02-14-2017 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, July 24, 2017 7:00 o'clock p.m. 15. CARMAN BAY LAKE IMPROVEMENT PUBLIC HEARING — RESOLUTION NO. 6781 -Continued Dave Stilseth, 3233 Casco Circle, stated three, four years ago there was a substantial amount of milfoil, but after three years of treatment the weeds have been greatly reduced. Stilseth stated he is all for the LID. Mark Klepka, 2499 Kelly Avenue, stated he lives on the north end of a cove, and of the eight people adjacent to him, they all voted yes to the LID and that there are a number of cove people that are in favor of the LID. Klepka stated the LID improves the water for everyone. Klepka stated he swims on the lake almost every day and that there has been a significant improvement over the past couple of years. The amount of weeds on the beach that need to picked up has been improved dramatically and that he wholeheartedly approves of the LID. Rich Anderson, 3205 Crystal Bay Road, stated before he and his neighbors treated their area of the lake, they could not even get into the water and now the water is pristine. Anderson noted they had to pay $1000 the first year and $500 this year. Anderson commented he is hopeful they can get a LID established for Crystal Bay since it will be cheaper. Anderson noted the DNR does not run the lake and the LMCD does not have the money to do this. The LID will have money left over to handle other issues with AIS. Anderson noted the City of Orono pays the LMCD $54,000 per year, with part of it being for milfoil harvesting. Anderson stated he has not seen the harvesters in Crystal Bay for over two years. Jeff Essen, 2648 Casco Point Road, stated he is opposed to the LID since Lake Minnetonka and Carman Bay is a public body of water and is used by thousands of people, many of whom do not live on the lake. Essen stated because of that, he does not believe 113 property owners should pay to treat the bay when it is used by hundreds of fisherman. Essen stated the nicer the bay is made, the more transient boaters will come to the bay. Essen noted there are a number of organizations that are involved in the management of the lake and that they should be tapped to participate more. Essen stated he lives on the western end of the bay and the wind blows all the weeds his way and gets stuck there. Essen stated the weeds are as bad as he has ever seen them and that he cannot get his boat out of the dock due to all the weeds. Essen stated when the milfoil is removed, the native weeds take over. David Runkle, 2684 Casco Point Road, noted he sent an e-mail to the Mayor and Orono City Council outlining his position on the LID. Runkle stated in his view there should not be another layer of government to try and correct what another government agency is supposed to be fixing. Runkle stated there should be a defined objective to the LID rather than being open-ended. In addition, it appears the different agencies have a different opinion on the quality of the lake and that there must be some reason the LMCD rates the bay as an A. Runkle stated he rates it as a D minus or an F. Runkle stated he does not see the end game with the LID and that there is no agreed upon measure of quality. Runkle noted there are 113 properties on the bay and everybody has a different perspective on the fees that should be charged for eradicating the milfoil. Runkle stated the City should pressure the various government agencies already in existence to do something about the milfoil. Page 5