08-18-87 CCM - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

LAKE ELMO CITY COUNCIL MINUTES AUGUST 18, 1987 PAGE 4 Mayor Christ stated that he had 100 percent confidence in our City Engineer. He could not say he had 100 percent confidence in what was done back in 1975 or 1976. Bruce Folz pointed out that the watershed district and the city set the regulations, not the developer. Regardless what Gene Peltier does, these residents still have a problem and it would best if they and the City worked it out. Councilwoman Armstrong has reviewed the Valley Branch Watershed District plan which referred to Downs Lake. It stated that Downs Lake is a relatively small lake east of Lake Elmo which receives drainage r from the old village of Lake Elmo and Lake Elmo airport. The large drainage area indicates a sizeable potential runoff.volume to the lake in an amount well in excess of the lake storage capacity. The fact that overflow from the lake has occurred only infrequently indicates a high infiltration capacity in the watershed and high seepage capacity from the lake. As development occurs, more frequent discharge into Horseshoe Lake may occur. An increase in storage capacity is possible if the lake is joined to low areas between Downs Lake and Lake Elmo. Armstrong explained that at the time of the rezoning a couple of years ago, they were concerned about Legion Pond then, as they are today, but Eden Park pond had not overflowed to the extent it has now. Since we have rezoned this area to R1, the water has raised to the point of this drastic situation. The City does not want another problem like Legion Pond. This plat is 30' to 40' above the nearby development. The additional water is inevitable with this development. Even with the 1s Rule which will take care of the surface water, we do have 700 gallons per day per home coming on to the property on each yard and seeping down through the yard, which has not been discussed or included in the to Rule. Mayor Christ suggested tabling this until the Council gets additional information from Larry Bohrer if there is anything that we can do from the standpoint of seeking help from the Valley Branch Watershed District. They may have been amiss to -not include Downs Lake in the Valley Branch Plan. Armstrong responded that it was not part of the main stem, which was the reason it was not included. Armstrong added that in our code book under the procedure for subdivision, it states that provision for surface water disposal drainage and flood control must be within the boundaries of the proposed property division. The problem is the pond is in the part that is zoned Rural Residential and not in the rezoned area. Knaak responded that;as Mr. Folz interprets the code, we do not require every plat to have all the water contained within the boundaries, but what we require is that some provision be made for the water that is drained. One thing the Council may want to do as a condition after preliminary approval, prior to final approval, is to see that that pond is included in this plat. Engineer has been satisfied that the additional requirements have been met and there is no basis to turn it down under those criteria. You