02-22-2016 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES OF THE ORONO CITY COUNCIL MEETING Monday, February 22, 2016 7:00 o'clock p.m. ROLL CALL The Orono City Council met on the above-mentioned date with the following members present: Mayor Lili Tod McMillan, Council Members Lizz Levang, Aaron Printup, and Dennis Walsh. Absent: Council Member Jim Cornick Jr. Representing Staff were City Administrator Jessica Loftus, Community Development Director Jeremy Barnhart, Senior Planner Michael Gaffron, Public Works Director/City Engineer Adam Edwards, City Attorney Soren Mattick, Consulting City Engineer David Martini, and Recorder Jackie Young. Mayor McMillan called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Item Nos. 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, and 15 were added to the Consent Agenda. Levang moved, Printup seconded, to approve the Consent Agenda as amended. VOTE: Ayes 4, Nays 0. *2. CITY COUNCIL MEETING OF FEBRUARY 9, 2016 Levang moved, Printup seconded, to approve the minutes of the Orono City Council meeting of February 9, 2016, as submitted. VOTE: Ayes 4, Nays 0. PUBLIC COMMENTS Paul Kaster, 2600 Casco Point Road, stated he is here tonight to talk about the fire lane adjacent to his property. Kaster stated the fire lane goes towards the marsh and has not been a problem for many years until recently. Kaster indicated in the 1950s, the person who lived next to the fire lane was a block layer and he used to throw blocks into the wetland to help build the area up. After the area was about halfway built up, that neighbor moved out. Kaster stated when he moved in, there were cattails growing halfway out and during the spring you could watch the fish come into that area. Kaster stated there were many times when someone could not walk in there due to the water. Kaster stated when he built his house, he had a problem putting the driveway in due to the sandy soil. Kaster stated his contractor recommended that he haul in a bunch of fill but that he chose not to and instead built the driveway in the sand. Kaster stated because the driveway is built in sand, if the soil gets saturated and someone drives on it, his driveway would fall away into the swamp. Kaster stated over the years he has watched his driveway very carefully to make sure that did not happen, but in the past few years, the neighbor to the south has started filling in the swamp. Kaster stated as soon as the neighbor started filling it in, he became concerned because if the fire lane is built up to a certain point, the water will not drain and his driveway would be impacted. Kaster stated he then talked with Scott in the Orono Public Works Department and asked him if the wetlands could be filled in, and he said no and that people were not supposed to drive down there either. Kaster indicated Scott then cut a little trench into the ground so the water could drain and placed three big rocks there to prevent people from driving down the fire lane near the marsh. Kaster indicated the rocks were soon pushed off to the side and the area was still being filled. Page 1 of 13