8.g March 2016 Administrator report
Staff Report
Date of Meeting: April 19, 2016
To: City Council
From: Neil Soltis, Administrator
Re: March report
LAND SPREADING OF SEPTAGE: Based on the Council’s decision, land spreading applications
for septage will initially be submitted to the City. After review for setback, the application will
be forwarded on to the County to ensure that all of the County ordinance requirements are
met.
FIRE HALL SOLAR: Novell is working on finishing the solar array at the Fire Hall / Public Works building.
Completion is anticipated either this wee
SOLAR PROJECTS: In addition to the projects that are under review by the Planning
Commission, one additional application has been received. That application is for a portion of
the Zavoral property.
COUNTY HRA TO CDA – The effort to transition the Washington County HRA into a Community
Development authority is going through the Minnesota legislature. The latest word is that the
bill has been introduced and is on the House to floor for a vote while the Senate has referred
the bill to Committee. If approved by the State, the county board will also need to approve the
change.
ANDERSON ERICKSON SEWER SYSTEM CONNECTIONS – There has been an increased demand
for connections to the Anderson – Erickson sewer system. Ryan has reviewed the information
and feels that additional connections may be available; however, he still want to monitor the
flows through the summer. A Wastewater Committee meeting will be called to discuss the
report once that information is available.
LOG HOUSE LANDING – A portion of the next council work session will be devoted to a joint
meeting with the Watershed Board to discuss the design of the Log House Landing ramp. After
discussions with Ryan, the general consensus is that the project would best be bid out to
contractors without a complete engineered design.
2016 WASHINGTON COUNTY HAULER RESIDENTIAL CURBSIDE RECYCLING DATA VERIFICATION
PROJECT SUMMARY – The County has initiated a study project to improve the collection and reporting
of residential recycling data. The county worked with a contractor to conduct an independent review of
the procedures and methods haulers followed to complete the previous annual recycling reports.
submitted to the city. Based on input from a sample of haulers, city staff, and the consultant’s findings,
the county developed one simple, consistent, short form in place of submitting individual recycling
tonnage forms to each municipality haulers provide service to in the county.
The cities of Afton, Oakdale, and Scandia have been selected to participate in the study. The county has
contracting with Olsen Thielen (OT), an accounting firm, to conduct an independent review of the
procedures and methods haulers follow to complete the recycling reports. OT will focus on the cities of
Afton, Oakdale, Scandia and their residential licensed haulers. This provides an opportunity for haulers
to suggest ways to improve the process and consider other measurement possibilities. Any non-public
information provided to the consultant will remain as non-public.