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PL 11/06/1974 - 31175�'� CITY OF FRIDLEY PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES NOVEMBER 6, 1974 PAGE 1 CALL TO ORDER: . �=�� _, �. Chairman Fitzpatrick called the meeting to order at 8:05 P.M. ROLL CALL: Members Present: Members Absent: Others Present: Fitzpatrick, Harris, Lindblad, Blair, Drigans None Thomas Colbert, Assistant Engineer APPROVE PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES: OCTOBER 23, 1974 � MOTION bg BZair, seconded bq Harris, that the Planning Commission approve the minutes of the October 23, Z974 meeting as written. Upoa a voice vote, alI voting aye, the motion carried unanimously. RECEIVE BUILDING STANDARDS-DESIGN CONTROL SUBCOMMITTEE MINUTES: OCTOBER 24, 1974. MOTION by Harris, seconded by Drigans, that the PZanning Commission receive the minutes of the Building Standards-�Design Control Subcommit- tee meeting of October 24, 1974. Upon a voice vote, aZ1 voting aye, � the motion carried unanimously. RECEIVE PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION SUBaONIl�iITTEE MINUTES: OCTOBER 29, 1974 MOTION by BZair, seconded by Drigans, that the Planning Commission receive the minutes of the Parks & Recreation Commission Subcommittee meeting of October 29, 1974. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, the motion carried unanimously. RECEIVE ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY COMMISSION MINUTES: OCTOBER 15, 1974 MOTION BY Drigans, seconded byHarr�is, that the Planninq Commission receive the minutes of the Environmental Quality Commission of October 15, 1974. Upon a voice vote, a11 voting aye, the motion carried unanimously. Mr. Drigans asked that the motion made on page one of these minutes that there be a joint meeting of the E.Q.C. with the City Council and Planning Commission on November 19, 1974 be added to the end ot. the agenda and discussed then. RECEiVE LETTER FROM VIRGIL HERRICK TO DARREL CLARK, DATED OCTOBER 29, 1974 � MOTION by Drigans, seconded by B1air, that the Planning Commission receive the letter from Virgil Herrick to Darrel Clark, dated October � 29, I974. Upon a voice vote, all voting aye, the motion carried unanimously. � Planning Commission i�leeting - November 6, 1974 Page 2 �'`� i"�.�::, 1. CONTINUED: PUBLIC HEARING: CONSIDERATION OF A PROPOSED PRELIMINARY PLAT, P.S. 74-06, ZANDER 5 1ST ADDITI DAILEY HOMES, INC.: A replat of Lot 3, Auditor's No. 92, except the North 169 feet of the West 164 located South of 61st Avenue N.E. between Benjamin Mc Kinley Street N.E. Public Hearing closed. �,.,. � Subdivision f eet thereof , Street and Chairman Fitzpatrick said one of the reasons this item was continued was to have the survey discrepancy checked out. Mr. Colbert said we had our survey crew check the survey and we concurred with the survey done by Dailey Homes. The discrepancy � we found in Mr. Korin's survey was not in the boundary line�,_�but in the setback to his house. Mr. Drigans said there are people in the audience on this proposal, so he thought the Public Hearing should be reopened. MOTION br� Drigans, seconded by Aarris, that the Planning Commission re-open the Public Hearing on the consideration of a proposed preZiminary pZat, P.S.#74-06, Zander's 1st Addition, by DaiZey Homes, Inc. Upon a voice vote, a11 voting,aye, the motion carried unanimous.Zy. Mr. Ken Korin, 6051 Benjamin Street N.E., said that he would assume that when the City surveyed his North property line to put the retaining wall in, they made a mistake in the survey, was this correct? Mr. Colbert �.aid this is a different matter in hand• When the City put the street in, the street was shifted to the South. In order to have room for snow removal, the wall was shifted two feet into Mr. Korin's yard. Mr. Korin said there was no easement given for this wall to be on his property. He asked if the City surveyed his property at the time this street went in. He said the City told him at that time that they did survey his property and were putting the retaining wall right on his property line. Mr. Colbert said they didn't survey it as si.ich, they went by the survey Mr. Korin had registered with the City. Mr. Korin asked how they could use his survey when there weren't any stakes there. Mr. Colbert said it was a combination of his survey and using the section line. Mr. Korin said the City survey must have the same error as the surveyor of his property had made. Mr. Colbert said the City didn't make an error. The street was put in the right of way, the only problem was that the retaining wall had to be moved 2 feet to allow for snow removal. Mr. Korin asked if it was common practice to run a street 5 inches off from a person's property lir�e? Mr. Colbert answered that this was not common practice, but this was not a common street. Mr. Korin said that when the street was put so close to his property line, there must be an error somepl�ace, but Mr. Colbert said there wasn't an error, and this was something he couldn't understand. � Planning Commission Meeting - November 6, 1974 Page 3 ' _: �'�"°'�A,'.� . d=FJ,..'� Mr. Korin told the Planning Commission tha`�'�he had received a letter from the Cit� at the time the street and retaining wall were going in, and this letter stated that the wall would be on his property line. Mr. Colbert said this was the proposal, but the decision was made in the field when the street went in that the wall would have to be moved in from the curb. The wall was placed in relationship to the curb and not the property line. Mr. Korin said then evidently the City didn't do what it said it was going to do. Mr. Colbert said that it was changed from the proposal mentioned in the le tter . Mr. Korin said he didn't want to belabor the point, and if the survey on the proposed plat was accepted as the correct survey, he would accept it also. He wouldn't be losing any property because of this survey, and the City was going to have the problem because he was going to move the wall out to his property line, which would make this wall 5 inches from the curb of the road. He said the City created the problem when they built the street so close to his property"line and not �eaving room for snow removal. ' Chairman Fitzpatrick said he would agree that Mr. Korin had a problem, and he would have to pursue that in any way that he saw f it. �`1 Mr. Harris asked Mr. Colbert how much right of v�aay there was for 61st Avenue at this location. Mr. Colbert said there was a' 30 foot right of way and the street itself is 26 feet back of curb to back of curb. Mr. Harris said there had been a lot of discussion on this street in considering this plat. This is a substandard street , and he couldn't understand why the City put the curb in at all. Mr. Harris continued that there was 5 inches on Mr. Korin's side of the street and only 3� feet on the other side of the street which isn't _ enough for snow removal. Mr. Harris said he questioned the advis- ability of what the Engineering Department had done on this street as a whole. ,�, Mr. Drigans asked Mr. Korin if his surveyor had met �aith the Dailey Homes surveyor, or if either of them had met with the City surveyor? He said that the Planning Commission had requested at their last meeting that this be resolved among the surveyors, and Mr. Clark Taas also going to check to see if this was a legal matter also. Mr. Colbert said the City felt that this was a legal matter between the two parties concerned. Mr. DeWayne Olson said he was a consulting engineer working on this plat, and he understood that the surveyor had contacted Darrel Clark and there wasn't any problem with ttie survey of the plat. He had thought the survey discrepancy was in the 5 feet being added to Mr. Korin's property. He said their survey�or and Mr. Korin's surveyor,Cartwright& Olson, could get together on these surveys. ` Mr. Olson said that as far as the other alterations the Planning Commission had asked to be shown on the proposed plat, they do now show the three to one slope on the South property line, which is causing some problems. They have changed the street dedication for 61st Avenue from 25 feet to 20 feet so that Lot 6 can meet the corner lot front footage requirement. Mr. Olson said the elevation of the �� : � Planning Commission Meeting - November 6, 1974 Page 4 . catch basin that we are tying our storm sewer to, was on the p�at according to the 'as builts', but they are apparently in error, slightly. We are looking at a slightly higher inlet elevation. Mr. Olson said there was a.4% slope which in a 12 inch pipe should maintain 3 feet of flow per second. Mr. Olson said the pipe would be lowered to 940.9 because Mr. Korin's patio elevation was 942.12. � Mr. Korin said he would like someone from the.City to assure him that this pipe was going to handle all the water, even in extre�e conditions, so we wouldn't get water in his basement. Mr. Colbert said that if Mr. Olson's calculations were right, this should take care of the water. Mr. Korin asked what he could do if it didn't? ! He said that this pipe didn't take care of any water now. Mr. Olsoa� i said this had just been stubbed in before, and it wasn't meant to I take care of the water. ,� Mr. Blair asked Mr. Korin what kind of soil was in this area. Mr. Korin said he had sand, but they would be filling in the big Y�ole, that took the water now, with clay. Mr. Korin asked where this pipe was located on the plat. Mr. Olson said it was 5 feet in on Zander's property, and the end of tl�� pipe was quite near the surface. Mr. Korin said it would be very easy for this pipe to freeze up in the winter time. Mr. Olson said that it quite def initely would, and he would be the lat one to propuse a back yard storm sewer. Mr. Korin asked what he was supposed to do during a January thaw or in the early spring when all the water was coming and this pipe was froze up. He asked Mr. Olson why some of the drainage couldn't go to Mc Kinley Street. Nlr. Olson said it wouldn't f low that way because tY�.ere�isn't enough.fall in the elevation Mr. Harris asked if the grade was going to be three to one on the South property line. Mr. Olson said that was the way it was drawn on the plat, but in order to make these lots buildable, they would rather go with terracing. There was a 12% grade on Benjamin Street, which was twice what the City Code allows, and then the house South of the plat was 8 feet above the streety: so this only adds to the problem. Mr. Olson said they would be encroaching on Mr. Korin's property to put in a swale so that some of the surface water overflow could go out to 61st. Mr. Rorin said he had agreed to a 1� foot cut on his property, from the bank, on, but he didn't want it to be more than that. Mr. Dri�ans said he was worried about the drainage pipe being so close to the surface. Who's going to be responsible for this pipe being opened when it was frozen shut? ,^ Mr. Korin said he couldn't imagine the Planning Commission approving a plat that they knew wasn't good. He said he has lived at his present ldcation for 18 years and knew how much water there was in the spring and after a heavy rain. He said there would be water standing all over if that culvert froze, and everyone knew it would freeze. �,..� Planning Commission Meeting - November 6, 1974 Page 5 Mr. Harris asked about having a pipe going out to 61st. Mr. Olson explained that since there is no storm sewer on 61st, it would have to be a surface outlet and you would still have a freezing situation to contend with. Mr. Korin said this wouldn't help his problem either, because of the elevations. Different alternatives were suggested by the Planning Commission but when Mr. Colbert got the plans for storm sewers in the area, he said it was surfaced drained on 61st from B�njamin to Stinson Boule.vard. Mr. Olson said that when this drainage pipe to Benjamin was functioning, it would handle all the water. The fact that it was shallow at an inlet instead of an outfall would at least make it easier to thaw out and there wouid be a better chance of the water flowing. He said this was a tough situation. We have a com- bination of an area, -that was too low (it' s way_ below the street) , witia a very severe grade situation on the street, combined with an existing building that is 8 feet above the street. + Mr. Drigans said he didn't buy the solution given for the drainage problems. We have to protect the two existing properties on either side of this plat. We still have a survey problem and the problem of the street. Chairman Fitzpatrick said there are n drainage problems, but the survey problem is a legal one and couldn't be settled by the Planning Commission. Mr. Korin said the City told his wife that the Dailey Homes survey was correct. Mr. Drigans said there are still two official surveys that do not agree. If Mr. Korin wanted to sell his property and the lending institution asked for a,�talid survey, and it came to light that there were surveys that did not agree, this could cause a problem in the sale of the property. Mr. Korin asked if this plat was approved, would they be in effect, approving the survey as shown on the plat. He said he was not objecting to the survey,'if the City says that this is the correct survey, then that's fine, but this was the survey•he would use also. Mr. Ditzpatrick said he agrees that this was a legal problem between the two parties, but this wouldn't preclude getting some legal advice from the City Attorney. Mr. Harris said that due to some of the past actions of the City, he thinks the City has some liability in this case and it is up to the City to help solve this problem. �'°� Chairman Fitzpatrick said he thought the City Attorney should be asked that if we approve this plat, if we are in effect, approving the survey as shown on the plat. �"1 � � a�;� � Planning Commission Meeting - November 6, 1974 Page 6 Mr. Korin said he didn't want to go on record as objecting to the Dailey Homes survey. If the City says that their survey is correct, ther�hat was fine with him, but he didn't want someone to come along six months later and tell him his property line was one foot in a different direction. He wants to know where he stands. He said he thought he already knew the boundaries of his property, but evidently he didn't know, and now he wants to be sure. Mr. Olson said he would have his surveyor and Mr. Korin's surveyor get together and iron out this problem. Mr. Korin said he didn't want to hold up the development of this plat, but he was very concerned about the drainage for his property. MOTION by Drigans, seconded by Harris, that the Planning Commission continue the consideration of a preliminary pZat, P�.S. #74-06, Zander's Zst Addition, by Dailey Homes, Inc., a rep.Zat of Lot 3, Auditor's Subdivision No. 92, excepf the North ZC�-9 feet of the West 164 feet thereof, located South of 6lst Avenue N.E. between Benjamin Street and Mc Kinley Street N.E. for the following reasons: 1. Request that the petitioner have a11 the survegors of this property corr�e up with a solution to the survey discrepancy. 2. That the drainage problems be worked ouf to the satisfaction of everyone concerned. � 3. Request a Iega1 opinion from the City Attorney, that if the fwo surveys are not in agreement, would the City in approving the final p1at, make that survey binding, and/or can final approval be given to a plat if their remains a survey discrepancy. 4. Petitioner to provide a cross section of how he proposes to terrace the South prope.�fy 1ine, to be continued until November 20, 1974, or until these stipulations can be rnet. Upon a voice vote, a11 voting aye, the motion carried unanimously. 2. PRESENTATION BY JOHN RANCK ON N.S.P. RATES FOR UNDERGROUND UTILITIES ' Mr. Ranck said that when they put the new rates in effect in March of 1974, there were no longer any separ�te charges made for underground utilities to the homeowner. Mr. Clark had told him that the reason this question had come up was because of �he litigation between N.�.P and some developers over a separate $2 a month charge added on to a bill if they had underground utilities. This is what was taken off on March 19, 1974 and incorporated as part of the rate. This was far residential. On commercial and industrial proper�ies, prior to mid 1973, there was a charge based on what the customer wanted. This was usually a charge of $350.00 Going back several years, there was Planning Commission Meeting - November 6, 1974 Page 7 � � a time when the developer paid the entire cost for underground development because N.S.P. hadn't gone into an underground program at that time. Mr. Ranck said that the way that rates are establishe� was that we have to set our rates so that people who are involved in that service, pay for that service. People who have overhead service shouldn't have to help pay for underground service. This is why the underground rates are higher than overhead rates. Mr. Ranck gave the Planning Commission a rate brochure which is included in the minutes. (Page 8) This shows that the underground rates for the first two steps of use are higher than overhead rates. It would make the underground rate about $2 a month higher. People who are already paying the $2 a month as a separate charge, can go to the new underground service rate which incorporates this charge.in the rate. Mr. Ranck said the reason this wasn't put in the incorporated rate prior to March,1974, was that when you establish a rate you want to know the cost i� correct. Mr. Lindblad said it had been his belief that having the utilities underground was a more economical way to go, but evidently it wasn't. Mr. Ranck said that the cost of going underground does n cost more, iniatially, tha-n going above ground. .� Mr. Lindblad said then we have been wrong in encouraging developers to put in underground utilities. Mr. Ranck said it was a better service in the long run, but it does cast more to put it in. Mr. Ranck said the advantage of underground service is during storms, etc., and the disadvantage is the cost of putting in such service. Mr. Harris asked the average kilowatts that a homeowner would use during a month. Mr. Ranck said the average was 400 kilowatt hours, but this would depend upon how each family lived. Mr. Ranck said the way the $2 a month underground figure evolved was that in 1964 developers wanted to go underground and wanted us to set a cost per lot, because at that time they were paying everything. We took the average difference between overhead and underground distribution system, that's the back bone system, which was $95. Then you take off the overhead service drop, which is $30, because underground doesn't need a service drop, which leaves $65. We felt that due to technical improvements as time went along that we would be able to reduce this. $15, so this was taken off the cost to make the cost $50, which would be the average cost per lot to any developer who wanted to go underground. The customer owned and installed the underground service lateral. � In 1960 we re-evaluated this, because the developers wanted to get this cost down and asked if there wasn't some way this cost could be incorporated into the rate or be paid in a lump sum. We found out that the difference between overhead and underground distribution was still $95. The average difference between overhead and under- ground siervice laterals was $85, what totaled to $180. Again we gave ( contined on Page 9�) � � . � Z tfl � 0 � 0. � W 1� 0 o c o O� �;d 'P� $ � ..-�°. � x 0 0 � Q� ��ad .e � j's � G O L`,9 � � u � � ���� i q � = C e �= 4 _ � ;� 7 a e o e�i K K � V �_c,� 0 � 3 3 Q 7 m M � ► m 8��°0�3 0 C � o a � o V '=F 0 ti � O j m � y�E�o �1 U > w N J 4 .� Z W 0 W � %�\ � O E v° � L 0 � �s @� o u � V o� � Q C �' Qa � � 0.5 a m � � �G � o _°a�,Q 4 �; Q � . C N L � � r N .7 ci Planning Commission Meeting - November 6, 1974 Page 8 $ y � e C •� N � � C $,�e•"N G •v 4 u w a 7 'O m °� r o •� c � o �o � ° c ��i.� �i. 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C �p t0 N � V L ' � � J � ^ �C u F' � m 'O y E�y� � i: °>� it 0 0 N � 0 � � V e C � o+ t C 0 � � s � � xp ry q O Ez � � ° °e Y y t �, � Qp Yu $ `' c � � C � ,� O m� .L ..�i � p � � i 8 � 0 ��$ O 3 N U�� � N Q l7 Q ��m 3N � O ] Q O � �° a � � cO � � 7 e � - Q.F.�.-• � Planning Commission Meeting - November 6, 1974 Page 9 n a technical improvement allowance of $15 which reduced the cost to $165. We multiplied this �165 by 15.4o which is the fi�ed . charge factor that includes the cost of money; we have to borrow money to put in the service, depreciation, incom� tax and property tax. This came to $25.41 or $2.11 a month which was rounded off to $2.00 a month. He said that if the developer didn't want to pay $220 per lot, he had to notify the purchaser of the property that this could be paid by them in a lump sum or as an extra $2 a month on their bill. � , . Mr. Ranck said the N.S.P. has l0a of their facilities underground, but we find that 400 of our trouble calls come from underground utilities. He said the telephone company digs into their lines, and we dig into theirs. He said he didn't know how this was going to be resolved. He said that when they put in a service, like in Innsbruck for instance, everything seems to go O.K.until they start digging in the service laterals. He said they try to work with the telephone company and gas company, but as they are such large companies it is difficult for them all to get their crews in the same area at , the same time. Then when they do all get in, the sewer.companies • come in, and it's all right when they are in the street, but when they put the sewer laterals in, something usually gets dug up. Mr. Harris asked what problems they had when the service was in arad operating. Mr. Ranck said that generally they don't have too ^ many problems. We ask the developers to give us a topography of � • the area that will be only 4 inches different from the final grade,. and we bury our facilities 48 inches deep. Mr. Harris told Mr. Ranck that the Planning Commission had been encouraging developers to have underground utilities and he wondered �if�this was a good policy. Mr. Ranck said he thought it was because our commitment now was to an underground system. He said they are working on their problems they have when this system is first installed, but we are gaining on it. He said underground utilities looked much better aesthetically, and due to our severe winters, it would eventually be more trouble free. The Planning Commission thanked Mr. Ranck for his presentation. 3. PRESENTATION BY DAN HUF'F, NATURALIST/RESOURCE COORDIIVATOR ON "NATURAL HISTORY AREAS" FOR THE CITY OF FRTDI;EY Mr. Huff said the results of the November 5th election would change some of the proposals he has made. He would have to wait for more firm direction, especially in the North Park area. He said that when he was hired last July, it was his understand- ing that the City was committed ta some sort of nature education/ nature interpretation program, not necessarily in North Park, but � utilizing whatever was available and suitable in the City. Therefore, he was instructed to spend some time in planning and making adjust- ments on the property we had to work with. He said the first thing he came up with was a proposal for setting up a system of natural history areas. This would include ,�, � � Planning Commission Meeting - November 6, 1974 Page 10 several areas of the City which are for two purposes. One, we have a variety of wild life and natural vegetation at all these sites. One site doesn't emcompass all these things. For instance, Chases Island is an example of a riverine type of forest with cottonwoods, elms and silver maples. North Innsbruck is a different type of forest and North of Dsborne Road is an example of an Oak forest. He said he looked at all the� available areas that belonc��d ��o':t,he parks, or undeveloped public property, and listed the one's �hat he thought were unique enough to put together into a system, each one a local natural history area to be maintained in it's natural state. There would be minimum development, such as fencing where it's needed to protect sensitiye areas, boardwalks or some type of trail system, where needed. These would be self=interpretive trails. with maybe a brochure available mentioning what they should look for. in the area. Mr. Huff said the areas he had chosen were (1) North Innsbruck, where we have the A-frame builaling, (2� the North end of East Moore Lake, a marshy area with cat tails, which provided a natural habitat for ducks and other water fowls. (3) is the dunes area which is on West Moore Lake, between the High Schoc3l and the lake, �ahich is quife unique because all of the County and Fridley was once all like that. (4) was another unique area, Chases Island, which had a flood plain forest. Number 5 was a small area, an undeveloped park North of Hickory Drive, abutting the Burlington Northern property, about 4 acres which has a beautiful stand of natural prairie. Then there is the Rice Creek area, which is a small stream community, which is quite different from Chases Island. He said he had left North Park completely out of the picture, to wait for the results of the referendum. Mr. Huff said that this plan could be altered by elimination of some of the areas, the incorporation of North Park, if this was the decision of the peop�e, which would be the most suitable site for a nature center operation. Mr. F4tzpatrick asked if there was a nature center at North Park would these other areas be eliminated from the plan? Mr. Huff said that would be one alternative. Another alternative would be to have North Park the center of the nature study, and probably eliminate the area North of Hickory Drive and the East side of Moore Lake, but Chases Island, the North Innsbruck area, and the Moore Lake dunes were certainly unique areas that contain things that you woulcln't have at North Park. These are areas suited to being left in their natural state. The°cost of having these areas in addition to North Park, would be minimal, because we already own the property. This would leave natural areas in other parts of the City, rather than having everything at one end of the City, in North Park. We wouldn't be just building one nature center, we would be showing the City that we have several very unique areas that are in their natural state. This is the best suited use for these areas and could be made a part of a system of natural history areas or preserves. Mr. Fitzpatrick said that as far as incorporating Chases Island into this system, what is the relationship of Chases Island to our PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING - November 6, 1974 Page 11 �. park system. Mr. Huff said that it was department. He said the Foundation was this area added to a nature interpretive his plan to have a nature center in one mentioned, such as North Pa.rk, but there to all the other areas. �� � maintained by the park very much in.favor of havina� program. He said it was of the areas he had previously would be conducted tours Mr. Fitzpatrick asked what made some one a naturalist? Mr. Huff said it encompasses a�very broad range of professions, people who are basically traii�ed as educators with a.science background, with a good knowledge of the subject matter. He said his own back- ground was three years as a high school biology teacher, two years teaching environmental technology at a vocational school, and one year as an assistant professor at the university with�a Ph.D i�a wild life and biology. Mr. Lindblad asked Mr. Huff what plans he had for a n�ture center in North Park? Mr. Huff said he had absolutely no plans for North Park. He�said he was instructed by the Mayor and the Cit�r Council not to say one word about any plans for North.Park and was ' instructed not to �ven be on that property during my working hours until after the referendum. He said that this was a piece of property with a lot of alternatives, but he as a naturalist, was not allowed- to explore any of his alternatives. He said he understood the re�.soning behind this request, beaause this would endorse City approval for one type of program over another. He said he wasn't sure in:��.ust what capacity he would be used in the development of North Park. T�is could be handled by a foundation such as Chases Island, and it would be up to the Council as to how a naturalist would fit into the development of North Park as a nature center. Mr. Harris asked Mr. Huff how the survey of trees was coming in Fridley. Mr. Huff said they had found 1,700 diseased and dead trees. He said he had no trouble working with the tree ordinance. Mr. Fitzpatrick asked if removing these trees would really cut down on the problem of d.iseased trees? Mr. Huff answered th"a.t if you can take out 90a of �he diseased trees in one year, you can reduce even Dutch Elm disease to less than 5� per year. Without this, every year the percentage goes up� You could have 10� diseased trees in one year. If the trees are left there, the percentage of the 90% left would be 20o the next year, and 40o the next, so that the curve really goes up until you wouldn't have any Elm trees left. Mr. Fitzpatrick asked what they did with the trees that were removed. Mr. Huff said it would depend upo:� the tree. If they are dead, and we can't determine whether or not they died from a disease, we take them to Anoka County Landfill, which is cert.�fied to handle trees with Dutch Elm disease. They bury them with a minimum of 6" of dirt everyday. With this type of treatment it has been proven that the beetles and their larvae are smothered. The trees can be chipped also. Mr. Drigans asked what could be done with Oak Wilt? Mr. Huff Planning Commission Meeting - November 6; 1974 Page 12 �.^� said that if the tree had been dead a year, it can be used for firewood. If it haGn't been dead a year, then it has tio be removed the same as other diseased trees. Mr. Lindblad asked who paid for the removal of boulevard trees? Mr. Huff said there was a state law that said the cost of managing the boulevard trees would have to be split by 50� as a minimum. He said that if the people can remove the tree themselves, there would be no cost, but if the City removed the tree, the property owner would have to pay 50% of the cost which could be added to their special assessments and repaid over a five year program. We instruct the people very �arefully on how to remove these trees, and make several inspections on the trees, and check again after they have been removed. � Mr. Fitzpatrick asked how long a tree with-Dutch Elm disease is dangerous. Mr. Huff said that even if the`tree was dead, as long as there is bark on the tree, the beetles can still breed in the tree. Mr. Harris said he was particularly concerned abou� �ak Wilt. ' He wondered if this could be stopped. Mr. Huff said this could be stopped 1000. It can be stopped by spraying the healthy trees because almost any insect could transmit the dlsease, and take precautions on any wounds on healthy trees, so no �_nsects can bore into healthy trees. If you trench and break the root grafts, you can k�ep a tree ,.� with Oak Wilt from passing the disease onto the next tree. We have had very good cooperation from the people on the problem trees in Fridley. Nlr. Lindblad asked what the City's policy was on replacing dead and diseased trees. Mr. Huff said the Park Department has done a good job in the parks of replacing trees. As far as boulevard trees, we give the people information on what type of trees they should use to replace the trees, if they so desire, but the City doesn't replace them. Mr. Harris asked Mr. Huff if he was familiar with the proposed tree nursery for the City? Would he be involved with that, or would it just be the Park Department? Mr. Huff said that anything that had to do with natural resources, the Park Department knew that they could call on him to give them any help they might need. Mr. Huff said he was interested in this area also and he did have a forestry background. Chairman Fitzpatrick thanked Mr. Huff f or his presentation. Mr. Harris said he would like Mr. Huff to come back again when some �ecisions had been made for North�Park. $. MEETING WITH ENVIRONMEYITAL QUALITY COMMISSION Mr. Drigans said the Environmental Quality Commission had /'� asked in their minutes to have a joint meeting with the Planning Commission and City Council on November 19, 1974. He said that as the Planning Commission had their work shop meeting on November 18th and their regular Planning Commission meeting on the 20th, he didn't see that the Planning Commission would want to have to attend three meetings in three nights. He asked the secretary how their � Planning Commission Meeting - November 6, 1974 Page 13 agenda was for the meeting on the 20th. It was determined that if ^ they started their regular meeting a half hour earlier, they could meet with the Environmental Quality Commission after this meeting, as there wasn't that much on the agenda. MOTION by Drigans, seconded bg Harris, that the PZanninq Commission recommend to Council, that if they desire a joint meeting with the Environmental Quality Commission, it be held at the conclu�io� of the regularly.scheduled PZanning Commission meeting of November 20, 1974, and that this meeting begin at 7:30 rather than 8:00 P.M. to a1Zow more time for this meeting. Upon a voice vote, all voting a�e, the motion carried unanimously. 5. DISCUSSION Mr. Fitzpatrick said he had been questioned by someone in Fridley that where one house faces the street and the adjoining ' house faces a side street, if the owner of the home facing the ' ' side street could put up a six foot fence along his back property � line. This would make this a side yard fenc� for the house facing , the street. Mr. Colbert said there was nothing in our Code prohibiting this. We can't stop a property owner from having a fence along his back property line. '� Mr. Fitzpatrick said that the property owner facing the street could only put up a fence along his side yard, which could only be even with the front of his house if it was 6 feet high, but because this is the other person's back yard fence, the person facing the street will end up with a six fod�t fence all,.the way to his front property line, which could be a traffic hazard. Mr. Drigans said he has this situation in his neighborhood. Chairman Fitzpatrick adjourned the meeting at 11:00 P.M. Respectfully submitted, �i••�.� � Dorothy Ev nson, Secretary � � >. : _,.- � , G� - ' � —�5�� __ __.. ---� -------- -----� p — i/ �T/� ,a � � ------ _�.�_ ` __�.—__--- ------- '%/O / �G�'-�-1� (O �'� �%� - _ -- �� - - ------------ --- __ �=~�-��.: . _ , - -