Agenda - Council - 12/08/2015 - Laserfiche WebLink

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City Council Special Session November 10, 2015 Meeting Held at: 6356 Riverdale Drive NW, Ramsey MN City Council Members Present: Mayor Sarah Strommen, Council Member Mark Kuzma, Council Member Melody Shryock, and Council Member Kristine Williams. City Staff Present: Kurt Ulrich, Bruce Westby, Leonard Linton, Michael Healy Residents Present: John Freeburg (host), Dave Acklund, Mike Miller Others Present: Mitch Haustein, Anoka Conversation District Meeting began at 4:03 PM. Topic: Erosion Issues on the Mississippi River Bluffs of Ramsey and Potential Government Role Meeting consisted of a walking tour of several adjacent properties that have experienced erosion issues. The first spot that was surveyed was Mr. Freeburg's property. City officials and staff joined Mr. Freeburg on the staircase leading down to his boat launch area. Mr. Freeburg explained that he first noticed that substantial erosion was taking place on the riverbank in 1992 when he put in stairs going down to the river. At that time, he applied 40 tons of rip -rap to the area in order to reinforce the bank, maintain his property line, and keep his stairs stable. Since that time, Mr. Freeburg estimates that he has had to put upwards of 500 tons of rip -rap and other rock in place in order to keep the erosion of his boat launch at bay. He has spent over $50,000 so far on materials and reports that the cost would have been much higher except that he has connections and has been able to obtain the rip -rap at a heavily discounted rate. The downside of using rip -rap on the bluff is that in order to get it to the riverbank he has to roll it down the bluff or use chutes. This process invariably damages the plants along the bluff and in general tears up the bluff. Mr. Freeburg reports that there is a flooding component in all of this. Floodwaters typically come up fairly high on his stairs. There is a rock ridge nearby and the water above it is often quick to freeze. Water behind the rock ridge then backs up and floods the area, causing erosion. Mr. Freeburg is well aware that the conventional wisdom is "plant grass and trees" to address erosion but he has tried this several times and the river flooding has carried away his plantings. Mr. Freeburg states that if he had not added all of the fill over the years, the river would have eroded away most of his boat launch, leaving the posts that he has sunk into the bank surrounded by river. He isn't sure what the legal ramifications are from this, whether or not he would then be in violation of rules against installing permanent fixtures into the river. Mr. Freeburg reports that a dramatic increase in erosion has occurred in the last forty years and may be the result of temperature fluctuations brought about by the presence of the Monticello power plant up the river. He does not think it makes sense for the river to have been fairly stable for thousands of years only to suddenly start changing rapidly right after the power plant went in. He reports that he has done