04-11-1988 - Agenda Packet City Council - regular meeting

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METROP CLITAN COUN CIL Suite 300 Metro Squ<re Building, St. Paul, Minnesota 55101 612-291-6359 DATE: April 5, 1988 TO: Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commission Metropolitan Systems Committee FROM: Jack 1-tauritz SUBJECT: Revised Report on Lake Minnetonka Conservation District Activities in 1987 and Recommendation for Action INTRODUCTION At the regular meeting on Jan. 25, 1988, the Metropolitan Parks and Open Space Commission reviewed a staff report and forwarded recommendationo t., the Coun^il about the 1987 activities of LMCD. The Metropolitan Systems Committee con- sidered the report and recommendations on Feb. 2. Following extended discus- sion, Chair F?ynn, reflecting the sense of the committee, returned the matter, requesting a discussion ,i more alternatives. BACKGROUND The Metropolitan Council has become increasingly involved with issues around Lake Minnetonka. Involvement began with one Council member sitting on a 1983 Governor's Task Force on Lake Minnetonka Access. By 1986, it included a fill Council report responding to a State Executive Council request for-Zg,onal solutions to the recurring problems around the lake. Among other findings, the Council's 1986 report said the existing management structure for the lake was excesbively complex. Many PLencies had authority over various aspects of management --some were overlap;.ing--and planning for management on the lake appeared poorly coordinated. .,ome is:rues appeared to go beyond managing public access and protecting water quality. Task force reports and the Council's 1986 report implied that it would be helpful if there were a single proactive managing agency to deal with the wide range cf issues ap- pearing around the lake. At the time, a more active LMCD was advanced as the best hope to fill the needed managerial role. The Council stated it would review the actions of LMCD to see how it would meet a li.mt of recommended specific actions and how it would become a more active lead agency for planning, coordinating and reviewing projects which affected the lake. In January of 1987, the Council found that LMCD had suggested initiatives which would help, if implemented. LMCD had not carried out specifics recommended in the 1986 report, especially those leading to understandings between the agencies with managing responsibilities. Because the review followed the report by only a few months, the Council found that LMCD needed time to implement its ideas. It said that it would review LMCD actions again at the end of 1987.