10/12/2005 Env Bd Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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I -35E Corridor Final AUAR September 26, 2005 • County, Washington County, US Army Corps of Engineers, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Anoka Conservation District, Rice Creek Watershed District, and Environmental Quality Board. A list of agency meetings follows. Topic Date Municipal Services & Tour of AUAR area November 23, 2004 Natural & Cultural Resources December 7, 2004 Transportation December 28, 2004 Development Scenarios I January 25, 2005 Development Scenarios II February 22, 2005 The City received comment letters on the Draft AUAR from the following agencies: Department of Natural Resources, Department of Transportation, Metropolitan Council, Anoka County, Washington County, and Rice Creek Watershed District. City staff and members of the AUAR technical team met with agency staff to better understand the comments on the Draft AUAR and to further involve the agencies in the preparation of the Final AUAR and Mitigation Plan. City staff and members of the AUAR technical team met with the commenting agencies to discuss their comments, the city's approach to addressing the comments, and additional mitigation strategies. A meeting was held with Rice Creek Watershed District staff on August 23, 2005 to discuss stormwater management issues and a meeting was held on August 26, 2005 with staff from the Department of Transportation, Metropolitan Council, and Anoka County to discuss transportation issues. Public Open House In addition to the Advisory Panel, City Council, and agency workshops, a public open house was held on February 17, 2005. The purpose of the public open house was to give the general public the opportunity to review and submit comments on the background research and the draft development scenarios. Public Comment Period The Draft AUAR, including a draft Mitigation Plan Outline was prepared and distributed to the Environmental Quality Board (EQB) and persons and agencies on the official EQB mailing list in accordance with EQB rules. In addition, the Draft AUAR was transmitted to the Advisory Panel and surrounding communities. The 30 -day comment period occurred from July 4 to August 3, 2005. Two state agencies, five local units of government, two business ventures, one citizen group and one citizen submitted comment letters on the I -35E Corridor Draft AUAR. The Draft AUAR comment letters are included in Appendix H. MAJOR ISSUES AND PROPOSED MITIGATION SUMMARY The potential impacts and major issues identified in the Draft AUAR and/or in the Draft AUAR comment letters are summarized in the following section. The major issues include traffic, ecologically sensitive resources, storm water management, regional sanitary sewer infrastructure capacity, and cultural resources. The discussion of each issue also includes a discussion of the proposed mitigation measures that address the identified impacts and issues. A comprehensive summary of potential impacts and the proposed mitigation strategies are included in the Mitigation Plan. The final Mitigation Plan will become a component of the action plan to ensure that the city avoid, minimize, or mitigate significant environmental impacts from the development of the AUAR area • Traffic A detailed traffic impact analysis has been prepared to fully investigate the effects of the proposed land use scenarios on the local and regional roadway systems (see Item 21. Traffic). The traffic analysis focused on x