Laserfiche WebLink
A <br />WSB <br />178 East 9" Street, Suite 200 1 St. Paul, MN 55101 1 (651) 286-8450 <br />Memorandum <br />To: Tom Weidt, Mayor, City of Hugo <br />Hugo City Council <br />CC: Rachel Juba, Planner, City of Hugo <br />Mark Erichson, City Engineer, WSB <br />From: Tony Havranek, Senior Ecologist, WSB <br />Date: November 5, 2018 <br />Re: City Project No. 17.13 <br />WSB Project No. 011371-00 <br />The purpose of this memo is to recommend approval of a MN Joint Application received from Chuck <br />Beisner (Sunrise Energy Ventures) and his agent, Jason Naber (EOR, Inc.) requesting approval for <br />sequencing, no -loss, exemption, and wetland impact replacement. <br />The proposed project involves constructing a 1 megawatt solar facility along 165th Street, west of the <br />intersection of 165th St. and Henna Avenue North (Gregoire parcel). I have attached a map showing the <br />location of the project. <br />The solar array will be located on 19.8 acres of the parcel. Impacts are a result of the construction of an <br />access road off of 165t" Street. Temporary impacts will involve minimal site disturbance which will be <br />mitigated within 6 months of starting the project. <br />The technical evaluation panel (TEP) also considered potential impacts to a high -quality grass, forb, and <br />sedge community within the project area. The applicant is not proposing to directly impact this community <br />through ground disturbing activities, rather the TEP considered potential impacts from shading. The TEP <br />could not definitely show that the panels would result in negative impacts to high quality vegetation. <br />The project will result in 0.17 acres of permanent wetland impact through the construction of the access <br />road. The applicant is proposing to replace these impacts through the purchase of 0.34 acres (2:1 ratio) <br />of wetland credits from wetland bank #1537 in Anoka County. <br />Based on the information provided in the application and on site visits with the applicant and TEP, I am <br />recommending approval of the application for the solar project with conditions specified in the attached <br />Notice of Decision. <br />Attachments: <br />Notice of Decision <br />Project area map <br />G.7 <br />Building a legacy — your legacy. <br />Equal Opportunity Employer I wsbeng.com <br />K:\011371-000\Admin\Permits\17.13 Hugo Solar Site (Gregoire)\replacement\Memorandum_HugoCityCouncil_Gregoiresolar_110518.docx <br />