Agenda - Council - 03/12/2019 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Council Liaison Shryock suggested that the City ask the developer to preserve those trees to the extent possible. City Planner Anderson stated that this is unique in that when the original plan came forward there were not existing homes. He stated that because the project was broken into phases, the homeowners of lots eight and nine would be mostly impacted by the removal of the trees. He again noted that those lots did not exist when the plan was proposed four years ago. He stated that the City has already granted approval of that plan and staff was looking for consistency with that plan. He noted that staff can explore that option to determine if there is a way to preserve some of those trees. He stated that they would want to ensure that there is proper drainage, as that would impact additional properties. Board Member Covart asked if the hashed area to the west also includes trees proposed to be removed. City Planner Anderson confirmed that the hashed areas include vegetation proposed for removal. He confirmed that the plans are consistent with the plans that were approved four years ago. Motion by Board Member Hiatt and seconded by Board Member Madison to recommend approval of the Landscape Plan contingent upon compliance with the Staff Review Letter with the additional recommendation that the developer investigate the possibility of preserving additional trees on the southern boundary without interfering with the drainage plans. Motion carried. Voting Yes: Chairperson Valentine, Board Member Hiatt, Madison, Covart, and Fetterley. Voting No: None. Absent: Board Member Bernard and Moore. 5.02: Consider Participation in the Simple Recycling Program City Planner Anderson presented the staff report. He stated that staff has been contacted by ACE Solid Waste regarding a new recycling program/opportunity that is available to Ramsey. ACE recently met with representatives from Simple Recycling about a pilot program for curbside recycling of textiles (clothing). This would be separate from the existing curbside recycling program. There does not appear to be any direct cost to the City or to the residents that would utilize the program. The City would, however, market the program through newsletters along with its website and Facebook page. He provided additional input he received from Coon Rapids staff, as that city has participated in a program with Simply Recycling for the past three years. He noted that he plans to meet with ACE and Simple Recycling to gain additional input on thresholds that may be required. He noted that once he has the additional information from the businesses, he would bring the topic back for a more formal consideration by the Board and City Council. Chairperson Valentine stated that from his perspective, the financial side is a bit of a concern and he would want to ensure that this would not burden the City with significant costs. He stated that he would not be concerned with the responsibility for advertising, but with a possible cost if a threshold is not met. He stated that conceptually he believed that this would be interesting to explore and would agree with having further discussion with the businesses. Board Member Hiatt asked if the tonnage collected from this program would assist the City in meeting the recycling requirements set by the County. Environmental Policy Board / January 14, 2019 Page 3 of 5