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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, May 13, 2013 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 22 of 26 (14. LAKE MINNETONKA CONSERVATION DISTRICT (LMCD) 2014 BUDGET, Continued) Nybeck stated he is here tonight to gain the Council’s feedback on the budget, which will then come back before the LMCD on June 12. There will be an annual city review meeting with city officials, staff members, as well as council members where everyone will have the ability to come in and speak on the budget. At the meeting on June 12, there will likely be a conditional approval of the budget and then the LMCD will vote on the final budget on June 26. Nybeck indicated it is the desire of the LMCD to have the finalized budget back to the cities by July 1. The LMCD functions off of a strategic plan, which contains a variety of things dealing with management and prevention of AIS, ordinances, docks and boats, safety, promoting public access to the lakes, and other items. Nybeck indicated he will be recommending to the LMCD Board that the plan be reviewed since it is approximately four years old. Nybeck noted the LMCD is still actively involved in special event permitting but some of the responsibilities have been delegated to the Sheriff’s Water Patrol to try to streamline the process. The LMCD is also involved in proactive code enforcement, which goes back to 2006. The LMCD receives feedback from the marinas and others as it relates to the competition they face and overall it has been a very successful project. The goal of the program is to identify problematic sites and provide education and help bring them into compliance. The LMCD will work with the various city staffs on those sites to help resolve any issues. The LMCD conducted a low water shoreline inventory last year. Low water is still an issue but the lake is approximately nine or ten inches higher this year than last year. Nybeck stated the Sheriff’s Water Patrol is basically the law enforcement arm of the LMCD. The LMCD is looking at expansion of the solar light program. As it relates to the milfoil and curly leaf plan, this is a five-year public/private demonstration project. Carman’s, Grays, and Phelps Bays were the three bays identified for treatment and large scale treatments were done. The goals and objectives were spelled out in a DNR document called the Lake Vegetation Management Plan. The LMCD also has an AIS task force with a variety of professionals who helped supervise the program. The feedback that the task force provided to the LMCD Board last April was that the project should not extend treatments after 2012 or should not expand the project to other bays until the LMCD has developed a comprehensive vegetation management plan for Lake Minnetonka. The Board concurred with that recommendation The total cost of the project, including both private and public contributions, is approximately $611,000, which was spent over five years for three bays. Carman’s Bay did not have a treatment in 2009 since they fell short on the private fundraising. 2009 was the year this area had high water and it did not lend itself to treatment. Public sector contributions amounted to approximately 56 percent or $345,000. Item #02 - CC Agenda - 05/28/2013 Approval of Council Minutes 05/13/2013 [Page 22 of 26]