02-24-2009 Council Work Session Packet

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� Erosion Control Ordinance February 24, 2009 Page 3 *MCWD requires erosion control permits for any project that disturbs more than 5,000 square feet or includes more than 50 cubic yards of excavation or stockpiling. Virtually all new single-family houses require a permit. The cost of the permit is $10. Impact on City Staff and Bud� A list of permits issued in 2008 that would likely require monitoring of erosion control measures is attached. It includes 43 projects. 16 would be classified as Level III and 13 as Level II. The remaining 14 would be Level II or III depending on the specifics of the project. The City Engineer currently reviews most grading plans. He would also review the erosion control plans. For smaller building projects the cost of this review would usually be absorbed by the City under the policy of paying the first $500 of engineering review costs per project. Costs beyond this would be billed to the contractor. The proposed role of City Staff in monitoring is not to be making inspections of erosion control measures. Currently, when he sees a problem with erosion control measures during a routine inspection, the Building Inspector will give contractors a friendly warning to fix it before the Watershed District catches it. As proposed this warning would become a little less "friendly". If necessary he would notify the erosion control specialist at Bonestroo. If public works or the police department spotted a problem they could contact the erosion control specialist. The City Engineer estimates the City's cost for Bonestroo's monitoring would be $200 to $400 for a new house or major addition. It is not proposed to pass these costs to the contractor since the City is receiving a building permit fee. Any monitoring of smaller projects should theoretically cost less since they usually take less time to complete. The cost of a land alteration permit is $50 and $75 to $125 for demolition. Building permits fees for lake stairs and retaining walls are based on the valuation of the work. If Bonestroo were involved in monitoring these permits the cost would likely exceed the amount of the permit. (The City Engineer often reviews these permits with the cost absorbed by the City under the policy of paying the first $�00 of engineering review costs per project.) Staff is not sure how much monitoring and intervention this proposal would require and how much of the work would be done by the erosion control specialist. Only if permit levels for 2009 are lower than those of 2008 would the erosion control specialist not be needed. Bonestroo currently does weekly monitoring of erosion control on projects with more than an acre of disturbance. This cost is billed to the contractor. This would continue unchanged. Additional Expense for builders or homeowners For new houses and other projects that currently require a MCWD permit there would be little if any additional information required. There might be the cost of the City Engineer's review if reviewing the additional plan increased the review cost to more than $500.