03-13-2023 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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with all the snow and rain we have had so far this winter.  There were rotted timbers in the hill, and there was not a proper drainage system in place.  Along the way the landscapers felt it necessary to alter slightly some of the timbers to compensate for the additional support that was required. Some of the City’s staff had been out to the site and directed them to protect the bluff and trees to the full extent possible.   Had they just followed the plan exactly – we would not be in this situation.  But we are because neighbors were constantly on the job site begging the landscapers to save trees, and the City staffers had also given that guidance.  The engineer determined the changes in the walls were required to protect the bluff post fire, with no foliage/landscaping and disturbed soils. As we have watched and listened to our neighbors complain that we are not doing what they would like, it has been rather brutal – as we asked for none of this.  We are NOT here to disrupt or damage.  We have simply tried to put this back together before the hill goes into the lake.  We are not landscapers.  That is why we hired a company familiar with working on the lake.  They have a Structural Engineer that has been overseeing and signing off on the entire project. We WANTED to do boulders instead of the “in kind” solution – but the City would not give us permission without a lengthy variance application process (even for an emergency….we asked), and we feared that there was simply no time as we’d be risking the bluff.   The only reason the entire slope was not lost was the luck that we had no significant rainfall from the date of the fire thru the design, permitting and construction process. It was extremely difficult to recreate the walls as they were, not to mention expensive.  And again – we only did it this way because it was the only thing we could get permitted for without months of process and we were dealing with an emergency.  In summary, we would like to thank all of the City staff that has helped us along in this journey.  It is not one that we would have chosen.  We believe our contractor was trying to do the right thing with the slight adjustments that were made – based on the guidance to protect the bluff and trees and the site conditions experienced as work progressed.  We certainly didn’t want them to dip in to our hardcover percentage – as this definitely impacted what we had plans for as we still have to be under 25%. But they felt it was needed, and the engineer agreed.  We believe that the Planning Commission also agrees, and we got their support at the meeting last month.  We are really trying to do this the right way, and look forward to restoring the foliage and the natural beauty of the bluff. We respectfully ask that the City Council grant the variance and allow us to finish this wall.  Sincerely, Mark and Lisa Thostenson