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<br />Councilmember Elvig returned to the Council Chambers at 8:35 p.m. <br /> <br />Mr. Howe stated that this is a milestone step for the City as part of a plan to protect its drinking <br />water. He stated that tonight's presentation will serve as a public information meeting. He <br />reviewed the reasons to protect the water supply and the purpose of wellhead protection. <br /> <br />Councilmember Jeffrey left the Council Chambers at 8:38 p.m. <br /> <br />He reviewed the acronyms WHPA, which stands for Wellhead Protection Area, and DWSMA, <br />which stands for Drinking Water Supply Management Area. He reviewed maps ofthe City and <br />the DWSMA and WHPA areas. He noted that he has 5 copies available of the DWSMA <br />boundaries, but noted that this information can also be accessed on the City's website. <br /> <br />Councilmember Jeffrey returned to the Council Chambers at 8:43 p.m. <br /> <br />Mr. Howe reviewed the ten-step Wellhead Protection Plan and noted that the City is on step 2 <br />assessing the vulnerability of the well and the aquifer. He reiterated that this presentation is <br />intended to be a public information meeting on this plan. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec stated that there has been a lot of media attention lately about contaminants in <br />water supplies. He stated that he knows the City sends in samples periodically and noted that it <br />would be good to see what has shown up in our water. <br /> <br />Public Works Director Olson stated that he can get that information for the Council. <br /> <br />Councilmember Look stated that he knows that there are a lot of potential contaminants and <br />asked for rough numbers of what they are monitoring. <br /> <br />Mr. Howe stated that currently, there are 104 regulated contaminants, but the federal government <br />is constantly adding new ones. He stated that currently, Ramsey's system is tested on the entire <br />list every three to five years. He stated that there is a consumer confidence report that the <br />Department of Health helps the City put together which gives a quick summary of what is in the <br />water. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec asked if there was regular testing conducted around t,he test wells near the landfill. <br /> <br />Mr. Howe stated that the Pollution Control Agency has jurisdiction over the test wells near the <br />landfill. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig asked if the there was monitoring done on the Mississippi River. <br /> <br />Mr. Howe stated that this is a very timely question, because while there is no mandate to have a <br />program monitoring the Mississippi River, Minneapolis, St. Paul and St. Cloud are all working <br />on studying their intakes on the Mississippi River. He stated that this still needs State review and <br />is still voluntary at this point, but he feels this will occur in the future. <br /> <br />City Council / March 11, 2008 <br />Page 10 of 16 <br />