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Home My WebLink About10/27/2010 Environmental Board MinutesENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING OCTOBER 27, 2010 DRAFT MINUTES 1 CITY OF LINO LAKES APPROVED MINUTES DATE : October 27, 2010 TIME STARTED : 6:34 P.M. TIME ENDED : 7:35 P.M. MEMBERS PRESENT : Mary Jo O’Dea, Barbara Bor, Paula Andrzejewski, Martha DeHaven and Theresa Klaman MEMBERS ABSENT : Steve Heiskary and Peter Brown STAFF PRESENT : Environmental Coordinator Marty Asleson 1. CALL TO ORDER Ms. O’Dea called the meeting to order at 6:34 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES September 29, 2010 Minutes Change: Peter Brown to not present at the 9-29-09 meeting. Add: Ms. Klaman as making a motion to approve the September 29 agenda and Ms. Bor as seconding the motion. Ms. Andrzejewski made a motion to approve the September 29, 2010 minutes. Ms. Klaman seconded the motion to approve the minutes. Motion carried unanimously 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Move: Item on Spring Burning permits with Chief Jerry Streich to be the first Discussion Item. Move: Item on SHEP Summary to the third Discussion Item. Ms. Klaman made a motion to approve the agenda. Ms. Andrzejewski seconded the motion to approve the agenda. Motion carried unanimously 4. OPEN MIKE Open mike closed at 6:35 p.m. ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING OCTOBER 27, 2010 DRAFT MINUTES 2 5. ACTION ITEMS None 6. DISCUSSION ITEMS 1. Spring Burning Permits Discussion – Chief Jerry Streich, Centennial Fire Department Mr. Asleson stated Ms. Bor requested inviting Chief Jerry Streich to attend a meeting to discuss burning permits. Mr. Asleson reviewed management and burning tools. He stated in the past he has fallen behind on burning. Currently there are permit requests to burn in the fall. However, everything is still green at this time and is not able to burn. Hopefully, before it snows we will be able to get a few burns in. If not, it falls back to the spring of the year. He stated the DNR will give the City a waiver to the spring ban for burning. Chief Streich explained the permitting process. The policy is not to allow burns during bans. The City Ordinance states clearly permits will not be issued. There is a heavy danger and high risk to occur during the state burning ban. The burning restriction by issued by the State of Minnesota. A burning ban means large burns or recreational fires. Ms. O’Dea stated Mr. Jason Husveth, Critical Connections, came before the board in September. He stated it has been difficult over the past few years to get a permit in the spring. She stated the Board would like to know what to do to help facilitate the situation. Our perspective is, if could do this administratively, we would like to do. 2. SHEP Summary for 2010 – Gary Averbeck Mr. Gary Averbeck presented as PowerPoint presentation on the 2009 Rice Creek Watershed Stream Health Evaluation Program. He presented the following background information: Aquatic organisms express a range of tolerances to environmental conditions. These organisms mirror environmental conditions which have occurred over a period of time ranging from months to years. Biological monitoring provides a more complete picture of the ecological health of our waters. ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING OCTOBER 27, 2010 DRAFT MINUTES 3 Clearwater Creek: Listed as impaired for aquatic life, due to coliform bacteria and low dissolved oxygen. Results: Moderately stressed by incoming pollutants. Overall it appears moderately stable. Hardwood Creek: Listed as impaired biota (fish). Low dissolved oxygen. Results: FBI score corresponds to a “Poor” rating. Overall, hardwood appears to be stable. Mr. Averbeck handed out the 2009 Executive Summary on the Rice Creek Watershed Stream Health Evaluation Program (SHEP) to board members. Ms. Bor questioned if the new test site was lower than the original site. He stated yes. Ms. Bor questioned the vegetation change. He stated there has been a little bit of change. The long grass to the south of the stream has been grazed by horses. He stated they found a huge number of freshwater sponges, which are filter feeders. Possibly this is an indicator of water quality. The mats exist only for a single season. He has not seen them before this season. Ms. Bor stated the group’s accuracy is higher than 96% accuracy. Ms. O’Dea questioned if the group will monitor again next year. Mr. Averbeck stated as long as the grant comes in again, yes. The group looks at findings over a long period of time. It is not simply math stated Averbeck. It is more of looking at a trend of improvement over the years. 3. Rice Lake Stormwater Stenciling/Clean Water and Pollution Awareness Presentation; Eagle Scout Steven Pehoski Steven Pehoski was present. He is currently working on an Eagle Scout project that focuses on increasing awareness of the effects of stormwater runoff to our local lakes. He presented a PowerPoint presentation to the board. He is from local Troop 103 out of St. Joseph’s Parish. He stated there are several different aspects of this project. He and his group stenciled 165 storm drains in the Rice Lake Watershed District in the area of Sunset Avenue, Lake Drive Area and south of St. Joe’s Church on Elm Street. They also distributed fliers in the area on how to reduce the impact of storm water runoff. He is in the process of contacting a local newspaper to see if they will run an article to further increase awareness of stormwater runoff. ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING OCTOBER 27, 2010 DRAFT MINUTES 4 He stated Stormwater Runoff is the number one cause of water pollution. This problem is affecting out local lakes. Rice Lake and Lake Baldwin are off the charts. The problem is not that people don’t care. They are not aware of how they affect our lakes. The five main Pollutants are: Sediment, Nutrients, Bacteria, Toxics and Heat Sediment comes from construction sites, roads, eroded soil, etc. This interferes with recreation, destroys habitat and carries other pollutants that adhere to the dirt particles. Nutrients: Fertilizer, runoff enters water and promotes algae growth, one pound of phosphorus can produce up to 500 pounds of algae, excess of algae negatively impacts a lake’s ecosystem. Bacteria: High levels of fecal bacteria. The bacteria comes from pet and wildlife feces, etc. Toxics: Poisons, yard chemicals, metals from roofing materials. Heat: Animals such as trout require the water temp to be within a certain range, stormwater runoff from hot roofs, roads, parking lots, and other surfaces can raise water temperatures above their tolerance. IMPACT: Ecosystem disturbance: destroys habitat, kills off species Aesthetic Impact: odor, color, turbidity Human Health Prevention/Solutions: Keep streets, sidewalks and driveways clean; Mark your storm drain; Take your car to a car wash; use zero phosphorus fertilizer; save water & money by collecting rainwater from your downspouts with a rain barrel to water your plants. Ms. O’Dea questioned who Mr. Pehoski will be presenting his presentation to. He stated schools and young people. He stated he focused mainly on reducing the impact on Rice Lake through storm stenciling. He believes the lake was recently put on the impacted list. He stated his group stenciled 165 drains. The task took about 1½ hours to complete. Roughly about 3 minutes per drain. The drains read: Dump no waste, drains to lake. He said his group distributed about 566 fliers to the neighborhood directly impacting Rice Lake. He managed the work for maximum efficiency. ENVIRONMENTAL BOARD MEETING OCTOBER 27, 2010 DRAFT MINUTES 5 Mr. Asleson stated Mr. Pehoski did a tremendous job and is very proud of him as a senior in high school and Eagle Scout. He took on a project that needed to be done and informed residents. 7. ADJOURN It was noted that the next meeting of the Environmental Board will be on Wednesday, November 24, 2010 at 6:30 p.m. There being no further business, Ms. DeHaven moved to adjourn at 7:35 p.m. Ms. Andrzejewski seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously. Transcribed by: Lisa Hogstad Community Development Secretary