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From:Carol Price To:Melanie Curtis Cc:CHARLES PRICE Subject:2815 Casco Variance Requests: Comments for Council Mtg on 24July2023 Date:Monday, July 24, 2023 7:19:13 AM Hello Melanie, My review of the eight attachments to your email July 18, 2023 leads to the following comments: I don’t believe it is acceptable for this property to be granted a lakeside bluff variance to add a deck and a shed/boathouse on the bluff when this is not in any way an “in- kind” replacement of the previous retaining walls. Since little or no attention was paid to replacing the damaged walls as they existed before the start of construction, these new additions should be treated as new construction on the bluff, not as “in-kind” replacement. Attachment # 1: Shown on this survey: Drain rim: 959.8. Also shown is an elevation of 958 between the drain and the wall system and lake, which of course means no water will enter the drain. Proper grading will be required in this area to ensure the surface water pickup will catch all the surface water in this area. Attachment #3: Sheet 2. Gates Designs has indicated that the west end of the wall (left in this drawing) is 957.4, which is far too low to support the earth in this area which is 963 feet. It makes no sense that the highest elevation above this wall is being left unsupported by over 5 feet. This Gates Design drawing is not signed by a licensed engineer in the state of Minnesota. Attachment #3. Gates Designs proposal to add a concrete slab and poured footings with a boathouse and deck above does not contain a licensed engineer’s sign-off. The original engineered design of the wall system did not include this boathouse and deck, and therefore the loads created by this new structure have not been considered in the engineer’s plan. Attachment #4: A drain is shown on the east side of the wall structure, but there is no drain shown for the west side. Both sides have outlets for drainage from the bottoms of the retaining walls which MUST BE CONNECTED to pipes that will lower this water to the lake. Without lowering this water in a pipe, the soil on the back of the walls would get washed out by rainwater. Attachment #8: The words in Paragraph 8 read “every third course”, but the drawing shows header and deadmen every fourth course. Which is it? Regarding the hard cover calculations, have the latest version of the hard cover calculations been critically evaluated by city planners? Especially considering things like the deck, shed, and landings on the bluff, A/C pads, window wells, and the