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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, April 8, 2013 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 4 of 21 (5. LAKE MINNETONKA ASSOCIATION (LMA) FUNDING REQUEST, Continued) In 2013, seven of the ten cities involved in this project have already committed financial support for herbicidal treatment of milfoil. Two of those cities have questioned the LMCD’s extensive use of mechanical harvesting as its primary control method. The LMA suggests that Orono become proactive in questioning how their current $58,000 annual levy to the LMCD is being spent. The LMA’s documentation would suggest that due to its economic advantage alone, herbicidal control should become LMCD’s primary method of controlling milfoil. The LMA feels that Orono and the other mayors may want to question how the LMCD budget is structured. In looking over the LMCD’s budget, it appears to be a very top heavy organization with a large percentage of their annual $581,000 budget being spent on administration, yet only having three full-time employees. Lowe questioned if Orono is opposed to raising the levy, the LMCD levy; why are they not first questioning the existing levy and how it is being spent. It is the LMA’s opinion that it is time for Orono to more closely align their AIS control philosophy with the facts, the science, and the sentiment of their constituents. The LMA would like to partner with the City of Orono to advocate for the most effective economical method of milfoil control rather than criticizing herbicidal milfoil control. As the LMA noted in its documentation, Lowe indicated they find it very disheartening that after all of their hard work over the past seven years that the City of Orono chose to criticize the herbicidal milfoil treatment program despite the fact that the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District was so impressed with the treatment program that they awarded the 2012 Watershed Heroes Citizen Engagement Award to the Lake Minnetonka Bay Captains who implemented the very program that Orono sought to criticize. Lowe feels Orono also has the appearance of attempting to negatively affect the other mayors’ assessment of herbicidal milfoil control. Lowe indicated at this point he would like to address two environmental issues that have been raised concerning milfoil herbicidal control. When the LMA began this program, there was concern that they would cause great harm to native species while controlling milfoil but the exact opposite has occurred. Milfoil has been controlled while native species on Carman Bay have increased by 37 percent. Conversely, mechanical harvesting can show no such benefit. Nothing changes as far as the plant species makeup on the lake when you conduct mechanical harvesting. Natives continue to be crowded out by the milfoil. Lowe stated an additional environmental point that needs to be addressed is the City of Orono’s statement that somehow the LMA is creating a dangerous chemical footprint through the use of Triclopyr to treat milfoil. The bay captains are no more interested in unnecessarily exposing their families and pets to an herbicide than anyone else. Triclopyr degrades very rapidly in water to inert compounds with a submerged half-life of only three to eight days, leaving zero chemical footprint after a passage of time. The LMA has stated many times over the last seven years, Triclopyr is certified as safe for humans, wildlife and the environment by the EPA and the DNR. According to the EPA, no herbicide may be registered for aquatic use if it has more than one in a million chance of causing harmful effects to humans, wildlife, or the environment. Triclopyr falls under that threshold. Item #02 - CC Agenda - 04/22/2013 Approval of Council Minutes 04/08/2013 [Page 4 of 21]