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MINUTES OF THE <br /> ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING <br /> March 13,2023 <br /> 6:00 o'clock p.m. <br /> Curtis said that was correct but they did not,they just stabilized the slope. They did not do the final wall <br /> as they requested. They determined that they would just protect the slope and then evaluated it and <br /> decided that a higher sixth wall that was already installed would be more beneficial support for the slope <br /> rather than an additional seventh wall more towards the home back into the yard. The fire happened in <br /> July.We issued the permit for the in-kind replacement of the walls,which is administrative,in <br /> September.We issued that stop-work order in October because of the expanded wall footprint that our <br /> inspector confirmed for us.They did not utilize boulders because that would have expanded the footprint <br /> of the wall and they were trying to expedite the repair. So they did not want to go through the timeline for <br /> the variance publication and approval for boulders. <br /> Joe Valdes,owner of Valdes lawn care, 6476 St. Croix Trail South,Hastings,Minnesota, appeared before <br /> the Council along with Tyler Warnke,2157 Valley View Place, St.Paul,the equipment operator on the <br /> job and Paul Schimnowski with Criterium-Schimnowski Engineers, 161 Dunbar Way,Mahtomedi, <br /> Minnesota,the engineer of record. <br /> Walsh noted Valdes had said before the Planning Commission that he didn't look at the plans. He also <br /> noted that Valdes just went and started digging. <br /> Warnke said he was first on-site,and had the plans with him. We were looking at the plans as we were <br /> starting the project. <br /> Walsh asked if they had the plans,why did they think they could bring a bulldozer down there and scrape <br /> out the entire hillside? <br /> Warnke said we had to remove all existing walls. In order to get down to the bottom, I had to dig a road. <br /> Walsh said,no you didn't.You didn't have to dig a road. That was your choice. You had other options, <br /> and that's my whole issue here is that you had other options. You didn't have to do it from the top and dig <br /> an entire road down a hillside,you chose to do that.I think at the Planning Commission you said it would <br /> take way too much work to do it all by hand from down in the bottom, so you chose to build a road down <br /> the middle of the hillside and scoop it all out. So instead of a hill on the hillside,now you have a cliff I <br /> have a cliff too. The guys handed it all in my cliff when we had to re-do mine. You chose to go and dig it <br /> all when you had a specific plan for in-kind replacement.And so at some point,you dug it all out,your <br /> engineer came and designed an entirely different plan that you then pulled a permit for. So it's like going <br /> and getting a permit for a 3000 square foot house and then building an 8000 square foot house. <br /> In the discussion, Council Members asserted that the applicants had gone beyond the scope of an in-kind <br /> solution and removed a great deal of dirt from the bluff The applicants stressed the complexity of the job <br /> and noted they had to deal with burned remains of the previous structures and then found underneath the <br /> burned wall several feet of old timbers and concrete which had to be removed. They said most of the <br /> material hauled away was that and not the hillside itself The also said they had filled in behind the new <br /> walls with several feet of supports and material for proper drainage. <br /> Page 7 of 21 <br />