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09-24-18 CC WS MinutesCITY OF SHOREWOOD CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2018 MINUTES 1. CONVENE CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION 5755 COUNTRY CLUB ROAD COUNCIL CHAMBERS 5:30 P.M. Mayor Zerby called the meeting to order at 5:30 P.M. A. Roll Call Present. Mayor Zerby; Councilmembers Johnson, Labadie, and Sundberg (arrived at 5:32); City Administrator Lerud; Finance Director Rigdon; Planning Director Darling; Director of Public Works Brown; and, City Engineer Fauske Absent: Councilmember Siakel B. Review Agenda Johnson moved, Labadie seconded, approving the agenda as presented. Motion passed 310. 2. SOLID WASTE COLLECTION City Administrator Lerud gave an overview of the process that began in May for investigating the possibility of organized solid waste collection in the City. He stated that staff is proposing that the community be surveyed by an independent outside firm and holding an open house session at a future work session to present the results. He stated that he had spoken to one firm who stated the approximate cost for the survey would be $7,000 and noted that there is enough money in the Recycling Fund to cover the cost. Councilmember Johnson asked how the survey can capture information related to service because that is the number one issue he heard raised from residents. City Administrator Lerud stated that he assumes the company hired to conduct the survey will give the questions to the Council to review and sign off on before it is sent out. Councilmember Labadie asked if the City went ahead with the survey whether the rates that each garbage hauler is currently charging could be disclosed as part of the survey information. She stated that she thinks this would be valuable information for the residents. She stated that a common issue that was raised to her by residents was people that had special needs, for example, and had difficulty getting the can to the curb, and their hauler accommodated them by coming up the garage and getting he can themselves. She asked whether all the haulers will accommodate that type of issue. City Administrator Lerud noted that the City of Bloomington just recently organized solid waste collection in their city and they have an opt -in service that if you have special circumstances the haulers will pick up the garbage at the garage and not the curb. He stated that this service is being required of all the haulers that service the City. Councilmember Johnson stated that two other issues that need to be included is the possibility for organic material recycling and weekly recycling pick up. CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 24, 2418 Page 2 of 4 Councilmember Sundberg stated that she wants to make sure the citizens understand that there is no decision that has been made. Councilmember Labadie fully supports hiring an independent company to conduct the survey. Mayor Zerby noted that the City is providing recycling services and would like to gather information on how effective that has been. He stated that perhaps the survey should include questions about the two times a year pick up event at Public Works and the possible option for that to become a curb side collection event. Councilmember Johnson stated that another question option may be whether any neighborhoods were interested in organizing their own organized collection. He stated that he believes Chaska and Chanhassen have both had something similar for residents. There was a consensus to give direction to staff to pursue the option of an outside firm conducting a survey regarding organized solid waste collection. Clint Bucher, 5490 Manitou Lane, stated that it is important for the residents to have a voice in the process. He stated that he does not think a survey constitutes a vote by the residents and feels that this is something that should be voted on as a referendum. He read aloud a headline from the June 21, 2018 Minneapolis Star- Tribune newspaper. Lerud said that Bloomington is a charter city and that is different than Shorewood. He said statutory cities are not permitted to hold advisory elections. But he said he would research the issue and include it in his council memo. 3. GRANT STREET DRAINAGE Carol Allmendinger 5915 Grant Street noted that the other individual is on the phone and would like to be part of the discussion, but is on the road for work. She called Nate Onken 5925 Grant Street, and put him on speaker for the meeting. City Engineer Fauske noted that there was a memo in the packet that gave an overview of the process that the City has gone through thus far in regard to Grant Street drainage. She noted that there is a clarification that the damage sustained was during the summer of 2017. She introduced Bill Alms who is with the Water Resources Division at WSB who has been working on the feasibility study. Mr. Akins reviewed the feasibility study information and the water flow analysis. He noted that there is a crown on Park Street that serves as a berm for the overland route. He noted that they are assuming the storm event in August of 2017 was a ten to twenty -five -year rainfall event. Councilmember Sundberg stated that she is getting more and more uneasy about "x" number of year events because the weather trends appear to be breaking all the rules. She asked if that was factored into the equation. Mr. Alms explained that the information used in this modeling was updated in 2014 and is the most current information available. Ms. Almendinger stated that she had showed the Council pictures in April of what had happened at the August 2017 event and asked what Mr. Alms would say the rainfall event from last Thursday would be called because their yards once again flooded. She asked if that would be considered a five -year event or some other name. CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 24, 2018 Page 3 of 4 Mr. Alms stated that they can look at the rainfall gauges for that event. He noted that a four and three - tenths inch rainfall within 24 hours is considered a ten -year rain event and closer to five inches is a twenty - five -year event. He noted that there is some drain tile near 5925 Grant Street that is also draining into this system. Ms. Almendinger asked about the size of the drain tile. Mr. Alms stated that it was a 6 -inch drain tile. Mr.Onken (phone) stated that he believes it is a 4 -inch drain tile. Mr. Alms stated they can double check but he is relying on the survey crew that went out and provided the measurements for their analysis. Ms. Almendinger asked if Mr. Alms had ever gone out to the street when it was raining to see the flow of water. Mr. Alms stated that one of the project engineers went out and visited the site several times, but he is not sure that it happened during any significant rain events. Mayor Zerby asked who the engineer was that was on site. Ms. Almendinger stated that there is a misconnection across the street and noted that she had e- mailed City Engineer Fauske about it. She stated that she did not see a stake in that location so she was unsure if Mr. Alms or his team saw it. Mr. Alms stated that they did received that information and had staff go out and collect that additional piece of information. He stated that he is happy to provide all the topography data that went into the report to make sure that nothing has been missed or incorrect. Mayor Zerby stated that the question that comes to his mind is simply, why is this happening. He stated that based on information from the residents that it was not happening before and now it is. He asked if it is because the pipes cannot carry the water fast enough, because the lots are too low, or some other reason. Mr. Alms stated that the most they can tell is it was two extreme rainfall events. Mayor Zerby reiterated the question he wants answered is why this is happening and why the water is not moving elsewhere. Mr. Alms stated that one of the problems is the capacity underneath Park Street is inadequate and noted that the overland flow route should provide a secondary level of protection. Ms. Almendinger stated that one of the residents that have water issues have been in their home for twelve years and this has never happened until August of 2017. She reviewed some of her pictures from the most recent flooding last week. She stated that the problem is that water has to go uphill in order to drain. Mr. Onken (Phone) stated that the channel is full of debris, rock and dirt and agrees that the water will need to flow uphill in order to drain. He stated that a few years ago when the City was flushing the hydrants, there was a ten foot in diameter and five- foot -deep sink hole at the end of his driveway which is the equivalent of a full dump truck load of dirt and rock that was washed into the ditch and was never excavated. He stated that water has to flow uphill as well as over the pile of dirt and debris in the ditch before it gets anywhere. He stated that he understands the modeling program that Mr. Alms is referring to is a valuable tool, but it cannot factor in all the junk and debris that is blocking the flow of water trying to get through there. Mayor Zerby asked if the City had done a video inspection of the existing system. Mr. Alms stated that he did not believe so because it was newly constructed storm sewer. Public Works Director Brown confirmed that the system in place now is a newly constructed system which are not typically televised, but it can be done if the Council would like. Mayor Zerby stated that thinking the system is new and is effective is not a super accurate statement at this point because something is obviously not working. Public Works Director Brown stated that a six -inch the is never meant to meet a ten -year frequency event for our storm sewer pipes. He stated that the intent of these pipes was to try to dry up a saturated ditch. CITY OF SHOREWOOD COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING MINUTES SEPTEMBER 24, 2018 Page 4 of 4 Mayor Zerby stated that the system seemed to be working for a while and now it isn't. He asked how the City knows that the system is not in some way faulty. Public Works Director Brown stated that the City will televise the system to provide that they system is not faulty. Mayor Zerby stated that the solutions presented are rather costly. Councilmember Sundberg stated that she is also not convinced that the ideas presented are actual solutions at this point. Ms. Almendinger stated that she would like to have people come out during an event so they can see the direction that everything is actually flowing. She noted that the Carlson's now have a river running through their lawn that is bypassing the drain in the corner of her property and traveling across the street. Mr. Onken (phone) stated that before the watermain extension, Park Street did not have a crown, it sloped to the south. He stated that he thinks this change has added double the volume of water. He stated that he believes the solutions is just installing two larger pipes and noted that the residents are not asking for a $700,000 project and purchase of people's property to resolve this issue. Mr. Alms stated that he appreciated all the comments and will take this information and provide a more detailed response. He asked for a few minutes to review the options that they considered. Councilmember Sundberg stated that the suggestion about replacing pipes with adequate size pipes seems pretty logical to her. Councilmember Johnson note that Mr. Onken had mentioned that there is a bunch of dirt and debris in the ditch and asked if the City had jurisdiction to go in and remove the debris. Public Works Director Brown stated that he believes the City can go in and remove the material. Mr. Alms gave a brief overview of each of the three options that were considered: south ponding; north ponding; and lowering the Park Street profile. Mayor Zerby reiterated that he feels the City really needs to get to the root of the problem because it does not sound like there was an issue until the street was reconstructed. He stated that he feels the residents have a good grasp on the situation and have some really good suggestions and this situation warrants digging deeper. 4. ADJOURN Sundberg moved, Johnson seconded, Adjourning the City Council: Work Session of September 24, 2018, at 6:56 P.M. Motion passed 4/0.