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Jill and Casey Hoehn <br /> 2325 Glendale Cove Lane <br /> Orono,MN 55356 <br /> November 13,2014 <br /> Melanie Curtis <br /> 2750 Kelley Parkway <br /> Orono, MN 55356 <br /> Dear Ms.Curtis— <br /> This letter is in response to our recent meeting on November 7, 2014 as well as the ori�inal letter we <br /> received dated September 15, 2014. The letter requested that we remove a boulder wall we recently <br /> built as part of our landscaping in late August. According to City documents, the wall is within a City <br /> desi�nated Drainage and Utility Easement area, and also within portions of a Wetland Buffer <br /> Replacement and Wetland Buffer area. <br /> Backaround• <br /> We knew a portion of our property was up against or within a wetland buffer. Therefore, before putting <br /> together a landscaping plan or beginning any landscaping, we proactively inquired about who we <br /> needed to talk with. Under the advice of our Project Manager, we were directed to seek out the <br /> Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) for answers and approvals on what our landscaping <br /> options and boundaries could be. <br /> Our communication/interaction with the MCWD started on June 30th (which we did in-person at their <br /> offices in Minnetonka). In that initial interaction, we simply validated that they were the appropriate <br /> and governing agency to be speaking with given the involvement of the wetland buffer areas on our <br /> property. They acknowledged that they were. With that information,we then told them that we were <br /> seeking their input to determine what our landscaping options and boundaries could be. We provided <br /> them with our Grading Plan Site Copy and discussed the locations of the two silt fences present on the <br /> property. We also shared with them the severe grade challenges that our backyard presented, and the <br /> recommendation of our landscaper that a retaining wall would be the most effective landscaping <br /> alternative to address erosion concerns if that was decided to be an allowable option. Over the next 12 <br /> days, we had no less than 7 interactions with the MCWD. Within that timeframe they came out on a <br /> couple occasions to conduct site visits on our property,taking pictures and (we assumed)measurements <br /> as well. Ultimately they gave us the verbal go ahead to start our landscaping and said we were able to <br /> landscape anything inside the silt fence that ran along the vegetation/tree line (which included the <br /> option to construct a retaining wall if desired). <br /> Over the 12 day period (June 30—July 11) in the interactions with the MCWD,there was no mention of <br /> the absence of wetland delineation marker signs, nor a map provided highlighting the buffer <br /> areas/locations or a suggestion made that we also needed to contact the City. All of these items we <br /> learned about only after the fact in the aforementioned letter from the City. <br /> Working under what we believed to be the appropriate jurisdiction approval,we began our landscaping. <br /> As part of the landscaping plan, after much consideration simply from a cost perspective,we did decide <br /> to include a retaining wall as part of that. Although the wall was a substantial cost (accounting for well <br />