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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 8, 2013 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 14 of 21 (6. PLANNING COMMISSION APPOINTMENTS – CHAIR, VICE-CHAIR, ALTERNATE, Continued) Levang asked if Jaye Ann Bennett should be interviewed. Curtis noted she has served on the Planning Commission in the past but had some work commitments that took her out of town to the point where she felt she had to resign. Bremer indicated she is in favor of moving forward with her appointment if the rest of the Council is in agreement. Levang asked if there are any other alternates at the present time. Curtis indicated they currently have one alternate. Levang moved, Printup seconded, to accept the application of Jaye Ann Bennett as Planning Commission alternate. VOTE: Ayes 5, Nays 0. 7. #12-3585 SPRING HILL GOLF COURSE – 725 SIXTH AVENUE NORTH – CUP AND WETLAND MAP AMENDMENT – RESOLUTION NO. 6213 AND ORDINANCE NO. 102 Curtis stated the Spring Hill Golf Club has requested approval from the MCWD and the City to fill portions of a wetland on the 13th fairway on the 1050 Tamarack Drive portion of the property. The applicant indicates the fill is proposed in two locations of the wetland in order to improve playability and address safety concerns. The applicant has requested a conditional use permit from the City of Orono for wetland alteration in order to conduct the alterations. It is also necessary to re-zone the portions of the wetland to be filled and amend the City’s official Wetland Map so the filled areas are no longer subject to the standards of the Wetland Overlay District according to City Code Section 78-1609. The wetland mitigation will be at a 2:1 ratio and will consist of banked credits off-site as recommended by the Technical Evaluation Panel (TEP) during the Sequencing review process. On March 28th the MCWD Board reviewed the applicant’s request and granted a conditional approval. The Notice of Decision is attached as Exhibit D. On March 18th the Planning Commission voted 5 to 0 to recommend approval of the application. The wetland to be impacted, as reported, is degraded with low quality function and value, and contains invasive vegetation. On-site mitigation would likely result in a similar low quality wetland as currently exists. Allowing the applicant to conduct the wetland filling activity results in the creation of a new, higher quality wetland mitigation as the proposed off-site mitigation wetlands provide a gain in wetland function and value. Planning Staff recommends approval of the wetland alteration permit (CUP) and the amendment to the Wetland Overlay District Map (i.e. rezoning) to remove the filled areas from the Wetland Overlay District. Staff recommends approval of the application. The applicant should provide the City with the digital wetland boundary (post-fill) in Hennepin County coordinates to finalize the rezoning. Submittal of Item #02 - CC Agenda - 04/22/2013 Approval of Council Minutes 04/08/2013 [Page 14 of 21]