03/31/2004 Env Bd Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Surface Water Surface water is directed to NURP ponds from impervious surfaces. Surface water runoff from back yards and rooftops seems to be directed directly into wetlands. Since there are no proposed buffers around the wetlands, lawn and rooftop runoff should be buffered at least before entering the wetland. It is also important to provide adequate buffering to County Ditch 25. A segment of this ditch appears to be immediately adjacent to the central nurp pond on the East Side of the proposed development. The pond is designed to discharge directly into this ditch. Fine soil particles take about a week to settle out adequately, and dissolved pollutants (lawn pesticides, nitrogen) need additional filtration before being allowed to enter the ditch. Water from the CD25 area flows to Wards Lake than to Reshanuau. A conservation easement is indicated for the southern ponds in the Outlot areas. This conservation easement is for maintenance access. There does not appear to be any access to the conservation easement or any of the other wet or pond areas in the treatment train. Site Restoration The Developer has specified a MNDOT 26B mix for the pond restoration areas. Although the mix is native (Attachment 11), I recommend that the developer be required to use the city native seed mix and have it installed by a nursery business knowledgeable in native seen installation. The developer should also hire the services of such nursery to maintain the seeded area for a minimum of three years. One boulevard tree of the City's choice should be planted per housing frontage. Open Space Issues A park is designed into the NW corner of the property. The 1992 Open Space Plan indicates no need for a park in this area. Instead, the plan demonstrates a need for a greenway system connecting two established parks. The City Land Use Plan shows this area as greenway. This is because of the high ground water, percentage wetlands present, and unsuitability to building. Lino Lakes Environmental has further revised this notion of greenway planning into an area that includes hydric soils and flood plain. (Attachment 12) A Buffer of adjacent land is needed to provide for environmental integrity, and resident use. This greenway area contains points where ecological conditions exist that would support rare vegetation. The wildlife potential model we have run shows this