Agenda - Council - 05/27/2003 - Laserfiche WebLink

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-174- surmountable curbs on all roads witlnin the proposed development area so turtles do not beco m e trap I)ed with in the roadways. Response: Althougtn the city of Ramsey uses a standard of B618 curb and gutter, it realizes the importance of protecting turtles from becoming trapped witlfin the roadways and has modified that standard on new developments in sensitive areas. Tlnis standard modification has predominantly been used in residential areas with low traffic volumes. Since the City of Ramsey is committed to protection of any protected species, it would be willing to change to surmountable curbs in all residential areas and look into the. higher traffic roadways and commercial areas to determine the feasibility of installing snrmountable curbs there as well. Comment 12.14: In Section 13 - Water Use, the Ar, JAR states on page 13-'7 that the groundwater level in the FIG llas been trending upward in tine last two years. It goes on to state that there appears to be no effect from pumping the n'mnicipal wells on the water level in the surficial material. It furtlner recommends that long-term monitoring of the surficial aquifer be conducted. The Council concurs with this recommendation. Two years of data is not suf'ficient to show the long-term effects of pumping. The fact that the water level in fine two wells analyzed level offafter a short period of pumping may indicate that water is leaking fi'om the surficial aquifer. In aclclition, the tritium sampling discttssed on pages 19-2 and 19-3 of tlne EAW indicate that water in the City's municipal wells has recharged within the last 50 years suggesting a connection between tile surficial and bedrock aquifers. The Council is currently undertaking studies to evaluate the ability of the FIG aquifer to support planned growth in the northwest metropolitan area. While the study conducted for the AUAR concludes that tile FIG has sufficient capacity to support growth, the Council recommends that the city continue monitoring water levels to establish long-term trends and further evaluate aquifer capacity and potential impact on surface water features. Response: Tile City acknowledges these points and refers tine commenter to tine response to Colnment #13.1. Comme~! tt.13. The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) submitted the following aclvi sory and technical comments: Comment 13.1: The wells used as a source ofsupply by the City of P,._ amsey's water supply system are completed in the FIG aquifer. Local indicators (as discussed in the AUAR, especially in Appendix F) are that the capacity of the FIG in the Ramsey area is sufficient to handle the existing and anticipated future withdrawals, with limited effects on the overlying mater/als. ]~ am not sure if the observations made in the report are due to a higher inherent transmissivity, greater natural and pumping-induced recharge, or some combination of these £actors, than is observed For the FIG elsewhere, but [ would point out that the properties of the FIG are somewhat variable in the Metropolitan Area. Tlnerefore, I would encourage the City to make itself aware of ongoing research being conclucted by the Minnesota Geological Survey and the Metropolitan Council on the FIG 34-26 I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I'