Agenda - Environmental Policy Board - 10/15/2018

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sod is installed or if grass seed is used, once grass has been fully established. He did not think a change in the topsoil specification would result in greater erosion concerns. Board Member Fetterley stated that if there is less quality soil, people may water more frequently or not water enough to maintain grass/sod. City Planner Anderson stated that multiple professors at the University of Minnesota have said that grass does not truly die, as it only goes dormant and once watered again, most will start growing again. Chairperson Valentine referenced the regulations of neighboring communities and whether they have a soil type specification as well as depth. City Planner Anderson confirmed that he would obtain that information from neighboring communities prior to the next time this topic is discussed, specifically what the definition of topsoil is, the amount of topsoil that is required, and the manner in which topsoil is required to be applied. He was unsure that any other communities have identified the premium topsoil specification that Ramsey has identified. City Council Liaison LeTourneau asked if there would be a different definition of base soil for neighboring communities, specifically whether their base soil is also sand or perhaps clay. Chairperson Valentine agreed that it would be important to compare other communities that have a similar sandy base soil that Ramsey has. City Planner Anderson stated that Plymouth has clay soils and therefore comparing their requirements to Ramsey's would be like comparing apples to oranges. He agreed that it would be more important to focus on areas like Elk River and Andover as those are similarly growing communities that also have sandy soils. He stated that although Blaine is more developed, they also have sandy soils and perhaps that would also be a good comparison. City Council Liaison LeTourneau stated that it would also be interesting to find out the other communities' orientation on water conservation. He noted that Ramsey is very orientated towards water conservation and if other communities do not share that concern, they may not have the same requirements. He stated that it is his understanding that Ramsey is handling the majority of the recharge of the aquifer while the discharge is being shared. Board Member Fetterley referenced the educational standpoint and stated that perhaps there could be brainstorming on the information that would need to be shared. She noted that there are different areas of the community, noting that her property has no topsoil and is mostly sand and some property owners have City water while others have well water and therefore there would need to be different educational information shared to different property owners. City Planner Anderson stated that the Board previously developed a water conservation toolbox that could be updated and perhaps there could be discussion of time appropriate information shared in the City newsletter and on the website for this topic. He stated that part of the challenge is that the City can make the information available but cannot make people read the information. He Environmental Policy Board / August 20, 2018 Page 4 of 6