07-24-2023 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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performed by a qualified geotechnical engineer. Additional subsurface exploration may be required." This packet of information does not contain the internal compound stability test that was requested previously by Criterium-Schimnowski. Summary Typically, I can access the information packet on the Friday afternoon after Melanie sends out the meeting notification prior to the following Monday meeting. So, at the March meeting with the homeowners, I asked if the information could be sent out earlier to the adjacent neighbors so that we could have more time to review the material than just the weekend. So, I want to thank the 2815 homeowners and their contractors for providing the plan information early such that Melanie Curtis could gather it together and send out the information on July 13th, and again on July 18th in order to give the adjacent neighbors more time to review the documents and provide feedback. As is common for lakeside homeowners, the month of July is a prime time for out-of-town guests from southern climates to visit, and unfortunately the timing was just right such that my husband and I were inundated with back-to-back house guests just as Melanie sent out the July 13th information packet. Thus, my husband and I did not start reviewing the documents until July 20th. Out of sheer anger and frustration based on our first pass glance of the new plans that do not seem to address our bluff concerns, we called Dennis Walsh to ask if he would hear our concerns since my husband was flying out-of-town early Sunday morning. Fortunately, Mr. Walsh graciously agreed to hear our concerns right away. Mayor Walsh listened to our concerns and seemed sympathetic to our plight that the neighbor's bluff had been irreversibly gouged out, and the As-Built retaining walls were basically rebuilt anew and not "in-kind". This thinking is verified by the comments recorded in previous meeting minutes by the Mayor and various council members. The Mayor did reinforce the need to get our comments to Melanie ASAP so that the Council Members had time to read them. As a result, I sent a text to my neighbors that it was very important to attend the meeting tonight and/or provide written comments to Melanie ASAP if they wanted to have any effect on the Councils understanding of the unprecedented bluff deconstruction project to build the As-Built Retaining Walls, and thus affect the decisions made by the Council members tonight for the After-the-Fact variance request. Fortunately, a few neighbors are here tonight that have similar concerns about these proposed plans. As the property owner on the west side, the elevation gradient to the top of the bluff is very steep with regard to the height of the 6th retaining wall. These plans will not support the bluff as it was carved out on my side of the property, nor tangentially, to the east side neighbor. Everyone who sees the bluff in person cannot believe what was done to the original natural bluff and the amount of earth excavated and hauled away in order to build the new retaining walls. I invite the Mayor, Council members, City Planners, City Engineer, etc. to come anytime and look at the lakeside bluff to get a better perspective of this entire project. This plan does not adequately support the bluff that was dug out on each adjacent property. The steep gradient from the top of the 6th wall to the top of the remaining bluff on each side has not been addressed in this variance request. This plan adds 3.4 feet to the height of the 6th retaining wall, but only in the center section of the bluff at the stairwell. Is there an inherent reason why the entire 6th wall cannot be heightened to 8 feet to support the bluff for the adjacent properties? Are there other bluff containment measures that could be implemented in combination with a heightened 6th wall to support and maintain the integrity of the bluff for the homeowner and the affected adjacent neighbors?