05/13/2002 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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• CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION APRIL 17, 2002 Mayor Bergeson asked if it would be helpful to have a formal letter of support from the City to include with the grant application. Mr. Webb stated the application has already been submitted but a letter of support from the City would be very helpful. Councilmember Carlson asked if the Comprehensive Plan would apply in any way to this project. Community Development Director Grochala stated he is not sure if the Comprehensive Plan would apply to this project. He stated there is land in the northeast area of the City that was shown on the Plan as greenway. Councilmember Carlson asked if the Environmental Board has reviewed the proposed project. Community Development Director Grochala stated a presentation has not yet been made to the Environmental Board. Councilmember Reinert referred to the 70% phosphorous and asked exactly what that means. Ms. Westrick explained the percentages of phosphorous and stated it refers to the soluble amount in the water. The soluble amount should be closer to 40 %. Mr. Webb added the District wants the creek to behave more like a creek. The District hopes that the restoration will help the phosphorous situation also. Councilmember Reinert asked if the tests done prior to the recent test show the phosphorous level at 40 %. Ms. Westrick stated the data goes back to the mid 1970's. However, the data collected was collected as the total phosphorous level so the District does not know the percentage of the soluble phosphorous. Restoring the creek back to a more pre- sediment state will help the phosphorous level. Mr. Webb stated the restoration project is just one part of fixing the entire problem. Mr. Webb stated that if the District can do the restoration project, the District will continue to monitor the creek to see how this process works. Another issue is to maintain the results over time. Mayor Bergeson inquired about a project that was done on Howard Lake. Manager James Leroux, Washington County, came forward and stated Howard Lake is one of three sources of water that flows to Rice Creek. Howard Lake was identified as a fish kilt. However, legal action was taken to stop the process and the winter took care of the problem temporarily. The District is constantly monitoring all creeks and trying to