Minutes - Council - 01/22/2008 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Case #3: Consider Approval of Environmental Policy Board Work Plan Interim Community Development Director Frolik stated the Environmental Policy Board (EPB) is responsible for developing an annual work plan that is subject to the approval of City Council. At their January meeting, the EPB finalized its work plan and directed staff to forward it to Council for consideration and approval. Ms. Frolik requested Council to review the EPB work plan. She stated if Council has any pertinent changes, the work plan can be brought back to the EPB for review and included on a City Council Consent Agenda for ratification. Councilmember Strommen pointed out that this work plan was formulated with the thinking that the first item would probably be much of EPB' s work for the year. She suggested the EPB may want an opportunity to revisit the work plan and have a discussion on what they plan to do. Interim Community Development Director Frolik replied her understanding is that the EPB chose to leave it on the work plan in the event that there may be other avenues down the path of open space that the Council may want them to consider. Mayor Gamec commented he believes the first bullet point is left open enough and there may be new initiatives coming forward. Councilmember Strommen suggested that the third item under the first bullet point should be pulled out as a separate bullet point. Councilmember Look recited information from City Code regarding the EPB. He expressed concern relating to the redundancy of the EPB and the Lower Rum River Watershed Management Organization (LRRWMO). He stated Council approved the LRRWMO Joint Powers Agreement (JPA), and the LRRWMO is dealing with soil erosion and different forms of pollution. The LRRWMO goes out and actually solicits engineering help to determine scientific specifics relating to erosion. His concern is that the City is already using the LRRWMO for these measures, and the LRRWMO is incurring expenses to determine the impacts of erosion, etc. He stated he is hesitant to say the City should have a redundant policy board to look at some of the same things the LRRWMO is looking at. Mayor Gamec stated several things in government are redundant. However, if there is something that the City wants to support, with the EPB they may be able to argue the point in a manner that is beneficial to the City, rather than leaving it completely to an outside board. He stated several years ago there were a couple of issues in regards to wetlands where the City actually went in and worked with the people and was able to have three to four homes built in an area where the LRRWMO was not in favor of doing that. The City was able to present a good enough program to help the landowners out in developing the area. Councilmember Strommen stated she does not believe these entities are the same at all; they serve completely different purposes. The LRRWMO is an entity in state law created to implement the Wetland Conservation Act. The engineering work they do in relation to erosion and wetlands is very specific to the permitting process. The EPB was created to deal with issues specific to the City of Ramsey, not permitting issues. The EPB deals with things that the City Council / January 22, 2008 Page 10 of22