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