number of units that could have been developed on wetland acreage, so there was some flexibility.