Agenda - Council - 09/22/2009 - Laserfiche WebLink

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• Whether there were adequate sources of material available that would meet the City's specification. The motion from that meeting was to approve the changes proposed by staff (attached to this case are the minutes). Staff has continued working with a local organic soil distributor and has discovered that the testing criteria were slightly flawed, and therefore the results gathered were inaccurate. The problem that exists is that sampling and testing is usually done by weight, and staff is looking for results by volume. Organic matter is lighter in its composition than other components of soil, thus by burning off the organic material during testing the weight may only be reduced slightly but the volume will be greatly affected. This leads to a dilemma in receiving accurate results to quantify the soil samples being presented. It is possible that changes could be made to the existing definition that may more accurately reflect the intent of the ordinance, but it will be more difficult to quantify test results. Staff understands that the main goal of this ordinance is related water conservation, and will enforce it to the greatest extent feasible. However, subjectivity may come into play, and it has always been our intention to present clear direction to builders/developers and eliminate as much subjectivity as possible. Funding Source: City Code amendments are processed with Staff time. Recommendation: Staff is recommending the following changes to the topsoil definition within section 9.02 of City Code: • Clarify that the criteria is based upon volume and not weight. • Elimination of silt from the maximum sand/silt content criteria language. • Reduce the minimum organic content to twenty-five percent (25%), and increase the maximum allowable sand content to thirty percent (30%). Action: Motion to introduce an ordinance amending the definition of topsoil in City Code Section 9.02 (definitions) to clarify volume as the unit of measurement, elimination of silt within the maximum sand/silt content language, and reduce the minimum organic content to twenty-five percent (25%), and the maximum sand content to thirty percent (30%). -or- Motion to .deny the proposed ordinance amending the definition of topsoil in City Code Section 9.02. Attachments: Planning Commission Minutes Reviewed By: Director of Public Works/Principal Ci Engin er Environmental Coordin for ~ CC: 9/22/09