Minutes - Council Work Session - 07/31/2012

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Councilmember Strommen stated the Stormwater Impact Fund would provide some flexibility if the standards cannot be met on the site and allow it to be developable. She asked if the Council wants to provide options through Volume Banking and Stormwater Impact Fund. City Administrator Ulrich stated Ramsey is the most impacted of any member city of the LRRWMO because it has most of the undeveloped land. This means the impacts will be greater in Ramsey since the other member cities developed at a time when there were lesser standards. City Administrator Ulrich stated he is unsure whether there is ability for the other cities to share in some of that burden. Councilmember Strommen noted Andover still has quite a bit of land to develop and their fees are already higher than Ramsey's fees. Anoka has concerns with redevelopment and meeting these standards so they are impacted but, perhaps, in a different way. With regard to Coon Rapids, only a small portion is within the LRRWMO's jurisdiction. Mayor Ramsey stated this is a huge deal and has potential to put development out of reach if the developer is required to purchase credits. He felt it would result in some developers not being interested or the proforma not working. Councilmember Strommen noted the LRRWMO is not the only WMO that has adopted similar Plans and this type of standard is required by the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) to gain their approval. Interim Engineer Nelson stated that is correct and there are several other State level regulations for the separate stormwater permit for stormwater discharge as well as volume reduction standards. In addition, a construction permit is regulated by the MPCA with a 2013 reissuance of a general permit for sites of one acre or greater. Several State level and Federal EPA rule revisions and one inch of pervious will not go away. Interim Engineer Nelson asked if Ramsey wants to allow flexibility or require one inch of infiltration on the site to be developable. Councilmember McGlone stated since Ramsey is bound by this requirement, he wants to assure property owners and developers have options. Since the sureties will also affect the ability to develop land, he urged the Council to consider that heavily. Councilmember McGlone asked if the City will measure the water to assure it infiltrates one inch, how the City is going to regulate this rule, and if the surety covers that cost. He wanted to assure each property owner has the right to develop their land. Councilmember Strommen stated it would be helpful to first decide on the volume banking issue and then consider the surety. Mayor Ramsey stated support to provide options and asked who sets the fees on the credits and banking. Interim Engineer Nelson stated one option is the developer pays the LRRWMO $40,000 per acre of impervious and that money would then be used to fund a project to offset the infiltration. The City Council Work Session / July 31, 2012 Page 10 of 18