08-14-2023 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING July 24, 2023 6:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 3 of 11 Benson said she would find it helpful to see a different rendering of the landscape plan that would show height since she is not familiar with all the proposed species of plants. She said it would be her preference that the City give as much guidance in that area as possible. Benson noted there were some concerns at the last hearing on the root structure of some kinds of plantings related to the walls. Curtis said the City could continue to work with the applicants to make sure plantings were right-sized for the wall at maturity. She said root structure could result in some limitations for plant selection. Johnson said rather than trying to set a landscaping plan and specific plants, the Council should stipulate a percentage of screening and allow the applicant and staff to design the landscaping. Thostenson indicated a photo of the former wall before the fire and said he would be happy to work on a landscaping plan as it would be better than it was before. Penny Saiki, 2874 Casco Point Road, asked about drainage, bowed sections of the wall and the requirement for railings. Curtis said railings are only required on the deck and stairs and the building inspector would make sure that all requirements are followed. Schimnowski said the walls are designed to drain any surface water that gets behind them. The weep holes were included in the design as an industry standard; however, it is very unlikely that any water will ever be seen draining from them. Lisa Thostenson said new drain tiles have just been installed around the house and they worked with the wall contractor on where those will drain. Carol Price, 2813 Casco Point Road, the neighbor to the west, said the Thostensons had not actually contacted them and they had never gotten any notification from Curtis. She and her husband are seeing these plans for the first time. She said her husband could not be present but his comments were that this was not in-kind replacement and the shed and deck should be treated as new construction. He also questioned the drainage plan. He contended portions of the plan did not have the sign-off of a licensed engineer in the State of Minnesota. He said there are conditions in the engineer’s design that if ignored, make reliance on the engineered design impossible. He requested the City require completion of the soil testing that the engineer requested and a retaining wall completion report. Schimnowski said he did not see the same problems in the grading plan that Price was pointing out. The drainage on the site, as proposed, meets all the City standards, he said, so he does not have any concerns with that. He added the building inspector will be out to do inspections as the remainder of the wall goes up. When it's completed, there will be a letter from the design engineer saying it got built like it was supposed to get built with his signature on it.