3.a March 3, 2009 meeting minutes March 3, 2009
The Scandia Planning Commission held their regular monthly meeting on the above date. The
following were in attendance: Chaii man Chris Ness, Commissioners Tom Krinke, Christine
Maefsky, Susan Rodsjo, Peter Schwarz and City Planner Sherri Buss. Chairman Ness called the
meeting to order at 7:31p.m.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA, MINUTES
Schwarz, seconded by Krinke, moved to approve the agenda as presented. The motion
passed unanimously.
Commissioner Rodsjo stated a correction to the February 3, 2009 meeting minutes. Rodsjo,
seconded by Krinke, moved to approve the February 3, 2009 minutes as corrected. The
motion passed unanimously.
ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT WORKSHEET (EAW), TILLER
CORPORATION'S ZAVORAL MINING AND RECLAMATION PROJECT
City Planner Sherri Buss presented an overview of the process for Tiller Corporation's
application to operate a gravel mine and processing operation on a dormant site located east of
the Highway 95/97 intersection. The City received 49 comments at the end of the 30-day
comment period on the EAW, which ended February 11. After reviewing the comments, the
proposer, city staff and consultants concluded that the City does not have sufficient information
to address a number of issues identified in the comments, including noise, rare and endangered
species, groundwater, surface water, future reclamation and visual impacts. Planner Buss
identified two options for proceeding given the need for additional information: either make a
positive declaration for an Environmental Impact Study (EIS); or postpone a decision on the
need for an EIS and allow Tiller to perform the additional studies before making a decision
sometime later this year.
Commissioners discussed the details of evaluating and proceeding with the information as
presented so far. By choosing Option A, to make a positive declaration of the need for an EIS,
the City determines the scope of the EIS. A public scoping meeting would be held to determine
which appropriate studies should be addressed to obtain the lacking information. Planner Buss
explained that this process puts the City in charge of addressing the studies and allows for the
City to choose the consultants to conduct the studies. Tiller Corporation would be asked to pay a
scoping fee upfront to cover the anticipated costs of this process. The EIS process is likely to last
one year or longer. The City's decision to order an EIS can be appealed by the applicant in the
county district court within 30 days.
Option B, to postpone a decision on the need for an EIS, would allow Tiller additional time to
provide the lacking infolination. Tiller has agreed to a date of November 30, 2009 as the
deadline to determine the need for an EIS. Planner Buss explained that if at that time, the City
still finds that the information is not adequate to make a reasoned decision about the potential for
possible environmental impacts, additional analyses may be requested or an EIS ordered.
March 3, 2009
Scandia Planning Commission
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Kirsten Pauley, Sunde Engineering representing Tiller Corporation, explained that Tiller is at an
early step in the EAW process. Ms. Pauley identified the lacking information as "data gaps" that
will be filled in as a part of the continuation of the EAW. This was expected once the responses
to the initial EAW were received. In-depth studies on the issues raised during the comment
period will be conducted during the growing season. This allows time for the reports to be
analyzed and reported on by November 2009. Ms. Pauley stated that a more efficient EIS study
may be chosen, if necessary, once all the additional analyses are presented.
Schwarz made a motion to recommend to the City Council to pursue Option B, delaying a
decision to proceed with an EIS (draft Resolution 03-03-09-02). This motion received a
second from Chairman Ness for the purpose of discussion.
Commissioner Schwarz felt that there was not enough information in Tiller's EAW to make an
informed decision. Chairman Ness stated his disagreement with this recommendation, as the
location of the gravel pit lies within a very sensitive part of the City. It appears likely that an EIS
will be ordered at some point and the City can have more control over the evaluations by
beginning this process now. Commissioners Krinke, Maefsky and Rodsjo all validated the
reasons to call for an EIS due to the control that the City has in guiding the impact studies.
Voting in favor of the above motion: Schwarz. Voting opposed: Rodsjo, Maefsky, Krinke,
and Ness. Motion failed.
Krinke, seconded by Maefsky, moved to recommend to the City Council to approve draft
Resolution 03-03-09-02 Option A, Declaring a Positive Need for an Environmental Impact
Statement for the Zavoral Mining and Reclamation Project. Mayor Seefeldt stated that the
draft Resolution should be amended to include the issue of asphalt and concrete recycling
as a received written comment addressing potential environmental impacts (Section 8). The
amended motion passed unanimously.
STATUS OF NEW COMPREHENSIVE PLAN AND IMPLEMENTATION ACTIVITIES
Administrator Hurlburt reported that the Metropolitan Council recently approved Scandia's 2030
Comprehensive Plan Update with no modifications. The City Council will formally adopt the
plan by resolution at their March 17 meeting. The City will then begin the implementation tasks
as outlined in the plan's timeline.
The Design Standards Committee, chaired by Commissioner Rodsjo, plans to begin meeting this
month.
Maefsky, seconded by Rodsjo, moved to adjourn.
The meeting adjourned at 8:58 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Brenda Eklund
Deputy Clerk