05-09-2011 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, May 9, 2011 • 7:00 o'clock p.m. (4. LONG LAKE FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORT, Continued) Van Eyll continued that some fundraising has been done for the proposed firefighters' memorial, with approximately 40 percent of the goal being met. The project will be implemented in phases. The drainage on the property has been surveyed and it was discovered that some ground will need to be moved to accommodate better drainage. That plan will be presented to the City Council in the near future. PUBLIC INFORMATIONAL MEETING 5. CITY OF ORONO WELLHEAD PROTECTION PLAN Scott Oberaigner, Orono Public Works Department noted the City of Orono is in the process of developing a wellhead protection plan for its drinking water supply wells, which include Wells land 2 located near the Navarre water tower and Well 3 located near Otten Brothers Nursery. Mark Janovec, Bonestroo, stated the wellhead protection process is overseen by the MN Department of Health. The purpose of the program is to determine where the water supply is that supplies the wells and to determine possible contaminants to the aquifer. It is a two -part process and details on the first part are being provided tonight. • The map on the overhead depicted wells one and two. The blue line outlines the ten year travel of the water. Anything within that blue line is expected to go into the wells within a 10 -year time frame. The green line is the area in the drinking water supply management area, which is based on roadways, parcel lines and section lines, and can be managed in the planning process. The third part of the process is to determine how vulnerable the aquifer is. If the soil consists of all sand and gravel, it is considered to be high vulnerability. If there is a substantial amount of clay between the surface and the aquifer, it is considered to be low vulnerability. Orono has a low to very low vulnerability for the aquifer due to the amount of clay in the area. Also depicted on the map is Well #3. Janovec continued that the next part of the process is to develop part two of the wellhead protection plan. One of the components of that plan is to determine possible sources of contamination within the management area. In a high vulnerability area, it would be necessary to look at tanks and septic systems, but in a low vulnerability area, the main thing that will be looked at is other groundwater wells. Janovec indicated they will be developing a management plan once those groundwater wells are identified. Part of that process is to have a scoping meeting with the Department of Health, which is planned for sometime in the next two weeks. Plan two of the wellhead protection plan is due June 2013. A public hearing will also be held before that time. McMillan asked if the City does any monitoring of the level of the aquifer. Janovec indicated he does not believe the City does at this time but that it is likely the DNR will be requiring that at some point in the future. • Rahn asked what brought this requirement about and if there were a number of city wells that were becoming contaminated. Page 3 of 17