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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, July 22, 2013 7:00 o’clock p.m. _____________________________________________________________________________________ Page 13 of 20 (9. BRUSH DISPOSAL SITE UPDATE, Continued) Levang noted she did receive a number of comments from Orono residents who were grateful for the site. McMillan stated a permanent site would involve additional costs and additional manpower. Bremer stated she would prefer a permanent site be in a location that could be more easily monitored. Bremer stated she would also like to look at possibly opening up a section on the city hall site a few times a year. McMillan noted if the ash borer hits Orono, that will have the potential of killing the ash trees in the City’s right-of-ways and parks and those will need to be removed for safety reasons. McMillan stated the City will need to start budgeting for that now. Levang asked what the anticipated time line is for the ash borers to hit the Orono area. McMillan stated when they find the ash borer; they attempt to confine the ash borer to that area by removing the trees as quickly as possible. McMillan noted the wood cannot be transported. At the present time ash borers have been detected in an area in St. Paul and a small area in Minnetonka. Struve indicated he has not heard of the ash borer being found this far west but that he is aware it has been found around Como Park and Falcon Heights. Communities such as Minneapolis have already taken some pre-emptive cutting of trees and applying preventative treatment to hopefully delay the ash borer. Struve noted the treatment needs to be reapplied every year. Printup stated in this week’s Lakeshore Weekly there was some information regarding the ash borer. The City Council directed the City Engineer to compile some options concerning a dump site. 10. CITY LAKE ACCESSES/FIRE LANES Gaffron stated there are approximately 37 lake accesses throughout the City and that there was a recent concern raised during an application that snowmobilers were starting out on the access lane and then going over onto to his property due to the steep terrain. Gaffron stated there are a number of pros and cons associated with marking the accesses. Gaffron noted the packet of information contains some information regarding prior discussions on this issue. Levang asked if the main reason for removing the markers is because the residents are concerned about keeping the general public out or the neighbors out of the access lanes. Gaffron indicated he does not know the exact reason why some of the markers have been removed but that generally the residents like the idea that they are private and not that many people know where they are located. Gaffron stated his belief is that the residents do not want the general public to know about it since there will be parking and other issues that will occur. McMillan asked if Staff can go out to the various sites and identify the boundaries with GIS. Item #03 - CC Agenda - 08/12/2013 Approval of Council Minutes 07/22/2013 [Page 13 of 20]