Minutes - Environmental Policy Board - 12/04/2006

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Chairperson McDilda stated this is an important piece of information to tuck away regarding the comprehensive plan. He stated there are elements that may have implication for planning He stated that the primary objective is preservation of what the city already has, rather than replace it once it's gone. Mr. Nicholson stated that the MLCCS will tell roughly what the city has. He stated that ground truthing is not always 100% accurate but it is a start. Case #2: Wetlands Functions & Values Study Results Presentation Chairperson McDilda welcomed Mr. Ron Peterson. Mr. Peterson introduced Ms. Allison Kampbell, a staff member at Westwood Professional Services. Ms. Kampbell provided EPB members with maps and summary tables of all the field data that was found. Mr. Peterson stated the process began by attempting to apply MNRAM 3.0 to the wetlands in the city, as much as possible, using GIS techniques. Ms. Kampbell explained that the first map covers all the wetlands that were field verified and their classifications. She provided another map covering all the total NWI wetlands, with the addition of the field verified wetlands. She explained the numbering system for each wetland as being the county code, township, range, section, and unique letter for each wetland within each section. Ms. Kampbell explained that the rest of the maps were broken down by all the MNRAM classifications such as shoreline, fishery habitat, aesthetics, recreation, education, flood stormwater, wetland water quality, wildlife habitat, and vegetative diversity and integrity. She stated it gives each of the functional values. Board Member Freeburg arrived at 7:28 p.m. Board Member Bentz asked where the data for the wetland water quality came from. Ms. Kampbell stated that had to do with adjacent land use, whether there was a buffer adjacent to a wetland, how large the vegetative natural buffer was, or whether it's impervious surface adjacent the wetland. Ms. Kampbell stated the questions that dealt with wetland water quality were the soil conditions of the wetlands, sediment delivery, the buffer, management of the adjacent area, if there was any nutrient loading which can be evidence of algae found in the wetland. Coordinator Anderson asked Mr. Peterson if this study was comparable to studies that were done in other communities in terms of water quality. He asked if this came as a surprise considering the water quality and the fact that a lot of the northern part of the city is undeveloped. Environmental Policy Board/ December 4, 2006 Page 8of19