09.c 11-15-2022 Engineering Updates
City of Scandia
Engineering Updates 11/15/2022
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.
Punchlist items are being completed on site this week.
This project will have one more Contractor’s Request for Payment at the December City
Council meeting, and a final project closeout in early spring 2023 once vegetation has
grown fully.
· 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.
Crossing and driveway culvert inspections have been completed, and wetland delineation was
completed on site October 13th. Coordination with the Watershed will progress next week once
delineation line work has been produced.
Wetland delineation has been completed and obtaining permits is currently in progress.
Project limits and scope of work were sent to CMSCWD.
Plans/Specs are in progress and we will review with Public Works on November 22nd to go
over state of the project and get the City’s input.
· Washington County Draft 2023 – 2027 Capital Improvement Plan
Written comments were submitted to Washington County on November 3, 2022 to be
considered in the development of their 2023-2027 Capital Improvement Plan. See attached
letter to this report that includes comments prepared.
· 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.
· Floodplain Risk Assessment
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. Grant application
was submitted, Watershed District should know the results in about four more weeks, so
approximately week of December 5, 2023.
· Bliss Addition Stormwater Planning
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. Project staking tour with residents completed. Met with City Staff to review draft
60% plans in October. Working toward 90% plans and final agreement in November.
· 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
14727 209 th St. N. PO Box 128, Scandia, Minnesota 55073
Phone (651) 433-2274 Fax (651) 433-5112 http://www.ci.scandia.mn.us
November 3, 2022
Larry Phillips
Washington County Office of Administration
14949 62nd Street North
Stillwater, MN 55082
Re: Washington County 2023-2027 Draft Capital Improvement Plan Comments
Dear Washington County,
The City of Scandia would like to provide comment on the Washington County 2023-2027 Capital
Improvement Plan (CIP), by expressing our support for the following planned projects:
· Project RB-2680 Scandia City Center Study. The scope of this study is to investigate the existing
and future pedestrian, bicycle, and vehicular needs in the downtown Scandia area in order to
develop a transportation planning vision for county routes through the City of Scandia.
Justification Washington County, in cooperation with Minnesota Department of Transportation
and the City of Scandia, has identified deficiencies in pedestrian and bicycle accommodations in
the City Center area of Scandia. This study will allow the three agencies to work together to
explore options and make recommendations for phased improvements that benefit the public.
· Project RB-2682 County Road 50. The project scope includes the following improvements on
County Road (CR) 50 from Trunk Highway (TH) 61 to CSAH 15 (Manning Trail North): new
pavement with widened shoulders, turn lanes at key locations if appropriate, evaluation of
pedestrian and cycling accommodations, signs and striping, roadway drainage and surface water
management, roadway geometrics evaluations. The current roadway section is narrow for a
typical county road. There is no paved shoulder outside of the 12-foot lane width and very little,
if any, gravel shoulder. Drainage ditches have filled in over the years, which impact how
stormwater is collected and treated prior to moving out of the right-of-way corridor. The
pavement has reached its full life span and signs and striping are out of date. There are also
some very tight radius curves that will need to be analyzed for improvement. A typical
pavement preservation project is not the right treatment here because of the very narrow
pavement width and the lack of a stormwater drainage system.
· Project RB-2673 CSAH 15 Rumble Strips. The project scope includes the addition of centerline
rumble strips and wet-reflective striping along County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 15 (Manning
Avenue) from CSAH 12 (75th Street) to 240th Street, which is the county line. This proposed
project would be expected to reduce the frequency and severity of head-on collisions along
CSAH 15. There is a history of serious and fatal crashes along this stretch of CSAH 15, several
14727 209 th St. N. PO Box 128, Scandia, Minnesota 55073
Phone (651) 433-2274 Fax (651) 433-5112 http://www.ci.scandia.mn.us
involving head-on collisions. This stretch of CSAH 15 is also among the highest priority rural
segments recognized in the 2013 Washington County Roadway Safety Plan in which centerline
rumble strips emerged as one of the top recommended strategies to address safety concerns for
this segment.
· Project PARK-2016 Big Marine Park Reserve Improvements. The project scope includes planning
and design for improvements identified in the master plan at Big Marine Park Reserve. The
improvements may include water access and trail improvements. The county continues to
acquire properties in accordance with the Big Marine Park Reserve Master Plan. This project will
determine improvements that will help lay the foundation for future park investments.
Improvements are planned on parcels that have been acquired by Washington County.
We would also like to provide our support on the plan incorporating the following projects:
· Intersection improvements at CSAH 15 & Hwy 97
· Intersection evaluation and safety improvements at County Road 52 and Hwy 97
· Implement within the CIP by identifying studies, funding, and/or provide resources to assist the
DNR in pursuing regional trail development and better connectivity throughout northern
Washington County.
· Gateway Trail Project alongside County Road 52 between Oxboro Ave N and 199th Street N.
The intersection of County Road 52 & Hwy 97 brings additional concerns with its skewed alignment that
limits driver and pedestrian sight distance when trying to cross the intersection. The City requests this
intersection be added to the CIP for the County to complete an intersection evaluation and to
implement low cost-high benefit safety improvements at the intersection that may include improved
intersection lighting, enhanced signing, and installation of intersection conflict warning system. The City
has initiated conversations with MnDOT but looking for a County present to be involved in this process.
The intersection of CSAH 15 & Hwy 97 has been the source of concern for many years and the City has
submitted comments on this intersection on past draft CIP’s. This intersection experiences backups at
AM & PM peak hours and is an intersection that has had many close calls that could have resulted in
serious T-bone crashes. The City requests this intersection be added to the CIP that would include
future intersection improvements. The City also would like to request the County complete an
intersection study in 2023 in coordination with MnDOT at this intersection so future improvements or
project constraints can be identified.
Gateway Trail project shortfall and regional importance of this trail construction to become a reality is
currently facing approximately $200,000 shortfall. City request that half of the shortfall be budgeting by
the County which will allow the City to complete the match for the project in 2026, the projected year of
project construction. Any projected project overages identified closer to construction will either result
getting DNR funding, scaling back an element of the project or asking the County for matching funds
again.
Thank you for allowing our comments to be submitted on the Washington County 2023-2027 Draft CIP.
Sincerely,
Ryan J. Goodman, P.E.
City Engineer