2001 - Drainage concerns - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

r f Pat Doherty May 16, 2001 Page 2 The pond area was originally part of the wetland system that still exists on the north side of the Luce Line,but it was cut off from those wetlands when the railroad bed went in a century ago. We have no records that suggest there is or was a culvert from your pond under the trail; if such a culvert existed, it would drain runoff onto your property because the ground elevation north of the trail is higher than the south side. Our oldest aerial photos on file, dating to 1955, show that your entire yard including the ponding area was plowed farm field at that time,and we surmise the low area was draintiled. You probably are aware that your neighborhood is laced with old field tiles,and we have no records of their locations or sizes. Whatever tiling system that may have been in place decades ago is apparently no longer functional. A long term solution may be possible, although it likely would be expensive. This would involve simply deepening the existing ditch along the Luce Line behind the Kling property,outletting to the creek which flows behind the Shannon residence.An alternative might be a long culvert rather than the ditch. There are a number of potential difficulties to making this happen, however, including: The existing ditch is on DNR property and deepening it or installing a culvert in the trail right-of-way would require DNR approval; Deepening the ditch or installing a culvert would likely result in removal of the vegetated buffer between Kling's backyard and the trail; alternatively, directional boring might be feasible to avoid disrupting the surface. Although your ponding area is not a City-protected wetland and does not show up on the National Wetland Inventory maps, it may still be a wetland that is protected under Minnesota Wetland Conservation Act regulations which prohibit draining or filling of wetlands. Creation of a new outlet at an elevation that will protect your interests might be deemed as draining the wetland; this would need further investigation,and may be subject to a Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (MCWD) permit. We would be happy to meet with you to discuss options and solutions. It may be that the most cost- effective solution is to merely continue to pump when necessary. In that case,you will have to find a way to reduce the noise to levels within the parameters of the City ordinances. Please feel free to contact me or Public Services Director Greg Gappa at 952-249-4600 if we can be of assistance. Sincerely, Mike Gaffron Planning Director encl. cc (incl. map): Ron Moorse Greg Gappa Minnehaha Creek Watershed District MnDNR Richard Kling Dwight Post