12-12-2002 Council Minutes Joint Council, PC and Park Comm.

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO JOINT CITY COUNCIL, PLANNING COMMISSION, AND PARK COMMISSION WORK SESSION Thursday, September 12, 2002 • 5:30 o'clock p.m. became a way of life, a culture, which has become synonymous with Orono, now, a recognized progressive City. Jabbour indicated that thanks to those early efforts to create this purposeful living document, the Comprehensive Plan is now linked to the financial well being of Orono. By not allowing the development of Big Boxes in Orono, this same Comprehensive Plan has limited the impact that might have occurred on traffic, roads, the overall preservation effort, etc. In answer to the question, why do she and others work so hard at maintaining this philosophy, Mayor Peterson indicated that her response would be that it must start somewhere, and that somewhere is the Comprehensive Plan. She stated that the lake is what Orono has to offer and it must be preserved, if she can contribute even just a little to that end it would be worth it. Mayor Peterson added that each representative has their own reason for being a member of his/her committee, the common link is that we all love our community and want to educate everyone and keep the message of preservation alive. She indicated that her goal was to continue with the plan laid out so well for Orono by those original visionaries. Jabbour concurred stating that as visionary a document as it was; the City Council of its day voted 100% to make the Comprehensive Plan a permanent document. Murphy pointed out that the quintessential historian, Mike Gaffron, boiled the Comprehensive Plan down to one main purpose, saving the lake; however, there is more, and other areas back • out from that point. Gaffron presented Orono's Community Philosophy: • To preserve the Lake, the water quality, and its recreational assets • Protect and preserve our many natural resources and open spaces • Preserve our district urban and rural land use patterns and lifestyles • Preserve our local character and identity Gaffron reported that, during the early years, many people moved to the lake area between 1940- 50, which created the need for sewer plants, 7 of which were built by 1960 to service the lake area. Due to the high levels of phosphorous being put into the lake it became polluted; therefore, by 1980 all of the sewer plants were eliminated in favor of connecting to the metro sewer system. Gaffron continued that the key to cleaning up the lake was eliminating the phosphorous and urban runoff problems. Since Orono had sufficient wetlands to take care of 90% of the phosphorous from runoff under a low density scenario, that explains why Orono has required two acre zoning for 70% of the City on up to 5 acre zoning, in order to limit runoff. Gaffron noted that Orono is getting close to full development, which will affect how the City continues to develop. Mayor Peterson questioned whether Gaffron felt the Met Council would allow Lake Elmo to continue its move towards low density and inquired how Mooney Lake affects Lake Minnetonka. is PAGE 2