09-10-2018 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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Orono City Council Work Session Monday, August 27, 2018 Council Chambers 5:00 p.m. 1. Budget Discussion — Continued Walsh agreed that by having a policy addressing it that it would help prevent the fund from getting down too low. Seals mentioned that she and Council Member Printup met with Rief regarding the Code Enforcement Official and would like more information before they would approve of this position being added. Seals has a hard time seeing the head count, and struggles with approving this without getting all the details and understanding what the City has and what it is currently working with. Seals mentioned that they would like to know why staff wants or needs the position. Walsh mentioned that we need to see all the pieces prior to approving the decision to add more positions. Walsh noted that the Council wants to make sure we have enough people to do the job. 2. Stormwater Planning Discussion Director of Public Works/ City Engineer Adam Edwards presented the Stormwater Planning item. Edwards discussed the current practice, current issues and the request of guidance on the decision of whether the City should take a broader approach. Edwards explained that tonight he wanted to discuss two particular issues: County Side West and Orono Oaks Drive. Country Side West suffers nuisance flooding during intense rainfalls. It was studied in 2014 and the recommendation was to perform maintenance on structures and the channel that the structures feed. Then, to proceed with culvert replacements. Edwards noted that in 2018 that the pond pipe clogged and we did do an emergency maintenance to clear the clogged pipe. Walsh asked what the immediate issue is. Edwards explained that immediate issue is should the city take in work that is within our public right of way to upsize that culvert. Rief introduced resident Greg Vitas in which he visited with and walked the culverts to get a better idea of the issue. Resident Greg Vitas, thanked Rief and Printup for meeting with him and letting him speak today. He describes the issue relating to the drainage and how it is affecting and flooding his property. Vitas is concerned that this could become a serious issue. The water level in the pond is 8 feet above where is should be. Vitas mentioned that they have water flowing east to west on his property. Vitas noted that we are looking at water covering up to 30 to 40 feet of our yard and our sump pumps are working everyday all year. Dustin mentioned that the question from staff is if this is the Home Owners Association's responsibility. Walsh discussed that we all should take some responsibility for it and fix the culverts. Resident Jewel Vitas noted that there is more water coming in from many different directions that has changed from previous years. Vitas feels that it is a mess, and nobody knows where it is going.