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8.g administrators report Staff Report Date of Meeting: October 17, 2017 To: City Council From: Neil Soltis, Administrator Re: Administrator’s report Building permit activity – Through 10/31/17 a total of 670 permits have been issued with a combined value of $26,380,264. This compares to 201 permits with a value of $8,179,325 for the same period in 2016. The 2017 permits include 19 new houses with a combined value of $5,911,000 and 3 community solar gardens with a combined value of $10,359,000. The number of new house permit compares favorably with the wh ole year totals for 2016 – 16 permits, 2015 – 14 permits, and 2014 – 7 permits. Another new home permit was received in November. Lilleskogen Park –. The Friends of Scandia Parks and Trails have proposed a memorandum of understanding for the maintenance of the butterfly garden. Staff will be reviewing the proposed agreement and have requested that the PRC discuss the MOU at their next meeting. The Veterans Committee made inquiry regarding providing electricity to the memorial and possible ground lighting of the memorial. That request was previously discussed at the PR C but not brought forward to the Council. The Veterans Committee has subsequently withdrawn that request. Nuisance dumping – 199th St. - A nuisance letter was sent to Canadian National Railroad requesting that they take action to mitigate the nuisance. The letter provided a November 3rd date to appeal the letter and a deadline of November 20 to removal the materials. 197th culverts – The City worked with Peterson Excavating to replace the three deteriorated culverts on 197th St. and to restore the invert elevations. This will help to restore the natural drainage and to alleviate the nuisance condition of the water going over the road and freezing during the winter. The Carnelian Marine St. Croix Watershed District also contracted to remove some of the material that washed down the ravine by 197th where their stabilization project was completed in 2016. Berkshire Hathaway Energies (Zavoral) Solar Project – Xcel Energy has installed the interconnection poles as in the civil and landscaping plans approved by the Planning Commission and Council. The Mayor and City have been contacted with complaints regarding the appearance of the poles, the impact on the view, and the impact on a scenic overlook welcome center that is under discussion. Xcel Energy has expressed a willingness discuss the relocation of the poles at either the developers or City’s cost. Xcel has arranged a meeting at the site on Tuesday for the City, Xcel, and developer to discuss the situation. An excerpt from the landscape plan showing the location is provided below. Gateway Trail – Mayor Maefsky, John Herman, and I met with Representative Detmer and Senator Housley regarding the 2018 Capital request to provide the DNR with funding for predevelopment work on the section of the Gateway Trail from William O’Brien to the former fire station on Oakhill. John Herman has volunteered to draft a bill supporting the request and to provide for an earlier termination of the agricultural preserve designation for the portion of the trail over which the DNR has purchased a trail easement. Fire Contract with May Township – May Township has been informed of the City’s position that the contract amount be increased by 3% for 2018. The contract which expires on 12/31/2017 provides that, if the contract is not replaced by a new contract by December 31, 2017, the contract shall continue in force month to month at the then current yearly rate plus 5% prorated to a monthly payment basis until such time as a replacement contract is executed or until either party terminates in writing. The contract can be terminated by either party during the extended period at any time with or without cause by providing 30 days written notice to the other party of its intent to terminate. Statewide Health Improvement Program grant – The final report has been submitted on the Comprehensive Planning Partner Project Funding Opportunity grant through Living Healthy in Washington County (LHWC) with funds made available through the Statewide Health Improvement Program (SHIP) out of the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH). These funds were used to help offset the costs for community outreach including the community survey. The requested reimbursement totals $13,528. Washington County BoldPlanning demo. I attended a demonstration of the BoldPlanning software used by Washington County to develop and maintain their Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) and Emergency Operations Plan (EOP). The cloud-based software will be made available to interested Washington County communities. The County has licensed the software for 30 communities so there would be no charge to the City. The County will be sending out letters to the Cities regarding action to be taken in order to utilize the software. Based on the demo this is an easy-to-use platform that can help the City create an Emergency Operations Plans (EOP) and then potentially a COOP in the future. The work on the plan would require input from all Departments Wetland fill – Based on a complaint the DNR issued a restoration order for a wetland that had been filled to create a driveway in the Bliss addition. The owner had not applied for a driveway permit. The Technical Evaluation Panel reviewed the information and the owners request to purchase mitigation credits for a portion of the fill and concluded that there were alternatives for avoiding the fill. A notice of the decision has been sent to the property owner providing 30 days to appeal the decision. The City Council, as the Board of Adjustments and Appeals would hear that appeal if it is filed. Any appeal of the Council decision would go to the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) Board of Appeals. Manning driveway – The Washington Conservation District, Watershed District and City will be looking at another driveway that is under construction along Manning that may have wetland impacts. Smith variance – Mike and Pam Smith have submitted a waiver that would further extend the deadline for a decision on their variance application to construct a garage until September 30, 2019. The variance was previously recommended by the Planning Commission and discussed by the Council. The Council’s request for a site visit was not possible at the time and the Smith’s requested an extension. Comprehensive Planning – Based on the meeting and open house, Bolton & Menk has been sending maps for review. The water resources section, as it relates to the Rice Lake Watershed District, is scheduled for a January, 2019 review. Economic Development Authority – The Washington County CDA has $135,000 of funding in its 2018 budget to create a predevelopment finance fund. The fund is a matching fund that is intended to increase the inventory of developable properties, reduce barriers to economic development, spur new job opportunities, and increase the market value of commercial and industrial properties. The policy and guidelines are being drafted with the intent that the fund will be functional by March, 2018. The match can be comprised of City, developer, or funds from other sources. Watershed District – The MPCA awarded the Carnelian Marine St. Croix Watershed District $76,000 for Goose Lake Total Maximum Daily Load Final Implementation. The work will take place on private property across from the boat launch.