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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING November 10, 2014 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 4 of 31 (4. #14-3669 MARK AND KRISTEN ANDERSON, 3850 WATERTOWN ROAD – REVISED GRADING CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT PLAN, Continued) City Staff has been working with the other stakeholders, specifically the neighboring property to the east, to address their concerns about the amount of fill that has been brought in and the potential change to the drainage patterns in the area. Martini stated before this project is allowed to continue, some engineering data will need to be provided as it relates to the drainage impacts. Martini indicated there has also been some grading that has occurred along Watertown Road and there is a concern that the grading work has changed the runoff in that area and will now be forced on the property to the east and the lower flat area. In addition, there are concerns about the run-off storage that existed in the low area which has been taken up by fill. The situation needs to be evaluated for its potential impact on the runoff. Martini stated the other comments relate to retaining walls that have been constructed on the site. Staff has requested information related to the elevations to make sure no engineering is required for the walls. McMillan asked how the weather will impact things. Martini stated at this point of the year it will be difficult for work to continue but that he will defer to the applicant what their plans are. Martini stated he had hoped to be presented with a plan that Staff would be able to recommend moving forward with prior to tonight and that he does not feel Staff is in that position given the fact the City Council will need to be given another update before the project moves forward. Martini stated with the site being currently stabilized and the winter season rapidly approaching, the remaining work will probably be done in the spring. Levang asked what happens when there is no top soil put down. Martini stated the Watershed District and the MPCA requires redundant erosion control measures to be put in place and that the property owner has erected the fence in place to protect the wetland as well as putting some temporary cover on some of the exposed areas to minimize the potential erosion. Martini stated the situation is not ideal but that is the status of the project. Levang asked if excessive rains could cause a problem in the spring. Martini indicated it is hard to say and that is why there is some redundancy built into the erosion control measures that must be followed. Martini indicated Staff and the property owner will need to make sure the erosion control fences remain intact as the snow melt occurs in the spring. Mark Anderson, 3850 Watertown Road, stated the original intent of the project was to fix the erosion. Anderson indicated he purchased the property last year and that last summer they noticed there was considerable erosion on the back side of the barn and the foundation around the barn that had been constructed in the 1930s or 1940s was giving away. Anderson stated in May of this year they started to look at different options. Anderson indicated in conjunction with Dale Gustafson, he drew up plans and submitted them to the City. When they got into the project, it was discovered while shoring up the back side of the barn that all of the top soil had washed down the hillside. Instead of having one to two feet of top soil, there was six feet of top soil that had