09.c1 9-20-2022 Engineering Updates
City of Scandia
Engineering Updates 9/20/2022
Engineering italics = old information
· 2022 Street Improvement Project (Melanie Trail N and 238th Street N)
City Council authorized Plans and Specifications for the 2022 Street Improvement Project at the June
15th City Council Meeting.
Project awarded to Asphalt Surface Technologies Corporation at 2/15/2022 City Council Meeting.
Preconstruction Meeting was held on May 24, 2022, 10:00am.
Wetland delineation completed and submitted June 2, 2022.
· Wetland no loss permit approval for watershed and city improvements expected in July.
Construction started on Tuesday, June 28th. Base Paving was completed on July 13th and 14th.
Construction notices are being sent out again the week of August 8th for the remaining work to start
the week of August 15th.
Contractor’s Request for Payment No. 2 will be a part of council meeting agenda. This
includes payment for work completing storm sewer work and ditching.
Wear Paving was completed on 9/8 on 238th Street and 9/12 on Melanie Trail N.
Shouldering will take place in the afternoon on 9/15 or 9/16 depending on contractor’s
schedule. Striping is not yet scheduled.
· 2023 Street Improvement Project
City Council authorized Plans & Specifications for the 2023 Street Improvement Project at
the August 16th City Council Meeting.
Water resources has been provided with areas of potential wetland impacts and they are
planning to perform the necessary wetland delineations in mid-October to begin permitting
process. Coordination with the Watershed District will begin upon completing the
inspections of culverts and once scope of project is more refined.
· Bliss Drainfield System
Both the 2020 permit application for this system and the “final report” for nitrogen mitigation have
been completed and submitted to the MPCA. The memo which serves as a final report doesn’t
present final solutions for the nitrogen issue, but instead outlines the issues that have been found
and solved in this treatment system, as well as some additional testing that will now be
recommended to get a handle on the nitrogen, BOD, and TSS entering and leaving the facility. The
hope is to gain us a little more time from the MPCA before they mandate action. We’ll use this time
to perform the aforementioned testing and evaluate options for removing nitrogen at Bliss.
City received on February 22, 2021 a Pre-Public Notice Review of Draft Permit - Bliss Collector WWTP
(#MN0054119) that also included a statement of basis outlining any changes or new requirements to
the draft permit. This 30 day pre-public notice review period starts on February 22, 2021 and ends on
March 24, 2021. Once your pre-public notice review is complete the draft SDS permit will be placed
on public notice for 60 days.
· First thing that needs to be done is complete a Facility Evaluation Report within 180 days of
issuance of the new permit they requested. Based on the report, MPCA will then ask the City
to follow either Track 1 or Track 2. Track one is the new monitoring well. Track two is a
facility upgrade. There are a few other changes to the permit, they include some additional
monitoring required over this permit. Also, MPCA is requesting flow monitoring at WS 004,
WS 005 and WS 006. These are to each of the infiltration trenches. We are in the pre-public
draft notice stage where just the City received these draft documents and can
comment. We can review and suggest changes or modifications prior to March 24th.
· Current updates: Under track 1, the requirement to abandon GW 008 is included because
using this well for monitoring is problematic, since we have no information on the well’s
construction nor well boring records. Based on the limited information we do have, it is the
opinion of MPCA hydrologist, Steven Stark, that this well is too deep to be used as a
monitoring well and may be sampling a confined aquifer. All monitoring wells should be
sampling the surficial aquifer and have well screens that bisect the watertable.
· The justification for proposed timeline is sufficient and the new timeline will be incorporated
into the draft permit. Shown below (last page of this report) is a revised compliance
schedule. Flow monitoring requirements at WS 004, WS 005, and WS 006 will become
effective upon installation of the flow monitoring equipment. The permit will continue to
the 60-day Public Notice period.
The final permit has been issued. The assumption is that we’ll end up on Track 2, with required
system improvements due to the nitrate issue. Only thing that needs to take place in the next 6
months (February 28, 2022) is for new flow meters to be installed at the system, something we’ll
begin working on. At the one year mark (September 1, 2022), we’ll need to have a Facility Evaluation
Report drafted to summarize the system’s ability or inability to meet the nitrate limit.
New flow meters were installed by Public Works at the beginning of 2022 and specific flows
to the three drainfield cells is now being monitored. Some additional nitrate testing was
also performed in August 2022 to provide additional data points and to get an idea of how
much nutrient removal is currently taking place through the sand filters.
As of September 1, 2022, the Facility Evaluation Report has been sent to the MPCA. We
await their review, but based on the monitoring well samples taken throughout the last
year it appears we’ll be on Track 2, with improvements to the system needed to deal with
the nitrate issue. Assuming this is the case, the next step will be to complete a full Facility
Plan by August of 2023 which evaluates the facility and its performance as a whole and
provides options/recommendations for improvements to be made. This is required by
Track 2 but is also the next step in obtaining PFA funding for the project.
· Washington County Projects
County Highway 3 (Olinda Trail)
· Construction begins summer 2022.
· Location - Olinda Trail (County Highway 3) from 170th Street (County Highway 4) to Old
Marine Trail. Proposed Improvements – replace pavement full depth, increase road and
shoulder pavement thickness, culvert cleaning and driveway culvert replacements, new
signing and striping, driveways will be tapered with gravel to provide access to and from the
roadway.
· The first lift of bituminous pavement on mainline was placed on Monday,
September 12. A few turn lanes were skipped over, but those are anticipated to be
completed this week.
· The contractor performed ditch cleaning and toleranced gravel shoulders the
remainder of the week.
· Wear course paving is scheduled to begin Monday, September 19 and will last
several days. During this operation, delays can be anticipated. Driveways will
remain accessible at all times.
County Highway 15 (Manning Avenue) Pavement Improvement Project
· Reclaimed shoulders north of Highway 97 are being shaped/tolerance this week, in
preparation for paving next week. Paving north of Highway 97 is anticipated to be
completed by the end of next week.
· Several pipe crossings underneath Manning Avenue will be replaced starting next week
throughout the project corridor. The pipe will be installed ½ at a time, and traffic will be
maintained with flaggers. Please exercise caution and maintain safe speeds while driving
through the jobsite.
· Major road work is anticipated to begin south of Highway 97. The contractor will begin
milling the road, in preparation for bituminous paving which will follow shortly after.
· Bituminous paving on Manning Avenue between Square Lake Trail and Highway 97 will
occur throughout the month of July and into August. Expect delays during this operation, so
please exercise caution while driving through the jobsite. To avoid delays, traffic is
encouraged to use alternative routes.
· New sign installation has been ongoing throughout the project.
· Work will be resuming north of TH 97 to mill out defective shoulder pavement and
repave back.
· Floodplain Risk Assessment
The grant application was not awarded. There was over $3 million dollars of requests for only $1 million of
funding and presumably did not score well in the category of underserved communities. The CMSCWD Board of
Managers will be determining next steps during the 2023 budgeting process which will begin in July 2022.
The Watershed Board approved applying for the MPCA Small community planning grants
for stormwater, wastewater, and community resilience grant last night. Application is due
October 18.
· Bliss Addition Stormwater Planning
Meeting scheduled with City Staff and Watershed District to discuss Clean Water Fund Grant
Application on Thursday, July 22nd.
The CMSCWD has been notified a CWF grant award. The application was ranked 7th of 53 projects
and will be awarded for a total of $272,400 for the installation of Bliss Addition water quality
practices identified in collaboration with the City of Scandia. I anticipate the grant will be fully
executed by May, 2022 and will expire on December 31, 2025. The CMSCWD is planning to post an
Engineering RFQ for plan development and construction administration in March. The goal is to
complete construction documents in December 2022 and put the project out to bid in January 2023
with substantial completion of construction in 2023.
Hosted a predesign public input meeting with residents of Bliss on June 16th. Approximately 60
people attended. Met with City Staff on July 14 to review input and discuss drainage infrastructure
priorities. 30% plans will be complete in early August 2022. Planning the first public meeting to
review 30% plans the week of August 15th.
Watershed Administrator presented summary of input and potential projects to the City Council on
August 3, 2022.
Public Engagement Meeting scheduled for August 17, 2022 at 6:00pm at the Scandia Community
Center.
Emmons and Olivier Resources (EOR) staff will be out in the neighborhood over the next
week staking “rough” BMP locations for utility location marking. EOR staff will continue to
collect additional topographic survey between now and when the utility locations are
marked.
Watershed District planning a field tour of our draft final proposed locations in October.
EOR staff plans to stake the locations of the final proposed water quality practices the week
of October 10th and we plan to meet with landowners to review each location on October
13th and 14th. The purpose of these meetings will be to answer questions and make any
final changes as we move to 90% plans.
· CLFLWD & Scandia Staff Quarterly Meetings
Meeting held on October 19, 2020.
Meeting on February 9, 2021.
Meeting on May 11, 2021 covered the following topics:
· Permitting Update (Nick)
· Roadway Projects (Ken)
· Bone Lake projects status: SE wetland restorations, NE wetland restoration, agricultural
practices (Blayne)
· FY22 Clean Water Fund grant award – Moody Lake projects (Emily/Blayne)
· Greenway Corridor Planning & Parks Update (Nick)
· CMSCWD Management Plan (Mike Isensee)
· Regional Update – Highway 243 Osceola Bridge
Project website: http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/hwy243osceola/index.html
Three build options continue to be considered for the new bridge. The Wisconsin
Department of Transportation (WisDOT) is currently working along with MnDOT conducting
an environmental assessment of the choices. The project team is using a three-step process
to thoroughly review the options. Step three in the review process is currently underway.
The three bridge crossing build alternatives include building on the existing bridge
alignment, building the new bridge to the north of the current bridge or building to the
south of the existing alignment. During step three, the project team will now closely assess
considerations such as geology, trails and road width. They’ll also look at reducing potential
impacts to the St. Croix River, the Wilke Glen Cascade Falls area and nearby bluffs. Once
step three evaluation is complete, another public meeting will be held to share the results
and gather input from the public and regulating agencies on the recommended preferred
alternative.
Schedule:
· Environmental documentation and preliminary design: 2021 through 2023
· Final design: 2023 through 2025
· Anticipated construction: 2025 through 2026
Denise Workcuff Dmitry Tomasevich
Communications and Engagement Project manager
denise.workcuff@state.mn.us dmitry.tomasevich@state.mn.us
651-775-0025 651-245-4406