01-10-2005 CC MIN - Laserfiche WebLink

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. . . City Council Minutes January 10,2005 Page 3 Out-of-State Conference for Training Officer Fire Chief Bruce West explained that Phil Collins has been assisting Assistant Chief Mike Trunnel in the role of Lead Training Officer. He was requesting Mr. Collins be approved to attend training in Indiana. He stated this is an unusual scenario since Mr. Collins is not a department head. MOVED BY COUNCILMEMBER GUMPHREY AND SECONDED BY COUNCILMEMBER FARBER TO SEND ELK RIVER FIRE DEPARTMENT CAPTAIN/TRAINING OFFICER PHIL COLLINS TO THE FIRE DEPARTMENTS INSTRUCTORS CONFERENCE IN INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA APRIL 11-16, 2005. MOTION CARRIED 4-0. 5.4 Update on Environmental Issues/Activities Wetland Buffer Ordinance Environmental Technician Rebecca Haug reviewed with the Council her memo in regard to the technical evaluation panel which meets monthly to discuss projects in the city that affect wetlands. A suggestion that came from the panel and that came out of the Natural Resources Inventory was that the City adopt a wetland buffer ordinance. She stated that the purpose of a wetland buffer is to provide a vegetative area that surrounds a wetland and reduces the negative impacts to wetlands from adjacent developments. She reviewed the recommendations from her memo and stated that she was looking for comments from the Council. Mayor Klinzing stated that she feels 45 feet is a reasonable amount, however, she doesn't know of any remaining large area that this will affect within the City. She wished that this ordinance had been in place a couple years ago. Councilmember Farber asked if this would be used with current homes. Ms. Haug stated, no, it would only be used with new plats and staff felt that it was not fair to apply this to those plats that are in the process of approval. Councilmember Gumphrey inquired as to who determines what is a native plant. Ms. Haug replied that the inquirer would need to talk to her. The developer would be responsible for removing exotic and invasive species in the wetlands in their project. Councilmember Motin stated that he wanted to be sure that local developers would have a chance to see this draft ordinance and an opportunity to provide comments prior to adoption. Old City Dump Environmental Technician Rebecca Haug reviewed with the Council the results of samples taken at several sites at the old city dump location. It is staff's recommendation to 1) continue annual monitoring until future plans for the site are known; 2) continue to send results of the private well-testing to the individual residents. Councilmember Farber asked at what point could we feel that this area will be safe. Ms. Haug replied when there are no VOC levels.