10/04/2006 Env Bd Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Search

• AGENDA ITEM 5 A STAFF ORIGINATOR: Jeff Smyser Env. Bd. MEETING DATE: October 4, 2006 TOPIC: Draft Environmental Assessment Worksheet for Nature's Refuge BACKGROUND Nature's Refuge is a conservation development project that was the topic of a May 31 presentation to a joint meeting of the City Council and all the advisory boards. The site lies north of Main Street, generally between Lake Drive and Wood Duck Trail. We do not yet have a project application. We have a draft Environmental Assessment Worksheet (EAW). Information gathered through the EAW process will inform the design of the project before the submittal of a formal development application. The EAW here is a draft. After discussion by the Environmental Board, we will revise • the EAW and bring it to the City Council for a vote to distribute the document for public comment. The public comment period lasts 30 days. After that, we will examine the document to determine if we need additional information and /or if we should revise the document. • Then, the City Council will determine if potential impacts of the project are significant enough to require the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement. If not, the Council will adopt a finding of no significant impact and the environmental review process ends. The developer then will begin to prepare the final design of the project and the application information. When the City Council decides to distribute the EAW for public comment, it is not an approval of the project. Nor is a recommendation by the Environmental Board an approval of the project. We are following the environmental review process as required by state statute and the rules of the Minnesota Environmental Quality Board (EQB). The format and "questions" on the EAW form were prepared by the EQB. RECOMMENDATION Discuss the draft EAW, provide recommended revisions.