Agenda - Council - 03/09/2004 - Laserfiche WebLink

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to the a.q~(~ci:,ti:~{~. 14e explained the storm sewer system in this subdivision was designed to not need thc: ,.'r~tr~, ihal is necessary for these infiltration basins. The rain gardens are above and bcyond wh~ ;~ ~',~n~at subdivision would be required to do because they are trying to treat them a numbcl' oi'li t-,, ~s b,~:f'ore the water gets to the parks. M~yor Ga~c{'. -;t~ticd lit: has been involved with rain gardens in the City for a long time. It is fancy word, t-,~ h,:y have a business development park that looks very nice with a drainage pond that is growi~;~, t~t" ;~ bunch of weeds. They are also in a couple of their parks and other areas. This area ,.~1 I'(,x:.'~ Center will be an example. These rain gardens may be unique and in their premier d{~'v(:it~lm~:~t, lint he is concerned about it. The water stands in the rain gardens and they silt ttp. Itt. {t~c-s;ti:~cd how long tile water would be standing while the City goes back and forth with thc :~>.s~>~:~;~i~,t] lo correct it. In his personal opinion they should use some other maintc~tmt:c; it[i:-; ~s bad news in a premier development. Counciltn,~'~, ,1~,~': (;~)~1~ stated there is a huge difference between a holding pond and a rain garden, and hc do,:s ~(}~ I< t()w if' they have ever actually had rain gardens in the City. The one thing he docs m~t lik,: al~)t t raingardens is in doing their job they silt in. He does like that rain gardens allow sorer: !)l~:~,lt ~mteria] that could not be done without irrigation. He also likes that they are doing sotnt:- clc;mi~g of the storm water. He stated the federal regulations are getting tighter and tighter abt)t!i w]~.i (;all actually be drained into the Mississippi River or Rum River. The City will have i~t~ cf(~ ,~;(J[l-lO el' these things in order to purify their water, especially in this area where there will l~,: ::ig~i[Sc;mt water coming from here for recreational purposes in the parks. There cannot I~c (ti~'~7 silt~zt.1 storm water going down this creek and pond system that is being formed. l-to inct icat~::d i l~, ~: re:cd s to he a much closer look at the landscape plan. ('.oLmcilmc~['~:~ :..;i ,'~m]men commented there are beautiful raingardens and the bottom line is any lanclscal~ir~!~ i:~[v~ ~'~aintenance. She applauds utilizing something a little different. Mt~yor ( ;a~ ~,.x: i;~q t~ired about the types of plants that would be used in the raingardens. Assistant ( '~>r~ ~,.]~til y [)evel oplnent Director Trudgeon replied the Planning Commission shared the same ~:~m~,,t~:~s; [l~_t~ the CoumS1 has expressed. Staff has indicated this to RTC and they appreciate Irc ,~',)~,~'~rt~s. ~l'here will be a specific planning detail, and at the time of final site plan approw~l tl~ ¢'~t~'~c:il will be able to sign off on the specific plantings that will be in the rain garden. R'I'( ' i~ ,:~:~'y ~f)cn to working with the City to get to that point. Assistant i'~¢1i,: ~?/~)rk:y4 Director Olson explained they are still working through some of the issues and I¥I (' is ,,el'y willing to work with the City on that. The biggest key is that if for some rea.soil ill lt~ i~tillr.~, somCOlle decided 20 years from now that this rain garden would be filled in they woul{I 4ii[l h:tvc thc City storm sewer and the treatment downstream. The rain garden provides a l'tt~(:ti~.)~, but the development guidelines can still be changed if they decide it did not we rk wel I, '!'i~t: ~';~i~ garden is another layer of protection and treatment they are providing to the walcr thal il~: ( ':~b, :vould not normally otherwise require in a development. City Council/February 24, 2004 Page 14 of 31