08.b2a Furey Letter to City CouncilStatement by Thomas Furey, co-owner of 23375 Lofton Avenue North We purchased the cabin at 23375 Lofton Avenue North in Scandia in the spring of 2016, as part of our planning to have a wonderful place for our children to grow and gather through their transition to adulthood with partners and children of their own. We have enjoyed becoming a part of the Bone Lake Neighborhood. We want to continue to be a part of Bone Lake’s continued improvement in both natural appearance and water quality. The changes we are requesting will improve our property and improve Bone Lake. We are remodeling our cabin, and the deck for which we are requesting a variance is the minimum change needed to integrate the house to the lakeshore. We are requesting that the Scandia City Council approve the variance as proposed and recommended by the city planner prior to the August 3 planning commission meeting. This new deck will accommodate us who can age in place and welcome a growing extended family. The deck we are requesting is the minimum needed to provide safety, usability and accessibility. The property drawing before and after, and the images above show the transition to an integrated and cohesive home and deck. We are proposing removal of a combination of patios and deck, building a single, accessible deck. The requested variance is the minimum action required to eliminate the practical difficulty. This is the minimum action to provide a safe, accessible, and usable deck. 1. Safety. The deck we propose will include 48 square feet within the Scandia City Planning Commission recommended setback from the ordinary high-water line. Note the blue highlighted area. This area will have no same-level access, creating an area difficult and unsafe to maintain. The minimum deck for safety is to extend to the upper retaining wall. 2. Usability and accessibility. The deck is the minimum needed to provide circulation and access for us and future generations to age in place with a 4 foot pathway. 3. Appearance. A proposed rod rail railing will further reduce the lake viewshed. 4. Stewardship. We have transformed the property with native shoreline well beyond the minimum recommended. The DNR recommends a buffer of at least 50% of shoreline, but more than 70% of our shoreline is a native plant buffer. We will further augment with trees and shrubs to obscure the deck from the lake view. Tom Furey and Mary Kenning’s Commitment to Stewardship About 4 years ago we applied for and were awarded a cost-share grant to transform our property into native prairie and shoreline. This transformation includes 70% of the shoreline and 40% of the upland area. Before completing the native planting, we cleared away many obstacles near the lake including a fire barrel, flag-pole and multiple cement blocks. The native plants at the shoreline are restoring and expanding the shoreline as roots of the native plants prevent the soil from eroding into the lake. In just 4 years, the native plants have extended the ordinary high water mark. In addition to the native grasses and flowers, we have added more than 10 native trees and shrubs including chokecherries, viburnum, serviceberries, dogwoods and chokecherries. I don’t want to toot my horn loudly, and am not yet looking for committee assignments, but I will be working hard for years to come to improve Scandia. I plan to continue to be a water steward on our own property, adding native tree and shrub plantings and more and maintaining it for years to come. We are excited to be hosting our first family wedding and as part of the celebration our daughter and son-in-law will be choosing and planting a native tree on the property to commemorate the occasion. This tree will replace the tree located in the area of the new deck. We want to make our lakeshore property a welcoming place for our children and hopefully grandchildren for years to come. In addition to our own property, I have volunteered extensively to improve land and water quality for the Scandia area. I plan to increase my commitment to water stewardship as I transition someday soon to retirement. I would like to highlight a few things I have done to improve the beauty and water quality of Bone Lake and the Comfort Lake-Forest Lake Watershed District.  I am a Minnesota Water Steward. With the certification, I have committed to at least 50 hours per year volunteering in water stewardship, with virtually all those hours focused on improving the quality of the Bone Lake.  I have been a member of the CLFLWD Citizen Advisory Council for more than 2 years.  I am currently vice president of the Bone Lake Association.  I have begun the exploratory process to create a gravel bed tree nursery to propagate and plant native trees and shrubs around Bone Lake and Scandia at-large. This project was put on hold during the Covid-19 pandemic but will get back on track soon.  I have volunteered to be the CAMP volunteer for Bone Lake in 2021, taking water measures every two weeks throughout the summer. We are dedicated to the health of Bone Lake and we plan to continue to protect and improve Bone Lake for years to come.