10-19-2009 Planning Commission Packet

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r � Introduction On October 7, 2009, ecologists from Svoboda Ecological Resources (SER) completed a field investigation of the subject property to identify and delineate areas meeting wetland criteria in accordance with the 1987 Army Corps of Engineers Wetland Delineation Manual and the Midwest Region Supplement Delineation Manual. As depicted in Figure 1, the site is located in the city of Orono. A functions and values assessment was also completed on-site as well as in-office for the subject wetland. The approximate 0.80 acre site has the following legal description in the City of Orono, Hennepin County,Minnesota.: • Located in part of Sec. 5, Tl 18N,R23W Only one Riverine wetland (Wetland 1) was identified on the subject property. SER determined that normal circumstances were present at the time of the field investigation. Methods The USGS Topographic Map (Figure 1), National Wetland Inventory Data (Figure 2), Hennepin County Soil Survey(Figure 3),the Department of Natural Resources Protected Waters Inventory (Figure 4), and aerial photographs were reviewed prior to the field investigation to identify potential wetland habifats. The parcel boundary was determined using a property description provided by Gronberg & Associates and GIS data available from the Hennepin County Website. Minnesota Routine Assessment Method (MnRAM 3.2 Excel version) was used to complete the functions and values assessment for the subject wetland. See the Attachment at the end of the report for the MnRAM results. The following procedures were used to determine wetland habitats: • The vegetation was sampled to determine whether greater than 50% of the dominant plant species were classified as either obligate wetland, facultative wetland, or facultative. • Shallow soil pits were hand dug with a soil auger to identify soil morphology, redoximorphic features and soil texture. • Wetland hydrology indications were observed through open soil pits, shallow water table measurements, and historical data. The wetland hydrology determination uses the criteria of the presence of water within 12 inches of the surface for 14 days during the growing season, or within 24 inches of the surface during the dry part of the growing season.