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Environmental Board <br />July 30, 2025 <br />Page 4 <br />Mr. Hoffman stated that he will go back to the original parties involved and let them <br />know that there are some options and possibilities the City can work with them on, but <br />that the board does not seem comfortable moving forward with a pilot program at this <br />time involvingchemical treatments without further analysis. Mr. Hoffman also stated <br />that he will reach out to some engineering firms that the City has connections with, as <br />well as reach out to othermetrocities that are doing similar things with their residents. <br />As this evolves, there is potential that the City can bring this back with additional <br />information leading to apilot program. <br />Mr. Parsons inquired as to whether the chemicals just bind the nutrients, not letting <br />them release into the environment. He then added that he believes it’s more the odor <br />that concerns people, so implementing an aeration system with a type of bio system <br />might be beneficial. <br />Mr. Hoffman confirmed that with chemical treatments, it’s justbinding the material and <br />not treating it, so it’s not improving the water quality within the pond. Mr. Hoffman also <br />explainedthataeration may not address the underlying concern of odor coming from <br />the pond. He noted that a lot of things can be cleared up from a staff level through <br />ordinance updates to clarify what is and isn’t allowed in the stormwater ponds to help <br />reduce inputs ofpollution. The long-term goal is to do something where eventually the <br />ponds will be able to balance themselves out without interaction. <br />Ms. Buchmeier inquired if other cities are doing non-chemical options like aerators. <br />Mr. Hoffman stated that a lot of other cities will have aerators within ponds on private <br />property that are under storm water easement, so it’s still part of the storm water <br />system, but the land isn’t owned. He also said that it varies from city to city. He <br />mentioned that it will take multiple years of data because of the fluctuation of weather <br />and rain levels, which is why testing is so expensive. <br />Ms. Buchmeier asked if the plan is to update the city code to be more specific to what is <br />and is not allowed. <br />Mr. Hoffman stated he’d like to have those discussions at future work sessions to see if <br />they need to make those clarifications. Additionally, Mr. Hoffman notedthat they’ve <br />been handling cases internallyso far andwantedto get a clear understanding ofwhat is <br />planned going forward so he can communicate that to residents. <br />Ms. Buchmeier wanted to confirm that there wouldnot be a pilot program for the <br />chemical treatment of storm ponds. She also would like to know what the next steps are <br />going to be. <br />Mr. Hoffman reiterated that the pilot program was just for the chemical side of it. He <br />noted that allowingaerators and other non-chemical methods would be something they <br />would bring back to the board. These non-chemical methods would not be a lengthy <br />DRAFT MINUTES <br /> <br />