03-02-2020 Regular CCM - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Minutes March 2, 2020 8.2 LORE Update Page 4 Ms. Erickson outlined the upcoming open house scheduled for March 25, which will provide an opportunity for residents to view the restoration plans, ask questions to staff and consultants from WSB, and provide feedback on the revised plan set. She indicated postcards will be mailed early next week to lakeshore property owners and a notice will be published in the legal section of the Elk River StarNews. Ms. Erickson noted WSB will have very easy -to -read graphics for the open house participants to view, which will allow clear discussions with open house attendees. Ms. Erickson stated the DNR Commissioner said she is unable to give direct approval of the drawn down. Staff will send an opt -out notice to lakeshore property owners with information on contacting the city to notify if they don't support the draw -down project. she stated the opt -out notice, mailed approximately a week after the open house, will provide clear direction on how to respond, whether by phone, email, or written letter, as well as a 30- day deadline for responding. The DNR and city attorney will review the language of the notice. After the 30-day deadline, staff will have a permit package ready to submit to the DNR for the drawdown. Councilmember Christianson asked about the possibility of not having enough funds to do the entire project and the effect it would have on proceeding with the project, along with the permitting process and bids, wondering if the city is held to a specific amount of sedimentation. Mr. Wisner stated they've had that discussion with WSB staff and noted the EAW specified 120,000 cubic yards of sedimentation. He said there has been interest in Lakeshore stakeholders to consider increasing the amount should bid prices come back low as in the 1998 drawdown. He indicated processes have changed since 1998 and suggested writing the bid documents using different considerations, such as Option A as a base package and Option would include more volume of sedimentation removed in specific areas. He stated they are taking a lot of comments and coming up with the best overall plan. He stated the hope would be because of the EAW did identify both the upper and lower lake dredging, they could use Options B too. Ms. Erickson clarified that staff would work with the DNR to amend the permit should the bids come back lower and therefore providing for a different amount of dredging. She stated she doesn't see the requirement to seek additional funding to dredge a certain amount of material and felt by working closely with the DNR they could do less than they apply for should that scenario occur. Councilmember Christianson asked for a timeline if permits were submitted in May. Mr. Wisner stated there is the potential to submit the permit prior to May and before the open house but staff wants to answer stakeholder questions and take in their comments to ensure project transparency. He stated the permit will come with conditions and the opt- out/75% condition is one of them. He stated they're fortunate to have had ongoing meetings with the DNR area hydrologist for the past 3-4 years and because of those active P011EIEI II NATURE