12-14-2015 Councill Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, November 23, 2015 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 9 of 41 Mark Gronberg, Surveyor, stated there were ten items listed in the memo from the neighbors’ engineer and that he would like to respond to them. Gronberg stated in his view Mike Gaffron adequately addressed the cul-de-sac length. The second item related to the pond sizing and calculations. Gronberg stated some preliminary sizing has been done for the preliminary plat and that the lot is 3.23 acres and the area to the normal water level is 0.15. Gronberg stated you normally subtract the area and the normal water level to determine the size of the holding pond and that in their view there is plenty of room there. Gronberg noted typically the exact size of the pond is done at the final plat phase. In addition, the houses are 400 to 500 feet away from the OHWL. The third item raised by Mr. Erickson was the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District and infiltration. Gronberg indicated he is well aware of the MCWD’s infiltration requirements and regulations and that he has worked on numerous projects with the Watershed District in this area. Gronberg stated on projects like this, the infiltration area is usually incorporated into the pond so there is not a separate infiltration area. Gronberg noted there was a question regarding the number of trees that will need to be taken out for the pond and in their view there will be approximately 30 trees taken out related to that. The fourth item had to deal with the wetland. The wetland on the site is a forested Type I wetland. According to a memo from Beth, Brown, the wetland consists of 1,000 square feet deminimus and that they have discussed the wetland at a meeting with City Staff. Staff felt there was adequate drainage area to maintain the wetland characteristics of the remaining part of the wetland. The fifth item was a request for a tree survey. Gronberg stated normally the contractor is not asked nor is it required to do a tree survey of the entire property. Gronberg stated they have addressed areas under the Conservation Design, created buffers in for tree preservation along the perimeters and in the bluff areas. In addition, the developer is working on covenants regulating the number of trees that can removed and a replacement plan if they go over that. The sixth item related to the alternate access. Gronberg noted there was a plan provided by the neighbors’ engineer that showed cutting way up into Irwin Jacobs’ auto court, which would cut off his whole cul-de-sac where he goes in the door and has deliveries. The plan shows the road going down at a 10 percent grade but then it has 2:1 side slopes, which are very steep. The Consulting City Engineer believes that would be very tough to control erosion. There was also a comment that only one tree would be removed, which is not true. Gronberg noted there are trees right up to the existing trail and that they counted maybe 25 to 30 trees right at the beginning that would have to come out, which is also not taking into account the letter from the fire chief who said that he would want a 20-foot wide road, which takes out quite a few more trees on the whole service road access. The seventh item was the need for a ghost plat, which is not a requirement of the City of Orono and was not asked for. Gronberg indicated they have been meeting with the City for almost two years on this project and that they did some alternate layouts that showed more lots. Gronberg stated every one of them showed a road coming in from Shoreline Drive to the south of the existing house and then another road using the Heritage Lane right-of-way for the lots to the north because they are two different elevation points. Gronberg noted back in 1965 it was also suggested that that road be built, so some previous councils had the same idea.