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January 7, 2005 To: Mayor Peterson and Council Members Ron Moorse, City Administrator From: Greg Gappa, Director of Public Services 53 3. Subject: Drainage 665 Orchard Park Road The property owner at 665 Orchard Park Road has contacted the City regarding high water levels in a pond located in the center of this property. These high water levels are restricting the use of the western portion of the property for the grazing of horses. This issue has been an ongoing concern for about the past 10 years. The pond area on this property is currently classified as Type 4 wetland by the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District(MCWD) as shown on the attached map. The 2 foot contour lines on this map correspond very well with the MCWD Wetland designation. These contours show a low drainage swale area through the center of all the properties on the west side of Orchard Park Road. Aerial photos of this area from the years 1955, 1975, 1989, 1994, and 2000 are also attached to provide a historical perspective. Also included is a 1994 report from Pinnacle Engineering on this issue. This engineering firm was retained by the property owner to review this situation. According to then information in the Pinnacle Engineering Report,this property was purchased by the current owners in 1985, and there was a small wet area on the northern portion of the property which is observable on the 1975 and 1989 aerial photos. The 1994 photo appears to show a darker color wet area extending further south on the property, and the 2000 photo shows a ponding area across the entire property. In October, City staff completed a site inspection of this property. The ponding area extends to within about 5 feet of the fence on the south property line. The entire area downstream of the pond is flat soft uneven ground with 5 foot high grass and it is difficult to tell if any grading has recently been completed in this area. The property to the south, 615 Orchard Park Road, did not have any standing water but appears to be poorly drained. I have had a phone conversation with the owner of 615 Orchard Park Road. He purchased his property in 1974 and stated that in the spring and other wet periods the low drainage area in the center of the property is normally underwater. He also provided information on the history of this area that he had obtained from Milton Thurber who had owned 665 Orchard Park Road since at least 1955. In the 1950's,the property owners installed draintile across 665, 615, 585 which outleted into the large wetland on 525 Orchard Park Road. This draintile was installed to drain the existing wet area in the center of the properties so it could be farmed. The older air photos do show that this area was being farmed. However, according to Mr. Thurber the area was always marginal farmland even with the draintile. In the 1994 Pinnacle Report,the opinion is presented that this area previously was (seasonally flooded&wet meadow wetlands) which calls into the doubt how well this draintile system actually did function.