VLAWMO Annual Financial Report 2018 (2)

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Vadnais Lake Area Water Management Organization Community Blue DESCRIPTION Community Blue is an education focused grant program for community groups within VLAWMO. It funds educational events and resources as they relate to water resources,and provides support in making existing stormwater,wetland, or watershed improvements into educational took with public exposure. PROJECTS IN THE WORKS Connect the Drops Growing Green Hearts, an organization specializing in watershed education in public school and religious settings, has networked between several local congregations for this project. Following a multi -congregation kick-off event, Growing Green Hearts will lead youth and community members in watershed education sessions and service projects. Service project examples include outreach and education for smart salting, building raingardens and native plantings, cleaning and adopting stormdrains, and more. Partners include Frassatti academy, Christ the Servant Lutheran Church, and Peace United Methodist. Clean Stormdrians Residents in the John Mitchell Neighborhood of Vadnais Heights are taking action to dean out their stormdrains and promote watershed best practices such as water -friendly yard care. Project is led by Ceci and Ed Shaplan, who serve as Master Water Stewards for VLAWMO. Picture Posts at Birch Lake Working with the Birch Lake Improvement District (BLID),two picture posts are to be placed near Birch Lake. One will be on the shoreline, the other in the Rotary Park Wetland just to the north of Birch Lake. Both posts will be a way to monitor changes in the water quality, shoreline condition,vegetation, and other unforeseen surprises that may be missed without attention. City Engagement SMART SALTING LEVEL 2 A Smart Salting level workshop was hosted in April, 2018 in partnership with Ramsey Washington Metro Watershed District and Fortin Consulting. The level 2 workshop focused on the Winter Maintenance Assessment Tool (WMAt).This tool allows public works and maintenance staff to track progress in salt use and improvements, Learn strategies from the tool interface itself, create charts for presentations,assess costs, outline future goals,and engage in conversation with staff across MN for discussion and shared learning. TURF MAINTENANCE WORKSHOP VLAWMO hosted Fortin Consulting to hold a turf maintenance workshop in September, 2018. The workshop covered best practices for fertilizer application, mowing, watering, and more. 19 participants attended, representing county, city, and school district staff. 14