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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br /> March 13,2023 <br /> 6:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> Since the licensed engineer who designed the retaining walls is not responsible for the site layout in <br /> gradient services,I would request that the site civil engineer provide the written assurances that the work <br /> was completed based on known industry specifications and building codes for mitigating soil erosion and <br /> collapse of the bluffs. So my final comments,this was a massive,massive project.There were many, <br /> many dump truck, loads of dirt. I don't question the bluff work itself. I think Joe Valdes and his men did a <br /> good job building the wall.It was the method of just tearing away the whole bluff that had everyone <br /> concerned and has everyone concerned now.And my concern is that top wall doesn't meet the original <br /> top of the bluff. There are the indications that plantings are going to be made. I will say that the wall was <br /> built with a combination of dirt and stone behind those walls for good drainage. That is as it should be. <br /> I'm concerned, how will those plantings take effect in that type of soil?Certainly,you could add <br /> something to make it work.I think everybody tries to do a good job. The method of this one was beyond <br /> what we've seen for any lake owner.But that doesn't mean we can't go forward and just make it a bluff <br /> and retaining walls such that the neighbors on each side don't have to worry about that bluff falling apart. <br /> So you have my condolences on how you want to make your decision. It's tough.I agree. It's very,very, <br /> very tough. <br /> Johnson noted that this is a lot for a neighbor. You're a particularly educated on the matter and I'm sorry, <br /> you've had to learn this much about it. Thanks for your comments.We'll definitely want to integrate some <br /> of your recommendations there to our opinion.But,the other part of this is how we deal with this.How <br /> do we deal with contractors that go outside the scope?How as a City do we do this better next time to <br /> prevent it for neighbors like you when all you do is live there? <br /> Charles Price, Carol's husband,2813 Casco Point Road, stated Melanie,you made a great point,that next <br /> time an application comes in some questions need to be asked.How is this going to be done?And I think <br /> that might have been lacking on this one,because everybody from the City who saw it was very shocked. <br /> And just to add another data point on the dump trucks,when we talk dump trucks,these are the kinds <br /> used on the interstate highways. They're massive.And the worst day I think it was,you know,we're there <br /> pretty much every day,we saw at least seven and maybe eight of these giant dump trucks of dirt getting <br /> hauled off.It looked to me like they were bringing in gravel and backfill so the dirt went out and <br /> hopefully proper backfill came in,the contractors might be able to clarify that point. He asked to have a <br /> photo put back up. This is showing the top of the bluff where it originally was. That really shows where <br /> the top of the bluff was from the top of the original bluff where that line is.That goes from one fence post <br /> to the other. And that is actually 22 feet from the new top of the bluff,so that gives you a rough idea that <br /> they've dished the shoreline back 22 feet from where it used to be. Drainage,we still haven't seen too <br /> much about drainage at the Planning Commission. I did ask about it.And Joe did clarify that he has that <br /> taken care of,but I'm not sure what that means.And I did talk to Wes today. He's still concerned. He <br /> doesn't know,has the drainage been taken care of or has it not?. Wes, on the east side,he did ask about <br /> the wall between the two properties,a border wall,if you want to call it that, does that catch water? So the <br /> water can't just freely fall from this property to the 2817 property. So he wants that wall to remain of <br /> some kind.It doesn't have to be exactly what it is right now. Margaret Martin provided a letter. And she <br /> has statements from a professional geotechnical engineer and some of his points are really,really <br /> important, I think.He's saying,where's the soil test?The engineer says, here's the wall design and I base <br /> my wall design upon internal compound stability,but my design is dependent upon a geotechnical <br /> engineer doing soils tests and soil samples, and making sure that the assumptions that I made to design <br /> Page 11 of 21 <br />