Laserfiche WebLink
Ctyof , <br />REQUEST FOR ACTION <br />To <br />Item Number <br />Ma or & Ci Council <br />5.5. <br />Agenda Section <br />Meeting Date <br />Prepared by <br />Worksession <br />June 13, 2011 <br />Rebecca Haug, Environmental <br />Administrator <br />Item Description <br />Reviewed by <br />Beach Posting Policy <br />Gag Leirmoe, WWTP <br />Reviewed by <br />Tim Simon, Finance Director <br />Action RegiLested <br />Approve the updated Beach Posting Policy to reflect the following: the average of five swimming beach <br />samples in a 30 -day period should not exceed a count of more than 200 fecal coliform bacteria colonies <br />per 100 mL of water and that no one sample should exceed 1,000 fecal coliform bacteria colonies per 100 <br />mL of water. <br />Background/ Discussion <br />The Lake Orono Improvement Association (LOIA) attended the March 14, 2011 City Council meeting. <br />During the meeting, Paul Sheets, President of the LOIA, stated that the Minnesota Department of Health <br />(MDH) has less restrictive beach posting policy than the City. The Council directed staff to look into the <br />MDH policy for beach posting. <br />Staff has been researching other communities' beach posting requirements. Hennepin County Public <br />Health samples and analyzes the water at 31 public swimming beaches to ensure that they are safe to <br />swim in. Their sampling meets the EPA safe beach water standards. The measured E. coli bacteria <br />counts must be below 235 CFU /100 mL in a single sample or the geometric mean of 126 CFU /100 mL <br />from multiple samples. If the E. coli bacteria levels exceed these guidelines, Hennepin County Public <br />Health recommends beach closure until resample results show a level within an acceptable range. <br />In order to maintain healthy swimming beaches, the State of Minnesota established the following <br />recommendations: <br />• The average of five swimming beach samples in a 30 -day period should not exceed a count <br />of more than 200 fecal coliform bacteria cells per 100 mL of water. <br />• No one sample should have a fecal coliform count greater than 1,000 bacteria colonies per <br />100 mL of water. If a sample exceeds 1,000 bacteria colonies per <br />100 mL, consideration should be given to closing the swimming beach. <br />Staff discussed the different sampling practices with the Lake Orono Water Quality Committee at their <br />May 11, 2011 meeting. The Committee is in favor of the Beach Posting policy being the average of five <br />swimming beach samples in a 30 -day period not exceeding a count of more than 200 fecal coliform <br />bacteria cells per 100 mL of water. <br />N: \Public Bodies \City Council \Council RCA \Agenda Packet\06-13-201 1 \Beach posting.docx <br />