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8.g Administrator's report
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: February 20, 2018
To: City Council
From: Neil Soltis, Administrator
Re: Administrator’s report
Fire Contract with May Township – The Washington County Dispatch has provided a listing of
May township addresses that are served by the Scandia Fire Department. The May Township
Planner is working to merge this listing with the County valuation information to determine the
valuation of structures and the number of households in May Township that are served by the
Scandia Fire Department.
Animal Control and Animal Impound – Based on the referral by Councilmember Schneider, I’ve
contacted Rivertown Animal Hospital in Stillwater. Based on the discussion Rivertown can
handle overnight boarding but cannot handle long-term boarding. Their staff is will follow-up
to confirm the extent to which they can provide impound services. I have been in contact with
Northwoods Animal Shelter in Wyoming and the Director will be discussion with their board
whether they can accommodate the small number of dogs that the City takes to an impound
facility each year. Northwoods currently is the impound facility used by the City of Wyoming
and the Lakes Area Police Departments.
GreenStep Cities program –In 2015 the Council passed a resolution to join the Green Step
program specified that the City take actions to claim credit for having implemented best
practices and to work at its own pace toward implementing any GreenStep best practices that
will result in energy use reduction, economic savings, quality of life improvement, reduction in
the City’s greenhouse gas footprint, and recognition by the League of Minnesota Cities as a Step
Two GreenStep City. Based on the actions taken by the City both before and after the
recognition, the City has implemented a sufficient number of best practices to be achieve the
Step 2 recognition. The City will be recognized for its efforts at the League of Municipalities
Conference. As a GreenStep City, we are eligible to receive 1 GreenStep sign that can be
installed on the MnDOT signs at an entrance to the City. Additional signs are available for
purchase. Through the GreenStep Cities program City businesses have access to the Minnesota
Retiree Environmental Technical Assistance Program (RETAP). RETAP will perform no-cost, non-
regulatory energy efficiency and waste reduction assessments to Minnesota's small businesses
and public and private institutions. Assessments include an on-site visit from a team of RETAP
members with emphasis on finding opportunities to increase energy efficiency and water
conservation, reduce waste, and reduce operating costs. A description of the program and a
link to the RETAP website are now on the EDA Resources and Tools Page.
Scandia Lions donation – The Lions Foundation has received a $2,000 donation to make
entrances to the Community building handicap accessible. Adam Hawkinson is working with a
contract on obtaining cost information for the project. In 2010 the City applied for, but was not
awarded, a Help America Votes grant for similar upgrades. There are no such grants currently
available.
LED lighting project – The work on the conversion of lighting at the Community Building and
parking lot is complete. In future reports I will provide updates on the energy savings. As a
reminder any savings in electrical costs will be transferred to the Capital Project Fund to repay
the cost of the project.
Big Marine Lake - Michael Blehert of the Big Marine Lakes Association sent an email extending
his thanks to the Council for the letter of support.
Goose Lake (Olinda Lane) lot – I’ve contact Richard Koons, an appraiser recommended by
Chase Peloquin, regarding appraising the Goose Lake lot. The appraisal is expected to be
completed within a month a month and once completed I will add a discussion regarding the
sale of the lot to the next work session agenda.
Lakes Area Television – I met with Paul Pederson of LATV regarding the relationship after the
City’s withdrawal from the Forest Lake Cable Commission on June 30, 2018. LATV would like
the City to continue to provide accounting services for LATV. Colleen has compiled an estimate
of her time on a monthly basis to handle the accounting and the payment from LATV more than
covers her cost. Paul will also be preparing a schedule of charges for LATV to continue to film
the City Council and Planning Commission meetings. A discussion of the City’s relationship with
LATV will be on a future Council work session.
Frontier Internet upgrades – The upgrades are all turned up for 2017 and the sales office in
Lindstrom can provide information on the availability of increased speeds and the cost to
upgrade. By mid-year Frontier will be marketing their Vantage product that will provide cable-
type programming to those customers that they can supply at least 18mbs download speed.
Frontier will be working with Lakes Area TV to ensure that the PEG channel appears on the
Vantage product. The 2018 Connect America Fund projects will be concentrated in the
northeast area of the City. Those upgrades are scheduled for summer 2018 const ruction.
Washington County CDA – The CDA is presenting for County Board approval a Predevelopment
Grant Fund. The program is targeted to start March 1 and will provide matching funds to Cities
for project predevelopment costs. Grants under $10,000 will require a 20% match and grants
between $10,000- and $40,000 will require a 50% match. In 2017 the CDA funded access to the
Open to Business program. A recap of the first 6 month of activity in Washington County
follows this report. Significant is the 6 Scandia clients have received services.
Washington County – Copies of the County 2018 Legislative priorities and a summary of the
County 2040 Comprehensive Plan follow this report.
Wetland Conservation Act reporting – The City contracts with the Washington Conservation
District to provide technical services related to the administration of the Wetland Conservation
Act. A copy of the 2017 report to the Minnesota Bureau of Water and Soil Resources submitted
on the City’s behalf by Jay Riggs follows this report.
Preliminary 2017 Financials – Based on the information sent to the auditor in preparations for
their work on the audit, the year-end fund balance in the City’s General Fund decreased from at
12/31/2016 $1,772,274 to $1,698.885. The budgeted year-end 2017 balance was $1,258,774.
The increase over the budget is largely due to building permit fees that were $264,000 over
budget and expenditures $142,000 under budget. A summary is provided below. The 2018
budget provides for a transfer of the excess fund balance of $400,000 to the Ca pital
Improvement Fund.
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Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources
Wetland Conservation Act 2017 Annual Reporting Form
Use the tab key to navigate between fields.
Local Government Unit (LGU):
Scandia
Organization Type:
City
County (or Counties if WMO)
Washington
Name of Person Completing Report:
Jay Riggs
Title:
District Manager
Contact Phone #:
651-330-8220 #20
Your Employer Name (if submitting report on behalf of an LGU): Washington Conservation District
Does your LGU receive WCA funding from the Natural Resources Block Grant (NRBG)? No
NOTE: Completion of this report is required for all WCA LGUs. It must be received by the BWSR St. Paul office on or before
February 1, 2018. See the accompanying instructions for details.
1. Number of landowner contacts in which wetland related technical assistance was provided during the calendar
year: 20 (Please provide your best estimate.)
2. Number of applications that were:
Type of Application: # Approved # Denied # Withdrawn
A. Boundary or Type 7 0 0
B. No-Loss 1 0 0
C. Exemption 1 0 0
D. Sequencing 0 0 0
E. Replacement Plan* 0 1 0
*Do not include local road authority notifications for projects that qualify for replacement under the BWSR Local
Government Roads Wetland Replacement Program according to MN Rule 8420.0544.
3. Number of exemptions approved and square feet of wetland impact for each category from MN Rule 8420.0420
(provide best estimate for impacts that are not easily quantified):
Type of Exemption: Number of Approved
Exemptions
Sq. Ft. of Wetland
Permanently Impacted
Subp. 2. Agricultural Activities 0 0.00
Subp. 3. Drainage 1 1300
Subp. 4. Federal approvals 0 0.00
Subp. 5. Restored wetlands 0 0.00
Subp. 6. Utilities 0 0.00
Subp. 7. Forestry 0 0.00
Subp. 8. De minimis 0 0.00
Subp. 9. Wildlife habitat 0 0.00
Subp. 2g. Agricultural wetland bank exemption* 0 0.00
*See WCA reporting instructions.
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4. Number of replacement plans approved that replace impacts by the following methods:
A. Wetland Banking: 0
B. Project-Specific Replacement: 0
C. Combination of Wetland Banking and Project-Specific Replacement: 0
5. Square feet of wetland to be impacted via an approved replacement plan: 0
6. For approved replacement plans, list project-specific replacement only* in square feet and corresponding credit
amounts as approved in the following categories from MN Rule 8420.0526:
Action Eligible for Credit:
Square
Feet
Repl.
Credit
Subp. 2. Upland buffer areas. 0 0.00
Subp. 3. Restoration of completely drained or filled wetland areas. 0 0.00
Subp. 4. Restoration of partially drained or filled wetland areas. 0 0.00
Subp. 5. Vegetative restoration of farmed wetlands. 0 0.00
Subp. 6. Protection of wetlands previously restored via conservation easements. 0 0.00
Subp. 7. Wetland creations. 0 0.00
Subp. 8. Restoration and protection of exceptional natural resource value. 0 0.00
Subp. 9. Preservation of wetlands 0 0.00
*For question 6, report project-specific replacement only. Replacement via banking is accounted for via BWSR’s banking
database.
7. For project-specific replacement wetlands, list the number of each completed or received:
A. Construction Sites
Inspected
B. Corrective Actions
Ordered
C. Monitoring Reports
Received
D. Findings of Satisfactory
Replacement
0 0 0 0
8. Number of potential WCA violation sites investigated: 6
9. Number of enforcement actions that were taken under local ordinances and/or that did not result in DNR-
issued cease and desist, restoration, or replacement orders (including informal resolution of violations): 1
10. Number of local appeals heard: Appeal in 2018
11. Does the LGU have a MN WDCP certified delineator available (excluding BWSR or SWCD)?
On staff: ☐ On call (i.e. consultant): ☒ Not at all: ☐
12. Optional: Please provide information regarding unusual circumstances, time spent on enforcement or major
violations, banking application reviews, known exempt activity for which a formal decision was not made,
additional detail or clarification of above data, or any other information or comments you would like to share.
The Washington Conservation District provides technical and administrative support to Scandia for its
implementation of the Wetland Conservation Act.
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13. For LGU staff responsible for implementing WCA, please provide the following for WCA/wetland training
attended this reporting year (attach additional if necessary). The University of Minnesota Wetland Delineator
Certification Program webpage has a list of pre-approved continuing education programs offered in 2017. Please
indicate training session in full days or indicate the number of actual hours.
Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title From Date To Date Total
# of
Days
Total #
of
Hours Use format m/d/yyyy
1 Wetland Delineation
Course BWSR
BWSR Jay Riggs Manager 6/12/2017 6/16/2017 5 40
2 BWSR Academy BWSR Jay Riggs Manager 11/1/2017 11/2/2017 2 8
3 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
4 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
5 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
6 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
7 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
8 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
9 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
10 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
11 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
12 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
13 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
14 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
15 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
16 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
17 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
18 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
19 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
20 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
21 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
22 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
23 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
24 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
25 Session Title Training
Sponsor
Employee
Name
Employee Title m/d/yyyy m/d/yyyy # Days # Hours
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Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources
Wetland Conservation Act 2017 Annual Reporting - Instructions
Requirement
Annual reporting of Wetland Conservation Act (WCA) implementation activities is required for all of Minnesota’s WCA
local government units (LGUs) in accordance with MN Rule 8420.0200, Subp. 2, Item I. This reporting requirement
applies regardless of whether or not the LGU obtains any WCA funding from BWSR.
LGU activities in some locales are tracked and reported by one entity (i.e. SWCD, County, Watershed District) for several
LGUs. A separate form must be submitted for each individual LGU. LGU’s who receive assistance in implementing WCA
from a County, SWCD, or Watershed District need to coordinate with them to ensure accurate and complete
information is submitted. If you are expecting another entity to report on your behalf, confirm with that entity that they
are reporting on your behalf and ask for a copy of their reporting form to document compliance with WCA rule.
1) Complete and save the form to your computer/network (do not convert to .pdf or other format). Retain the
form for future reference or needed corrections.
2) E-mail the completed form to WCA_Reporting@state.mn.us to be received by BWSR no later than February 1,
2018. The “sent” date of the e-mail will be used to track the date of receipt. Use your LGU name as the subject
line of the e-mail. Note: Only send completed reporting forms to this address. Do not direct questions or other
correspondence to this email address, instead contact your BWSR wetland specialist.
3) Your Wetland Specialist will review the data and may contact you with questions or possible corrections.
Relationship to Natural Resources Block Grant (NRBG)
Completion and submittal of this form is required of all LGUs regardless of whether or not NRBG funding is provided.
However, it is also a condition of the grant for those LGUs who receive NRBG funding. LGUs who fail to submit the form
will not receive NRBG grant funds. For those local governments that receive NRBG WCA funding and distribute it to
multiple LGUs, each LGU for which NRBG WCA funds have been transferred should be listed in the NRBG eLINK report.
The local government must also ensure that each LGU for which NRBG WCA funds have been transferred submits a
separate reporting form according to the instructions above.
Timeframe and Context
In general, the data provided should be based on WCA activities for which the LGU has issued a final decision,
application withdrawn, or issue resolved during the 2017 calendar year (see question 1 guidance for exception). The
approved activities need not have been implemented in order to be reported. Projects still under review but not
approved by the LGU at the end of the calendar year should not be reported until the year in which a decision has been
made or they are otherwise resolved.
Question-Specific Guidance
The following guidance items are numbered to correspond to the numbered items in the reporting form:
1. The purpose of this question is to gather information on LGU workload. Landowner is a general term meant to
include agents, consultants, and developers that are proposing or contemplating projects regardless of their legal
ownership of the land. In addition to landowners for which WCA applications were processed during the calendar
year, LGUs should report the number of landowner contacts for which they answered questions related to wetlands
or WCA, provided preliminary review of projects potentially affecting wetlands, provided advice on wetland
boundaries or exemption applicability, or other landowner consultation related to WCA or wetland. Meeting with
one landowner four times on the same project would count as four landowner contacts for the purpose of
answering this question. Newsletters or other such general correspondence do not constitute technical assistance
provided to a landowner. Please provide your best estimate.
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2. For purposes of this question, “withdrawn” means that the applicant has submitted an application but withdrew it
prior to the LGU making a formal decision.
Replacement plans (Item 2E) do not include local road authority notifications for projects that qualify for
replacement under the BWSR Local Government Roads Wetland Replacement
Program (road program) according to MN Rule 8420.0544. These notifications are
reported separately and accounted for in BWSR’s road program tracking database.
However, non-qualifying road projects completed under a replacement plan (or a
combination of banking/project-specific and the BWSR road program) should be
reported here.
3. The purpose of this question is to gather data on the amount of wetland lost due to approved exemptions and the
frequency of exemption use. The exemptions are organized consistent with the WCA rule order. LGUs should only
report exempt impacts for which a decision has been made to approve the exempt impacts. Known wetland
impacts due to exemptions for which the LGU has not formally made a decision can be reported under question 13.
Report impacts in square feet.
Please note the addition of Subp. 2G Agricultural wetland bank exemption. This exemption has been separated from
the others because the impacts are being replaced, and not permanently lost. Regardless, the amount of wetland
impacted under this exemption should be reported.
LGUs should only report the square feet of wetland permanently lost due to exempt activity. For example, true
drainage maintenance in accordance with MN Rule 8420.0420, Subpart 3, Item B generally does not require
reporting. Reporting temporary impacts each time the ditch or tile is maintained
can lead to multiple reporting of impacts to the same square feet over time, which
is misleading and skews the resulting data. However, exempt wetland impacts
due to new ditches or tile lines, existing drainage that has been improved, or
deposition of spoil in wetland areas beyond the existing square feet of deposition
must be reported. Wetlands drained under Item C of the drainage exemption will
almost always require reporting.
Check your work to ensure it is correct – the total number of approved exemptions in #3 should equal the sum of
approved exemptions in #2. The only exception is when a true drainage maintenance project is not reported in
question #3 per the above paragraph.
4. Item A is NOT referring to wetland banking applications, but rather replacement plans that utilize bank credits for
replacement. Check your work - the sum of A+B+C should equal the number of replacement plans approved under
question #2E.
5. The purpose of this question is to collect data on the quantity of wetland in square feet lost under approved
replacement plans. LGUs should sum the number of square feet of approved wetland impact (drainage, fill, or
regulated excavation) that require replacement. Report total wetland impacts in square feet. Do not include square
feet of wetland impact that do not require replacement by WCA (such as exempt or no-loss activities).
6. Report the total square feet of replacement and the corresponding number of approved credits, remember acres do
not always equal credits, associated with each action eligible for credit in MN Rule 8420.0526 (the actions are
organized consistent with the WCA rule order). This item pertains to project specific replacement under approved
replacement plans only – do not report credit approved under a banking plan or a replacement plan using banking
credits.
Example: If an application was approved to restore a 435,600 sq. ft. (10-acres) of partially drained wetland at 50%
credit, and 348,480 sq. ft. (8 acres) of upland buffer at 25% credit, the LGU would report the following:
1) 435,600 sq. ft. (10 acres) under the “square feet” column, and since it is at 50% credit (10*.0.5) = 5 credits under
the “Repl. Credit” column for restoration of partially drained or filled wetland areas, and
The total number of
Replacement Plans approved
(question 2E) must equal the
total Replacement Plans
Approved under question 4.
The number of Exemptions
Approved (question 2C)
should equal the Total
Number of Approved
Exemptions under question 3.
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2) 348,480 sq. ft. (8 acres) under the “square feet” column, and since it is at 25% credit (8*0.25) = 2 credits under
the “Repl. Credit” column for upland buffer areas.
7. The purpose of this question is to gather data on replacement monitoring compliance and track LGU oversight of
replacement plan projects. Note that “construction sites inspected” and “corrective actions ordered” are specific to
project specific replacement wetlands only.
Note: LGUs should be tracking all approved replacement sites and comparing them with actual monitoring reports
received in order to identify issues of non-compliance.
8. This question is related to LGU workload associated with enforcement activities that may or may not get reflected in
formal actions or decisions. For this question, LGUs should report potential WCA violation site inspections
regardless of what initiated the inspection (DNR enforcement flight, landowner complaint, found by LGU, etc.) or the
end result (no violation, cease and desist, restoration order, resolved locally, etc.). This should include site
inspections performed by the SWCD separately from the LGU, however, care should be taken not to duplicate
numbers. Site investigations resulting from DNR-submitted Resource Protection Notice “RPNs” should also be
included in this item.
9. This question is intended to collect data on those instances where the LGU resolves violations informally, through
local channels, or through an enforcement order issued by a non-DNR enforcement officer (i.e. a deputy sheriff).
Violations that result in the issuance of an order by a DNR enforcement officer should not be reported because that
information will be obtained directly from the DNR.
10. Do not include appeals to BWSR.
11. The exclusion of the SWCD in this question is not applicable if the SWCD is the delegated LGU responsible for making
final WCA decisions.
12. This is your chance to report anything you feel is relevant or important that may not be captured in other questions.
Please attempt to limit this information to the maximum 2,500 characters, however, if you have additional relevant
information, provide it on a separate document and attach it to the e-mail.
13. LGUs should only report training related to WCA administration and relevant wetland science. For example,
attending forums or seminars related to wetland delineation, wetland functional assessment, replacement wetland
design, and WCA administration should be listed. Attending a seminar on designing wetlands to treat sanitary waste
would generally not be applicable because it is not associated with aspects of WCA.
Differences due to implementation of an approved Comprehensive Wetland Protection and Management Plan should be
reported on a separate document generated by the LGU.
Contact your BWSR Wetland Specialist with any questions regarding completion of the reporting form.