Laserfiche WebLink
City of <br />Elk -~-~ <br />River <br />REQUEST FOR ACTION <br />TO ITEM NUMBER <br />Mayor & Ciry Council 5.3. <br />AGENDA SECTION MEETING DATE PREPARED BY <br />Administration June 6, 2011 Rebecca Haug, Environmental <br /> Administrator <br />ITEM DESCRIPTION REVIEWED BY <br />Beach Posting Policy Ga Leirmoe, Vi1WTP <br /> REVIEWED BY <br />ACTION REQUESTED <br />Update the Beach Posting Policy to reflect the following: the average of five swimming beach samples in <br />a 30-day period should not exceed a count of more than 200 fecal coliform bacteria cells per 100 mL of <br />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 a less restrictive beach posting policy than the Ciry. The Council directed staff to look into <br />the MDH policy for beach posting. <br />Staff has been researching other community beach posting requirements. Hennepin County Public <br />Health samples and analyzes the water at 31 public swimming beaches to ensure they are safe to swim in. <br />Their sampling meets the EPA safe beach water standards. The measured E. coli bacteria counts must be <br />below 235 CFU/100 mL in a single sample or the geometric mean of 126 CFU/100 ml from multiple <br />samples. If the E. coli bacteria levels exceed these guidelines, Hennepin County Public Health <br />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\O6-O1-2011\Beach Posting.docx <br />