Laserfiche WebLink
Response <br />Minnesota statute defines two projects as "connected actions" if a responsible <br />governmental unit determines: (1) one project would directly induce the <br />other; (2) one project is a prerequisite for the other; or (3) neither project is <br />justified by itself. <br /> <br />The proposed road is needed for proper traffic flow through the city even if <br />the urban area as defined in the EAW remains rural. It is also true that the <br />urban area defined in the EAW could and would develop with urban services <br />without the proposed road. These are not connected actions as defined by <br />Minnesota state statute. However, the city did go beyond would typically be <br />done by other governmental agencies for EAWs regarding roads and <br />identified the proposed urban area. <br /> <br />In their criticism of the detail provided in the EAW on the development of <br />urban service area, Dorsey & Whitney: (1) forget that the EAW was required <br />for the proposed road not the sewer and water expansion; (2) confuse <br />potential for environmental impact with the standard for ordering an EIS, <br />which is the potential for significant environmental effect; and (3) seem to be <br />requesting a level of detail in the EAW that can not be provided without <br />specific development proposals in the urban area. <br /> <br />Comment <br />In several locations in their letter, Dorsey and Whitney comment on the <br />Mississippi River, Trott Brook, and the issue of surface runoff. <br /> <br />Response <br />Staff refers the Council to their response to the DNR regarding these issues. <br /> <br />Comment <br /> <br />Dorsey and Whitney question the detail in which the EAW describes impacts <br />on wetlands and the mitigation of these impacts. <br /> <br />Response <br />The exact impact on wetlands due to development in the urban service area <br />obviously can not be defined because no such development is being proposed <br />at this time. The EAW was completed for the road project. <br /> <br />Even the road project can not infinitely define the impact on wetlands nor <br />absolutely identify the mitigative measures that will be required. The project <br />requires a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, review under the <br />Wetland Conservation Act, and approval from the Sherburne County Ditch <br /> <br /> <br />