11-28-2022 City Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 28 2022 6:00 o'clock p.m. Josh Prust, Valdes Lawn Care and Snow Removal, is present on behalf of Joe Valdes who constructed the walls and removed the soil.Mr.Prust is new to the project as of a couple weeks ago when Mr.Valdes asked him to figure out how the project got to that point. Mr. Prust's understanding is that as permitted work to the walls was being done,Mr. Valdes realized the ends of the walls were not long enough to retain the hillside.Mr.Valdes was afraid if the walls were left in that state,the bluff would erode and eventually end up in the lake.Mr.Prust noted Mr. Valdes made some choices and understands his fault in expanding the walls beyond what was permitted; he was trying to do what was best in his mind to keep the hillside in place. Mayor Walsh stated they brought in a massive digging machine and dug out way beyond what would be necessary. He noted the decision now is whether to give forgiveness which is not a good precedent, or to figure out how to put the hill back together. Johnson noted it makes sense to stabilize it for the winter,but he also has some legal questions. The idea behind emergency slope repair is that one does not create the emergency. Paul Schimnowski, Criterium-Schimnowski Engineers, 161 Dunbar Way,Mahtomedi,was asked to provide a design for the replacement walls. He noted the City's concerns are valid in how much they saw being moved. When the original walls were built,that kind of dirt would have been moved at that time, as well due to the tiebacks needing to be dug out and reinstalled.He understands that the request right now is the emergency work and there is no guarantee that an after-the-fact variance may be approved.He wants to be sure what is there is stable and will get them to spring without any more erosion or slope failure. Mayor Walsh wants to be clear if this is approved,a stop-work order is on everything else on the slope. Mr.Prust agreed. Mayor Walsh noted there are legal issues needed down the road to solve this. It is a complicated problem that was not created by the City but by the Applicant. Johnson asked if the engineer's investigation includes the neighbor's properties and whether their slopes could now be impacted by the work. Mr. Schimnowski replied immediately following the emergency work a full topographic survey will be performed beyond the property line to the adjacent properties to make sure any impacts on adjacent properties are mitigated. Johnson clarified the emergency repair includes neighboring properties as it relates to the work done on the Applicant property. Mr. Schimnowski replied in the affirmative. They will be shoring up their land. Johnson wants it on the record that they are also responsible for assessing impacted areas because the project grew.He clarified the neighbors have done nothing wrong. Charles Price,2813 Casco Point Road,noted it seems that they do need the emergency slope repair to keep the slope from failing over winter.He clarified that this does not approve the Applicant to leave it as-built. Page 3 of 8