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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, February 11, 2013 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 8 of 24 (LMCD REPORT – ANDREW McDERMOTT, REPRESENTATIVE, Continued) McDermott indicated he does live on Carman’s Bay, which has not been chemically treated. McDermott indicated he personally has a philosophical issue with the use of chemicals in the lake and that even though everyone says the chemicals are all safe, he still has a worry with using them. The bays that have been treated have shown good results but originally it was thought that the amount of chemicals would decrease over the years and that by the fifth year no chemicals would be required. The milfoil keeps coming back and it appears it will never been cleared out of the lake. McDermott stated chemical treatment will be a constant expense to the residents and that he does not feel it is sustainable since the residents will likely not want to keep paying for it year after year. McDermott noted the LMCD does not have another mechanism to fund the chemical treatment. Anderson noted there are also other invasive species that are coming as well. McDermott noted there is nothing that can be done to address those invasive species as this point. McMillan commented she concurs with the philosophical component and that Orono has always been very conscious on runoff into the lake. McMillan stated she was reminded by a former public works director that the City at one time did not want any salt going into Lake Minnetonka, so they were very adamant about clearing the roads only with a grader. To this day Orono mixes only a little bit of salt with sand. If you look at Orono’s philosophy, the City has tried to keep chemicals out of Lake Minnetonka and the chemical treatment goes somewhat contrary to that philosophy. Anderson stated at the last meeting Gabriel Jabbour raised some points that dealt with the philosophical component as well. Anderson noted the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District has a greater ability for finding funding partners and a larger budget and that she would question whether the City should continue to throw money at this. Printup indicated he has the same concerns and that Orono is being asked to contribute once again even though there are a number of other stakeholders in the lake. Printup noted this project puts a great deal of burden on the LMCD to come up with the funding. Nybeck stated the efforts by the Watershed District for dealing with AIS will be more prevention rather than management and that they have not indicated any desire to participate in chemical treatment at this point. Bremer stated the philosophical struggle she is having is that she is in agreement that Orono, as a community overall, has been very steadfast in preventing chemicals from running into the lake, but that she has a concern that the City also has a philosophical dedication to the lake and to doing whatever we can to save it. Bremer stated it is not the amount of money being requested but the fact that the Council needs to make the decision once and for all whether or not that philosophy is in line with this plan being proposed. Bremer indicated she trusts Drew McDermott’s comments and that she is attempting to weigh those with her own personal philosophy. Bremer stated she knows there are lots of times in our lives that we do not have that many tools at our fingertips and that this is one of those times. Item #02 - CC Agenda - 02/25/2013 Approval of Council Minutes 02/11/2013 [Page 8 of 24]