PL PACKET 11181997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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1 The City Manager reported that the Council has asked WSB to put together a 2 proposal to study the recommendation in a city-wide context. 3 VI. WSB PROPOSAL TO INVESTIGATE CITY-WIDE PROBLEM AREAS. 4 Willenbring discussed WSB's proposal to divide the City into 13 areas, grid and 5 study each area separately. He indicated that they plan to study water levels and 6 the number of properties that were and have been impacted by the flooding in St. 7 Anthony. He said that at the end of the study, it is hoped that the grid will show 8 problem areas and at that time, a determination will be made as to what should be 9 done; buy homes, provide technical assistance, etc. 10 Faust indicated that whatever is done, it has to provide city-wide benefit. 11 12 Cavanaugh said that need to get ideas into action form. He asked the question if 13 WSB was the best one to draw up the proposal that would go to Council. He felt 14 technical assistance needs to be more defined. 15 Willenbring stated that the proposal will be dealing with the two original City 16 issues: 1.) buying homes; and 2.) provide technical assistance. WSB will also be 17 looking at these 13 areas and the flooding problems affecting each area. The 18 proposal will include the most cost effective method to deal with those problems. 19 Lockrem stated that she, felt that the City Manager and the City Council have more 20 information that the public has. She also stated that she is worried that any grant 21 money the City receives will be eaten up by WSB study hours. 22 Willenbring responded by explaining the process of the study. He indicated that 23 each area will probably take an average of 60 hours. He said that some of the 13 24 areas may take 100 hours but other areas may only take 40 hours to study. 25 The City Manager stated that the City Council did not have prior knowledge; that 26 the City adopted WSB's recommendation just to get things going. 27 Willenbring reviewed page 6 of the WSB recommendation. WSB report 'indicated 28 that no homes be bought until: 1.) the public purpose is defined. A recom- 29 mendation can not be provided until the legal requirements are addressed. 2.) The 30 City needs to define a level of protection for homes. Willenbring reported these 31 two issues have been discussed in previous task force meetings. He indicated.that 32 there is a need to look at the flooding events that occurred in 1987 and 1997 and 33 the impact they had on the 13 areas. He said that these areas will also be evaluated 34 to determine the level, if any, of annual flooding events. He stated they will begin 35 to evaluate areas that seem to be more problematic than other areas. Another issue 36 to be resolved, and which will give the City a logical and economical place to start, 37 is to determine the level of water that will be acceptable to stand in the streets. 38 Willenbring suggested establishing a storm event that could be a standard City-wide. 39 He also indicated that funding mechanisms need to be established to pay for 40 solutions. 3.) Willenbring stated that sanitary and storm sewer systems are two 41 separate issues and have to be dealt with in that way. 4.) He also stated that the 42 recommended prioritization of home buy-outs need to be re-evaluated based on the 43 data used by the Task Force and that data collected as the result of the WSB 44 proposed study. Willenbring stressed it is important not to set a precedent that