Ramsey-Washington Metro Watershed District Minutes of August 2, 2017 The Regular Meeting of August 2, 2017, was held at the District Office Board Room, 2665 Noel Drive, Little Canada, Minnesota, at 6:30 p.m. PRESENT: Marj Ebensteiner, President Cliff Aichinger, Vice President Dr. Pam Skinner, Secretary Dianne Ward, Manager ALSO PRESENT: Tina Carstens, District Administrator Amanda Staple, Recording Secretary Brad Lindaman, Barr Engineering ABSENT: Jen Oknich, Manager Bill Bartodziej, Natural Resource Specialist Viet-Hanh Winchell, Attorney for District Dave Vlasin, Water Quality Technician 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by President Ebensteiner at 6:30 p.m. 2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Tina Carstens requested to add an item to the agenda, Item 8C, Change Order #6 for CIP/Maintenance and Repair. Motion: Cliff Aichinger moved, Dianne Ward seconded, to approve the agenda as amended. Motion carried 4-0 (Oknich absent). 3. CONSENT AGENDA A. Approval of Minutes from July 12, 2017 Tina Carstens noted a change to the minutes on page three, under Permit #17-19, it should state, Nicole Soderholm stated that while the site is under an acre, its close proximity to a wetland warrants erosion control and therefore a permit application is being submitted to ensure the adjacent wetland is not impacted. Motion: Cliff Aichinger moved, Dianne Ward seconded, to approve the July 12, 2017, minutes as amended. Motion carried 4-0 (Oknich absent). B. Order Public Hearing for Review of the Preliminary 2018 Budget and Levy Motion: Cliff Aichinger moved, Dr. Pam Skinner seconded, to order a public hearing for review of the preliminary 2018 budget and levy. Motion carried 4-0 (Oknich absent). 4. TREASURER S REPORT AND BILL LIST Motion: Dianne Ward moved, Dr. Pam Skinner seconded, to approve the August 2, 2017, bill list as submitted. Motion carried 4-0 (Oknich absent).
5. VISITOR PRESENTATIONS There were none. 6. PERMIT PROGRAM A. Applications - None. B. Monthly Enforcement Report During July, 24 notices were sent to address: install/maintain inlet protection (7), install/maintain perimeter control (3), install/maintain construction entrance (4), sweep streets (2), stabilize exposed soils (2), contain liquid/solid wastes (3), remove discharged sediment (2), and install/maintain up-gradient BMPs (1). 7. BMP INCENTIVE PROGRAM A. Applications - None. President Ebensteiner asked if the District can solicit applications. Tina Carstens noted that staff has been sending targeting mailings. She confirmed that if the Board finds a feasible site, they can alert staff and staff can contact the property owner. B. Budget Status Update - No comments. 8. ACTION ITEMS A. District Office Solar Retrofit Tina Carstens noted that the presentation information was included in the Board packet from the last meeting and asked the Board for their input. President Ebensteiner asked if a comparison had been done regarding a solar farm compared to a single installation. Tina provided additional information on the comparison noting that typically the buy in would be from homeowners that do not have the opportunity to have solar installation on their property. She noted that staff could research that option further if the Board desires. Bill Bartodziej noted that he found a helpful article he could forward to the Board. He agreed that additional research would need to be done if the Board desired to consider that option. Manager Aichinger stated that if the office had solar panels it would be a visible example and would have educational impact in addition to the eventual cost savings. President Ebensteiner stated that there was just a presentation from one company and there is no rush. Brad Lindaman stated that staff met with other companies as well and believed that the company that made the presentation would be the best choice, should the Board decide to move forward. Manager Ward asked if a commitment would need to be made for the company to come in and do a full engineering review. Tina confirmed that would be the next step and the commitment would come after that engineering review. Manager Aichinger asked when the District would know whether the rebate would be received. Tina noted that the decision on the rebate would be known in September. Motion: Dr. Pam Skinner moved, Cliff Aichinger seconded, to direct staff to proceed with the engineer s review of the site for a solar retrofit project for the District office building, and bring that information back to the Board. Motion carried 4-0 (Oknich absent). B. North Heights Church Targeted Retrofit Advertise for Bid Page 2
Brad Lindaman provided details on the project and a summary of the costs that would be involved for a total of $35,400. He noted that this is below the $100,000 threshold and therefore staff would request quotes from a few contractors rather than going through the formal bid process. He stated that the intent would be to have the construction completed in order to use the grant funding by the end of the year. Motion: Cliff Aichinger moved, Dr. Pam Skinner seconded, to approve draft plans and specifications, preliminary cost estimate, and proposed schedule; and direct staff to finalize the bidding documents and advertise the projects for bid. Motion carried 4-0 (Oknich absent). C. Change Order #6 for CIP/Maintenance and Repair 2017 Project Brad Lindaman provided an update on the project status and the communication with MnDOT. He stated that the timeframe should be extended to allow the contractor to complete the work. Motion: Cliff Aichinger moved, Dianne Ward seconded, to approve Change Order #6 for CIP Maintenance and Repair 2017 Project. Motion carried 4-0 (Oknich absent). 9. ADMINISTRATOR S REPORT A. Meetings Attended No comments. B. Upcoming Meeting Dates Tina Carstens provided an update on upcoming meeting dates and noted that she will be attempting to schedule a date for the fall tour. C. Retirement Notice Received Tina noted that while the retirement notice was a surprise, staff has begun to look to determine how those duties could be redistributed between existing staff rather than hiring a new employee at this time. D. Grass Lake Area Update No comments. E. Website Improvements Update No comments. F. Communications Coordinator Position Update Tina noted that interviews took place Monday and Tuesday of this week and provided an update on the candidates. She stated that staff is deciding between two candidates and will be checking references. Dianne Ward stated that the process was handled very well in order to dwindle down the many applicants to the seven applicants that were interviewed. She believed that it was a great process and all seven applicants interviewed were well qualified. Tina noted that she would provide more information at the next Board meeting, but stated that depending on which applicant is chosen, the person may be hired prior to the next meeting. G. 2018 Budget Discussion Tina Carstens reviewed a handout which identifies the planned projects and their location in the District. Item 49, Communications and Marketing: Dianne Ward suggested an increase to the budget for marketing and communications to support mailings that may be necessary. Tina provided additional clarification on vehicle costs and IT equipment, specifically which costs would occur in 2017 and which would occur in 2018. (Items 33 and 37) Page 3
Item 44, Water Quality Monitoring: Cliff Aichinger noted that the cost for the permanent lake level monitoring stations seemed like a high cost. Brad Lindaman stated that the intent would be to move toward an automated system that would record the data. He stated that having that data available to understand the real-time impacts will be helpful. He stated that there are many factors that came into play, including Ramsey County discontinuing their monitoring. He noted that the estimated cost would be about $60,000 per site for the automated systems. Staff will research the item further to determine the appropriate technology needs and options. Discussion on the proposed addition of a watershed outlet monitoring station at Grass Lake was discussed. Brad Lindaman stated that each of the watershed outlets has a monitoring station that goes along with that and noted that staff believes that it would be helpful to have a station at the Grass Lake outlet also. Item 46, Research Projects: Tina Carstens reviewed the items included in the research project line item. Tina also provided highlights of the Capital Improvements Projects section of the budget and details on specific line items, including details on grant funding. She confirmed that she would communicate with Maplewood about the Wakefield Park project and let the city know that the District would be willing to move forward with, or without, the grant funds. The board consensus was to include the full project cost in the budget to ensure the completion of the project if the grant is not awarded. PRESENTATION: Adapting to Climate Change Brad Lindaman gave a presentation on adapting to climate change and how the District can use the existing system of pipes and outlets to better adapt to climate change. The presentation highlighted a feasibility study proposed to be completed in 2018. He explained that this study could go beyond identifying the impacts and begins to identify the things the District might do to lessen the severity of the impacts without huge infrastructure additions. He reviewed the scope of the potential study and explained that this would be a very time-consuming process. Dr. Pam Skinner asked if the modeling process would include the addition of a regional treatment storage area as a possibility. Brad explained that the modeling would not include the addition of new elements, but could tweak existing infrastructure of the District. Cliff Aichinger stated that the cities are going to look to the District for this information. He did not believe it was urgent in the next year and asked if the study could be done incrementally. Brad confirmed that if there is interested from the Board, staff would continue to scope the study and bring it back next month. President Ebensteiner agreed that the District should consider what comes after the modeling in order to determine what could be done to provide concrete solutions. Brad explained that this potential study would determine what could be done with the existing infrastructure rather than looking to add new costly infrastructure. He explained that the results of this study could provide more cost-effective solutions to consider. Dianne Ward noted that the West Vadnais Lake area is not in our District but contributes to the system and wondered whether that organization would contribute funds as well. Brad stated that the models would include that area in order to provide complete information. Tina Carstens stated that it would be unlikely that they would contribute financially but would continue to partner and advise the District. Pam stated that she does not mind modeling but would also like to pursue the traditional method that would add additional infrastructure. Tina confirmed that staff could do a hybrid of both methods to provide comparison information and the costs that would be associated with both methods. Page 4
It was the consensus of the Board to direct staff to further scope the study and bring additional details back to the Board. 10. PROJECT AND PROGRAM STATUS REPORTS A. Ongoing Project and Program Updates i. Snail Lake/Grass Lake Area ii. Atlas 14 Monitoring iii. Markham Pond Restoration iv. Targeted Retrofit Projects v. Beltline/Battle Creek Tunnel vi. CIP Maintenance/Repair 2017 vii. New Technology Case Study viii. Natural Resources Program ix. Education Program 11. INFORMATIONAL ITEMS President Ebensteiner noted that Hillcrest Golf Course has closed and it was noted that staff should contact St. Paul to determine if there are possibilities to incorporate additional water treatment elements to whatever is developed. 12. REPORTS OF MANAGERS Dianne Ward thanked staff for setting up a fabulous tour with natural resources staff, Bill Bartodziej and Simba Blood to educate her on their work. She found the carp study to be a highlight. 13. ADJOURN Motion: Dr. Pam Skinner moved, Dianne Ward seconded, to adjourn the meeting at 8:10 p.m. Motion carried 4-0 (Oknich absent). Respectfully submitted, Dr. Pam Skinner, Secretary Page 5