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PCM 12/21/2016 PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING December 21, 2016 Chairperson Kondrick called the Planning Commission Meeting to order at 7:12 p.m. MEMBERS PRESENT: David Kondrick, Leroy Oquist, Mike Heintz, and Mark Hansen MEMBERS ABSENT: David Ostwald and Brad Sielaff OTHERS PRESENT: Julie Jones, Planning Manager James Kosluchar, Director of Public Works Approval of Minutes: MOTION October 19, 2016 by Commissioner Oquist to approve the minutes as presented. Seconded by Commissioner Hansen. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 1. PUBLIC HEARING: Consideration of adopting an updated Water Supply Management Plan for the City of Fridley for the purpose of meeting state and regional long-range planning requirements for the City's water supply. MOTION by Commissioner Heintz to open the public hearing. Seconded by Commissioner Oquist. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS OPENED AT 7:13 P.M. James Kosluchar, Director of Public Works, stated this is a lengthy plan which is a draft plan right now and staff would certainly like input from the Commissioners and the public. This plan will be a chapter in the City's 2040 Comprehensive Plan. He is sure Ms. Jones will see to it that the formatting will be augmented somewhat or at least they have some text portions that introduce the plan. He had also sent the Planning Commission a copy of the City's chapter from its 2030 Comprehensive Plan for reference. He reviewed the action steps from the 2030 plan. They were: monitoring summer hourly peak demands and considering education and legislative options to address these as needed, updating the City's Emergency Management Plan, developing guidelines for unacceptable usage of unmetered water, completing a rate study to optimize the sustainability of the utility and developing a plan for systematically replacing water mains over a scheduled period of time, and completing and submitting the City's Wellhead Protection Plan by the end of 2008. The City completed all of these action steps. Now the City is onto its next draft. Mr. Kosluchar stated this water supply plan schedule is in advance of the Comprehensive Plan by two years. The main reviewers of the draft plan are the DNR and the Metropolitan Council although watershed districts and neighboring cities will have a chance to review and comment on this as well. Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 2 of 17 Mr. Kosluchar stated the Plan consists of four parts. There is a 1) water system supply system and evaluation, 2) Emergency Preparedness Procedure section, 3) a part on water conservation, and 4) the final part are additional items for metropolitan area communities. Generally in the City's water supply system and evaluation section they talk about the groundwater supply from 13 wells in Fridley, and one main point is that consumption is reduced and declining in Fridley. It is reduced roughly half from the late 1980's even though population has stayed relatively constant. Mr. Kosluchar referred to page 8, Table 2. This also breaks down the City's industrial and residential usage, its unaccounted or unmetered water, and the City's maximum daily demand. If they look at the fourth column from the right, they can see that is declining as well. It used to be above 10 million gallons years ago and last year it was just below 7 million gallons. Mr. Kosluchar stated some water conservation efforts include educating customers to understand it is a finite resource and there has been a lot of press and media and information out there on best ways to sprinkle your lawn for instance, not to do it certain times of the day, do not overwater, etc. all those things have an incremental impact. Also, they know that the interconnect from New Brighton, while it is included in these totals, helps out by reducing groundwater system demand. The peaking factor really has to do with irrigation. People are watering their lawns more efficiently. There may be fewer people watering their lawns or people doing alternatives to typical green lawn in places. They are trying to save the dollars they would spend otherwise on irrigation. Also the City's rates are an inclining block so the more you use the higher rate you pay. Commissioner Heintz asked whether the City counts anything if people have their own well for lawn irrigation? Mr. Kosluchar replied, that does not get included here. The City does not know of or track those numbers. For instance the Fridley Terrace mobile home community has its own well. That is not included in these numbers. Chairperson Kondrick asked whether the City is aware of people who are using the Mississippi water to water their gardens or lawns. Mr. Kosluchar replied he knows of people who have used water from Rice Creek in the past. Mr. Kosluchar stated generally the City's treatment includes filtration, chlorination, and fluoridation. Fluoridation is mandated. He knows that is an item of concern with some residents. The State mandates addition of fluoride, but reduced the requirement about one and one-half years ago, so the City was able to reduce the amount of fluoride the City is applying. Mr. Kosluchar stated that Fridley’s water has had trichloroethylene (TCE) (an industrial solvent) impact its water in the late 1980's and early 1990's. The City never exceeded regulatory standards at that time, but the City did have substantial concern and had to modify how it operated its wells in order to stay under those drinking water standards. Now the City still sees Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 3 of 17 an occasional trace detection in one well, but it has declined over the years and basically does not pose a threat. Even so, the City does monitor for it quarterly. The State actually only requires the City do it once every three years. Chairperson Kondrick said he understood the City was not able to pinpoint the source of that chemical. Mr. Kosluchar replied, right. There was a lot of investigation in the 1990's, and the City was not able to pinpoint the source at that time. Mr. Kosluchar stated recently, coupled with TCE there is a partner compound called 1,4 dioxane that it was not even known as far as health risk until recent years. The EPA does not regulate it. Some states do; some states do not. Minnesota does and the City did some early testing under EPA about the time Minnesota passed the requirement, and they did find some impacts from New Brighton and it was basically from their wells. Even though there are treatment processes they have to treat the TCE, these do not take out this other component. They were delivering it with their water supply to Fridley via the interconnect. It was not an extremely high level but it was high enough where New Brighton shut off those wells they were operating and the City interconnect was shut off at the same time or before that. The City continues to monitor for that chemical. Staff does find traces of that in one well, Well No. 12, in the northeast area of Fridley, but the concentration is very low and has not gotten to the point where it concerns staff enough to locate a source although they are trying to assess that. Chairperson Kondrick asked whether they are able to filter that out? Mr. Kosluchar replied, the City is not. The concentrations at Well No. 12 are below a tenth the health risk limit established by the State, and the health risk limit is basically fully protective of human health according to the Minnesota Health Department. This is a relatively recent development. It did happen last year so staff has been monitoring and confirming that it is still present at that particular well. Mr. Kosluchar stated future demand projections are shown on page 12, Table 7, which is looking at the population projections for 2016 to 2040. The Metropolitan Council projects the City will have 32,500 residents in 2040; and there is a corresponding similar 12 1/2 percent increase in water demand over that time. That is conservative because they know people will be more conservation conscientious over time with water. They also make an allowance for increase in employees in this projection. Even looking ahead on that peak day projected in 2040 at 7.8 million gallons a day, the City's plants have a capacity of 17.7 million gallons per day. Mr. Kosluchar stated some more of the City's plans basically are to maintain its groundwater sources that it has right now. They will reactivate the New Brighton interconnect when their new treatment is in place at the end of 2018. They will work to fully activate or eliminate Well Nos. 1 and 13. Those wells are subject to issues because the City does not have treatment there so it is just chlorination and into the distribution system, and then No. 13 is potentially impacted Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 4 of 17 by the NIROP site down on East River Road. Those have been in reserve. If the City had a fire or some kind of issue they could use it for short term. Mr. Kosluchar stated the City continues monitoring for TCE and 1,4-dioxane and other pollutants; but these ones particularly the City focuses on quarterly monitoring, so they are doing that just to stay ahead and make sure the concentrations are not creeping up. Chairperson Kondrick asked Mr. Kosluchar how often do they monitor for dioxane? Mr. Kosluchar replied that monitoring is quarterly. Concentrations do not fluctuate a lot. It is actually pretty stable. Mr. Kosluchar stated in the City's distribution system it has 106 miles of watermain to maintain. The City has 1,132 hydrants. As far as metering the City is relying 70 percent on meter cards right now, and about 30 percent of the City's system is on AMR meters. However, the City just started early this month with an aggressive changeout, and over the next two years the City will be changing out that remaining 70 percent of meters to an automatic meter reader. The City does quarterly billing, which is not the best for conservation. Monthly billings are superior in that people can monitor results. Historically the City's gallons per capita day consumptions has been around 80 to 90. In 2015, they are down to 62.5. Mr. Kosluchar stated that it is unfortunate that the City does have to increase rates because of lower demand. The City still operates the same equipment. It may use a little less power and treatment chemicals, may be able to extend the filter life, filtered media life, etc.; but those are small increments and the majority of costs are fixed costs in the system. The City still has to operate and maintain all of its pipe, towers, plants, buildings; and all that maintenance is fixed regardless of water production. Also, he has the same number of employees to maintain those components regardless of how much water is going through the system. He may be able to backwash the filters a little bit less so he might be able to have his crews have a weekend or a day on the weekend off. However, it is an incrementally small benefit for reduction in consumption as far as operations go. It is a big benefit as far as the aquifer and sustainability of the utility goes. Mr. Kosluchar stated Capital Investment Plans include projects to replace or rehabilitate 50 percent of the watermain by the time it is 100 years old. They will be halfway to restoration at that time. There is hydrant replacement and reconditioning which is part of their CIP. Also, full AMR metering of the entire system is part of the CIP, which may allow future monthly billing, including the potential for instantaneous water usage feedback. However, the software the City is looking at is fairly expensive. It can, for example, look up your consumption for yesterday or put triggers in the system where if you are a snowbird and you have a plumbing leak in your house, it may alert staff who could maybe get a hold of somebody to shut your water off. Mr. Kosluchar stated the City will also continue to analyze and enact rates for viability. They were actually planning on starting a rate study earlier this year. They got some pricing that was fairly high to do it so they are kind of retooling what they were going to do here. Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 5 of 17 Mr. Kosluchar stated, again, the City has had unprecedented reductions of water usage in the last 10-15 years including over 10 percent consumption drop in three years. This is great for aquifer sustainability and environmental stewardship, but cost savings are not seen by residents who are already conserving. Customer costs per gallon are actually going to drive their bills up. Mr. Kosluchar referred to the graphs for well draw down data. There is a static reading which is the level without the pumps running. The drawdown level is with the pumps running and the output is also recorded. There is a gap there as the City stopped taking those readings in about the mid-90's when until about 2005 when staff reinstituted taking those monthly readings. They can see there is a difference from the old data and when the City was pumping a lot more water. Those aquifer level indicators were a lot lower. Mr. Kosluchar stated as to one of the deeper wells there is a little bit of a narrow band trending down in the last year or two, and they think it might have to do with New Brighton using their deep wells, but they are not sure, so they will just continue to monitor it. As to one of the shallower wells at Commons Park, it is a 150 feet deep, but they can kind of see it has changed for the better. It has been increasing over time, which is positive for the aquifer. Chairperson Kondrick asked whether the quality of the water in the aquifers has changed? Mr. Kosluchar replied other than those contaminants they have seen in the past historically, no. They do concern themselves a little bit with chloride because when that gets in it is basically impossible to remove. Particularly with the City's more shallow wells. They would not expect to see it in the deep Mt. Simon aquifer. The water in there is tens of thousands years old. Those wells are 600+ feet deep. It is very difficult to have something seep in the ground to get to those wells. However, as to the shallower wells, with salt usage over time, there is potential of contamination in the shallower wells. Also, chloride is not in and of itself a regulated contaminant, but it might change the treatment process somehow. Mr. Kosluchar stated Section 2 is on emergency response procedures and of note is on page 24, Table 18. It is priorities for use of water should restrictions be required. This is used either in an emergency or because, for example, the City triggers some of its consumption levels. Basically what staff does annually is monitor what the City has for capacity, and if it exceeds 80 percent of that on any given day then some of these restrictions get activated. It could be, say, going to calendar sprinkling or irrigation. The highest allocation priorities are for institutional. Those would be such places as hospitals; anything that has to do with public health and welfare. Residential is the second prioritized use. Commercial/industrial are next with irrigation below that. Irrigation is considered non-essential usage along with hydrant flushing and fire training. Also, the City does not sell water to any other communities, as indicated by the wholesale entry. Chairperson Kondrick asked do we have any alternative plans of buying water from Minneapolis? Mr. Kosluchar replied, not at this time. Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 6 of 17 Chairperson Kondrick stated there has never been any close need? Mr. Kosluchar replied, in that late 80's period they were probably fairly close. They did not have the excess capacity the City has today due to higher demand. The City has built another treatment plant and it has more storage. The Highway 65 tower was built about that time and Treatment Plant 3 was built about that time. Marian Hills reservoir was built some time after that. They have more capacity than the City did then. Chairperson Kondrick asked Mr. Kosluchar, to the best of his knowledge, is the way Minneapolis treats its water on par with Fridley's? Mr. Kosluchar replied, it is completely different. They have a surface water source. They do have granular activated carbon filtration, and they do that for odor and taste control. Their water is a lot softer than Fridley's. The chemistry is entirely different. This is one of the complications with the Fridley emergency interconnect with Minneapolis. Fridley also has an interconnect with New Brighton and it has an emergency interconnect with Mounds View. Chairperson Kondrick stated so Fridley can grab it if it needs to. Mr. Kosluchar replied, Minneapolis would take some time because what they would have to sample the water to determine proper treatment so it would not impact the City's pipes. Then they would have to changeover sections of the community to that water. The Minneapolis interconnect is not for the purpose of an emergency event. The purpose of the Minneapolis connect is if there were a long-term need to supplement Fridley’s system. Chairperson Kondrick asked if, for instance, a company came in and said, they are going to put up a plant. Fridley learns the company is going to be using a lot of water. How does the City handle that? Mr. Kosluchar replied, there are a couple of things. One, a business that is a huge water consumer that would be their first question is what kind of capacity does the City have? Fridley had Lamar Industries factory, which was a very big water user in Fridley before closing. His understanding is they would use about a million gallons a day, which is substantial. If they look at the City's projections, even having 3 to 4 million gallons a day, they have 14 million gallons capacity remaining. It stretches the system some when they get into that higher production, but it would be available. The City's top ten users last year used about 16 percent of water metered. They included Aramark, Cummins, and Medtronic. As long as a new business was installing system that reasonably managed water and were not just using it for irrigation, the City would welcome them. Mr. Kosluchar stated as to the water conservation plan section, Part 3, staff is really seeking some advice from the Planning Commission on areas of improvement. The main conservation goals of the DNR and the Metropolitan Council are having unaccounted water at less than 10 percent, which the City is meeting currently. Basically what that means is water lost from the Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 7 of 17 time it gets pumped to metered and billed. Hydrant flushing, fire training, watermain breaks contribute to lost water and are considered unaccounted water. Maintaining that below 10 percent is important. Staff has been pretty aggressive about doing that. It does a leak detection survey every year on the entire system. A lot of time they find service leaks. That does not make homeowners happy, but they would rather find out about a small leak vs. a big leak that washes out their yard. Mr. Kosluchar stated one of the other main goals is to have residential per capita demand below 75 gallons per capita per day. The City is at 62 as of last year. It does bounce around a little bit year by year. The City is stabilized below 75. Having a decrease in per capita day demand is always important and the more you practice conservation, the better it is. Chairperson Kondrick asked how is the 75 gallons per day determined? Is it a national average? The City's? Mr. Kosluchar replied, that is a good question. Met Council has reviewed a lot of usage patterns around the country, and this is a good target. Long ago, the standard was 125 gallons per capita per day. However, they did always say that domestic consumption, non-irrigation consumption, as somewhere in the 75 gallons per day per person range. It is kind of a good benchmark. Most cities are fairly close to that if not meeting that already. There are some cities that do not. Mr. Kosluchar stated decreasing peak demands and having a peak factor of less than 2.6 is also an important agency goal. The peak factor is the high day of the year divided by the average. Last year and the year before the City was under 2.0 for its peaking factor, which is extremely low. Long ago, the standard was to project between 3 and 4 for a peak when you design water system capacity. He does not know if they could sustain below 2, but he can say the City will likely sustain below 2.6 fairly easily. Mr. Kosluchar stated the water conservation program the City has right now deals with these metering connections and maintenance and reducing unaccounted water as he mentioned. Having conservation water rates is an important part of promoting conservation. In other words the rate you will see higher per thousand gallons or per gallon as you use more. The plan is used to regulate outdoor water use in extreme events. Having education information programs that complement conservation is another important part of the plan. Commissioner Oquist asked regarding conservation, does the City not require in its Codes that businesses put in sprinkling systems? Julie Jones, Planning Manager, replied, yes, in new developments the City does require irrigation plans. Commissioner Oquist asked if that is a place to look at. Maybe the City should not be requiring that? Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 8 of 17 Ms. Jones stated one positive thing the City did a number of years ago as a result of the Springbrook watershed project is staff took a look at a lot of the City's codes and changed things so that the City now has the option to allow native landscaping. Some businesses are looking at that. For example, the Northern Stacks development is planned for native landscaped areas. Those are areas that are not typically irrigated and not mowed. A lot of it is happening for stormwater treatment purposes. There are a lot of things the City is doing regarding stormwater management that are also benefiting the quality of the groundwater. They are seeing that coming up a lot more and more, and there has been a lot of conversation about it in the proposed new Civic Campus - to look at creative ways to irrigate or plant no mow grass, which reduce water demands. Commissioner Oquist stated it looks nice and he likes to see the green; however, if they are concerned about water consumption and want to conserve it might be a place to look at changes. Ms. Jones stated they looked at it a few years ago as part of that project. They were thinking of it probably more in terms of the single-family homes for people who might want to take a part of their yard and turn it into native landscaping, so the City made an allowance for that in the landscaping code in Chapter 105. Otherwise, the City has the restriction that you have to keep your grass under 10 inches, and staff saw that as a conflict so they had to change some language to allow for native landscaping. They have not seen a lot of people doing that in their private residences, but it is allowed in the City's code. Commissioner Oquist stated he has seen a couple properties in their area with native landscaping. It kind of looks like weeds. They are three, four feet tall. Ms. Jones stated that the Code does require native areas to be maintained, they need to be edged so they are separate from turf grass. It has to look purposeful and it is purposely maintained. Commissioner Hansen stated he remembered reading about a rebate program that is available to businesses or residences that install smart irrigation systems. He asked staff whether they have seen any interest in businesses that are irrigating these large open spaces? Mr. Kosluchar replied, they have not had the response they would like to have. They are trying to get a little more promotion going, including in stores such as Menards. An outreach to the commercial entities may be an additional opportunity - especially the high water users with irrigation, typically they have a separate irrigation meter. The rebates are available for both commercial and residential owners. If you get a low flow, energy efficient toilet, there is a rebate. The range is $150-$200 per component. The rebate is also available if you get an energy star-rated washing machine. Commissioner Heintz asked where would people find that? On the City website? Mr. Kosluchar replied, on the website they can look up Water Efficiency Grant or they call Beth Kondrick who is the contact and she is at 763-572-3554. Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 9 of 17 Mr. Kosluchar stated on page 31, Table 25, there are some strategies outlined that are current and proposed. The first one is revising City ordinance codes to encourage or require water efficient landscaping. There is some of that in the Codes but what they want to do is go through and see where they can improve that. There are some upgrades they would like to do around that same timeframe to the stormwater code so it would be complementary to that. Another good example out there of water efficient landscaping is the Murphy Warehouse on Main Street. He saw a presentation by their CEO who was talking about that project they did there and how much they have saved on landscaping maintenance. Mr. Kosluchar stated staff are looking at possible water reuse options. The State Building Code needs to modernize a little bit before they can see these happen regularly; however, by 2020- 2022 the City will be ready to work on the City's regulations. Mr. Kosluchar stated there are a few ongoing pieces of the conservation strategy. There is potential for incentive rebates on outdoor water use. That is where he was talking about maybe modernizing the City's stormwater code where folks will actually get a credit for use of best practices. Mr. Kosluchar stated the City does make water system infrastructure improvements on an ongoing basis. The City offers free and reduced-cost water audits. That water audit is part of the City's grant program it has available right now. The City does provide those rebates as incentives as well on irrigation component replacement. Mr. Kosluchar stated the City does conduct a good amount of water conservation outreach. Kay Qualley and Julie Jones do a good job on that, as they have opportunities to present to an audience. Mr. Kosluchar referred to Table 26 showing similar strategies for commercial users. Page 34, Table 27, talks about the City's rates. The City does have a rather simple rate structure in place right now. The City uses an inclining block rate so it is volume-rated as you use more which is both for residential and commercial. As you use more you pay more incrementally. Water bills are reported in gallons, which is actually a Best Practice, versus other communities such as Minneapolis which bills in cubic feet. Mr. Kosluchar stated the middle and the right column of Table 27 list poor practices that do not promote conservation. The City does not practice any of those currently. Chairperson Kondrick asked staff whether they have had much pressure on rates that the City is now charging? Mr. Kosluchar replied, he knows the Council is very concerned about the fact that the City has had to adjust rates longer than they thought it would, and the main reason is because consumption is down. Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 10 of 17 Chairperson Kondrick stated that might be something Wally Wysopal could put in one of the City's newsletters. Why things cost the way they are and that the City is conserving, and it is very important. Mr. Kosluchar stated he believed there was an article that talked about rates a little bit but it really did not hit directly on the conservation aspect. Commissioner Heintz asked whether they can separate each billing month now for customers so they can compare it to last year's month? Mr. Kosluchar replied, manually, no. The City does not take the readings that often. Specifically 70 percent of homes that now are billed based on meter cards quarterly. That is the one method to read consumption for the majority of the residents. At some point they will be evaluating monthly billing once they get everybody on AMRs. One of the things they will have to contend with is reading three times as often and dealing with three times as much data. One way around that they have looked at is potential for a fixed collector system which is a set of antennas that are picking transmissions from meters automatically and there is no need to drive around to pick up readings. The bad part of this system is the batteries wear out faster in the meters as they are using up more energy to transmit the readings more frequently. Commissioner Heintz asked but does the City now tell them what they used last year vs. this year? Mr. Kosluchar replied, no, but maybe that is something they can look at. Once the City gets all of its meters switched over maybe it will be something that staff looks at. Maybe the format they use to bill can be evaluated to upgrade that as well. Mr. Kosluchar stated as to Table 28, page 35, there are some additional practices that are talked about here that support wellhead protection. Some of these talk about a master plan for smart growth or open space plan. He is sure Ms. Jones will be taking their suggestions if they have any regarding these plans but they did not want to be so bold so as to suggest those in the draft plan. Mr. Kosluchar stated as to Table 29, page 36, talks about regulation. When the City declares an emergency, how they would proceed. This proposed plan is much the same to where the City is at. There might be some enhancements to emergency declarations, for instance, or whether the City wants to upgrade water restriction requirements on a regular basis. There are communities that have water restrictions on a regular basis. He does not know the City has a need for that with its peaking factor being so low. The City is pretty modest in irrigation uses. Mr. Kosluchar stated that Table 30 on page 37 summarizes the City's water efficiency retrofitting program he was talking about, including the rebate program. Again Ms. Qualley and Ms. Jones have done education on such best practices as rain barrels and rain garden. Commissioner Oquist asked about the low flush toilets. That is all you can buy today. Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 11 of 17 Mr. Kosluchar replied, these are very low water-use fixtures meeting the EnergyStar requirements. These are rated as low as 0.8 or 1 gallon per flush. Commissioner Oquist stated, communication, getting that information out to people, to let them know that is available and what they should be looking at is so important. He would recommend a regular article in the newsletter and every once in a while put it in the Focus. He did not know the City had a rebate program. Commissioner Heintz asked whether they could put some bigger signage at, for instance, Menards. Mr. Kosluchar replied, staff is working on that and with Home Depot right now. Mr. Kosluchar stated as to Table 32, page 42, these are options for Metropolitan Area Communities. He is interested in the Planning Commission's specific input on this. Using zoning controls and basically planning in the City's drinking water supply management areas - also known as DWSMAs. This is defined as the area inside where the groundwater has a ten- year travel time to your wells. They do an analysis and they study this. They figure out how far the groundwater travels annually. In ten years it will travel from an easterly direction for Fridley to Commons well field; it will travel about three or four miles. So they delineate a boundary surrounding well fields. This is done for every community, Commissioner Hansen is likely familiar with this process for Coon Rapids. Commissioner Hansen stated it is really important they take steps to limit what types of development is occurring, for example, maintenance facilities, etc., within this area. Mr. Kosluchar stated the Fridley drinking water supply management area extends into New Brighton quite a distance. Spring Lake Park has some of their area in Fridley’s DWSMA. Fridley has some of its area in Spring Lake Park’s DWSMA. Brooklyn Center just recently updated their plan, and the ten-year travel time to their wells is substantially into Fridley. Some coordination or cooperation might be worthwhile so that Brooklyn Center does not have to worry about what Fridley is doing from a land-use perspective that might impact their wells. One suggestion is to work with those planning agencies or at least review each other’s zoning maps to identify areas where they might have a concern and work with them so their practices are protective of Fridley's water. Commissioner Hansen stated he knows that Coon Creek Watershed District is pretty active in terms of the DWSMAs and how that works across the city boundaries. Does he find the same with Rice Creek Watershed or the Mississippi WMO, do they alert staff if there is some kind of development that might be going on that might affect their DWSMA? Mr. Kosluchar replied so far, not so much, although Fridley’s DWSMA does not extend into the MWMO. Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 12 of 17 Mr. Kosluchar displayed a regional map and pointed out that the southeast area of Fridley is part of New Brighton's drinking water management area. The yellow and the gold areas are Fridley's area which extends outside of Fridley. The kind of pink area and the gold area are Brooklyn Center's so they overlap and then kind of in north that is Spring Lake Park’s overlap with Fridley. Fridley has always been focused on its own community, but about half of Fridley is impacting another city’s wellfield. Fridley's limits run well into Mounds View. Mr. Kosluchar stated the red parcels shown there are parcels that were developed prior to water system reaching and suspected to potentially have wells. There are a lot of potential sites for wells in Fridley and outside of Fridley. One of the reasons staff concerns itself with that is they want to make sure, when they talk about the impacts from surface water and that kind of thing, wells can be just kind of a conduit to instantly impact deeper groundwater. Looking at the boundary for the Brooklyn Center DWSMA that comes quite well into Fridley, something that happens there is going to take less than ten years to get to their well. Mr. Kosluchar stated Fridley does have a well sealing program as well and it does pay for half of the well sealing that is done. This is available on an intermittent basis. The City does not do it constantly but staff will make lists. If you suspect there is a well on your property, staff can certainly come out and take a look. Commissioner Oquist stated to Mr. Kosluchar he is saying it takes ten years for the groundwater to travel? They will probably have the wettest year on record. It will take ten years to get to where the City can actually use it? Mr. Kosluchar replied, the groundwater recharge rate is slower than that. When he was talking about the deep wells and Mt. Simon aquifer, that water is dated over 10,000 years old; it was on the surface of this planet over 10,000 years ago. As to the shallower Prairie Du Chien/Jordan water is quite a bit younger – in the tens of years to hundreds of years. That is the issue with unsealed abandoned wells, especially if it is a deep well, it can be a conduit for anything that goes down right into that aquifer. That is why they concern themselves with unsealed wells, especially when they are not in use. If you have a property with a well, and that well is open, you are obligated by law to annually file a maintenance permit with the State. Commissioner Oquist referred to the table on page 9 and pointed out that it states that it is unknown if the ten businesses listed are implementing a water conservation measures. He wondered if someone could call those folks and find out if they are doing something. Mr. Kosluchar replied, that is a great suggestion and is something he is going to have his staff do. It is true they should do it, and it is likely most of them have. They may not be aware they rank on this list either. Commissioner Hansen asked Ms. Jones back to the DWSMA whether there was any feedback she can give them in terms of what kind of restrictions the City currently has for redevelopment, if any, for those types of areas? Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 13 of 17 Ms. Jones replied, it is not so much the restrictions the City has but what it has planned for development. The City certainly has some approved plans that are approved by the City Council for some pretty substantial redevelopment in the City. There is the Transit Oriented Development (TOD) master plan which is proposed to add as much as 1,000 new housing units near the train station area. Of course they are looking at the new City Hall complex which is another area they are looking to add a substantial number of housing units. There is the Cielo project going on right now adding almost 300 new housing units when it is all done. As far as major industrial development, as they can see in the chart on page 9, these are industrial users that are using substantial amounts of water. Those are the uses that kind of catch Public Works' attention more. As some of that same TOD master plan they do have a large site right now that is just being used for storage for the Met Council pipeline project at East River Road and the 694 freeway. That site is master planned to be industrial partial multi-family and partial commercial. So that could end up being a big water user, too, depending on what goes in there. And then they have all the new development happening in the Northern Stacks industrial development that could potentially have some large water users there, too. The new hotel is finishing being built. There are things going on but that is part of the comprehensive planning process as they know being involved in that with their job the City has to plan for those things. The Met Council knows the City has enough water and sewer capacity to handle those things. Mr. Kosluchar stated he thinks the prohibition of outdoor storage keeps businesses and industries from storing barrels outside, for instance, providing protection where they are not going to corrode and leak into the soil. He also noted that there are stormwater ponds or features, which could infiltrate into the groundwater. There are some in the industrial areas the City will not permit in case there is a spill. Some of those physical controls, the City has to review on a case-by-case basis. The outdoor storage restrictions are most important, because you are preventing something from happening in those cases. Mr. Kosluchar stated when you are looking at development like Northern Stacks, where the main building use is warehousing you have a little less concern than maybe a business who works with industrial chemicals and that is their sole operation. Commissioner Heintz stated at Springbrook they put in the new parking lot and it is a more pervious and porous surface. Is that something they could require more places to do so it is not all running into the stormwater? Mr. Kosluchar replied you want to recharge where you can where it is clear and not where it is risky. You want to make sure if there is an issue out there you are being protective. Northern Stacks is a great example. They have large stormwater holding ponds that are lined. A use such as that whereas with Murphy they are not so concerned about as everything is stored inside. It is a warehouse building, it is relatively clean but it has to be in the right setting, too, and the soil conditions have to be right. Chairperson Kondrick asked what aquifer is underneath the Twin City Army Ammunition site they are talking about developing up in Arden Hills? Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 14 of 17 Mr. Kosluchar replied, this is near New Brighton's supply wells. They are very close to Fridley. That is why New Brighton was impacted early on. It was developer prior to those solvents being discovered and identified as a problem in drinking water, similar to the dioxane. That science and regulation is driven by health officials. It is studies at universities and federal- funded studies that develop that information. They work with animals and testing, etc, and unfortunately this analysis often lags behind use of these chemicals. The 1,4-dioxane chemical was developed by Dow in the late 60's. There is no mandate that they test for that immediately and find out what the toxicology and risk to humans is with use of the chemical. Commissioner Hansen stated he recalled something they discussed at the EQE meeting was the salt application. Are there any thoughts on something that maybe could be put in the plan about salt reduction or maybe just different ways to reduce the chlorides? Mr. Kosluchar replied, absolutely. Deicing chemicals cost money. They are looking at some options for reduction, and it serves two purposes for surface water and storm water quality, and the groundwater quality eventually. Commissioner Hansen stated another comment he has from reading through the material is the use of stormwater reuse on site. It might be beneficial for the City to look at. Putting it in the City codes and ordinances and maybe even allowing business that might be redeveloping to do it. He is thinking of some of the smaller infill development that we have room for in Fridley or redevelopment. Those might be good opportunities for businesses that maybe cannot either infiltrate because of DWSMA issues or there just is not enough room. They are expensive so maybe having some sort of incentive. Perhaps a credit for any stormwater charge if the City has one? Mr. Kosluchar stated they have been recently getting the stormwater rates in line with the City's capital needs and that has been their main focus; but at some point in the future they will hopefully be able to look at a system, like he said, with some options for owners who are doing the right thing and are protecting stormwater quality, the surface water and groundwater. That is a good suggestion. Mr. Kosluchar stated he knows the stormwater reuse is an issue. Ms. Jones mentioned the same in her prior comments, talking about how they are trying to figure it out whether it can be used with the new municipal site. Commissioner Hansen stated as somebody who uses the community gardens it would be great to have nearby but he knows they are expensive. Commissioner Heintz asked if there is something they can do with contractors or suppliers such as Pentair to look at conservation practices with development? Kind of what they did with the Twins stadium and how they made it really water efficient and everything. Maybe some talks with them on what the City's industries could do or what the City can do with industry to conserve more water, etc. Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 15 of 17 Mr. Kosluchar stated that is a great suggestion. He knows that the University of Minnesota has been active in the community. He does not know with how many businesses but knows they have been here and they have offered their TAP business program and what they do is they have students who are available to work with a business to look for efficiencies, specifically geared towards utilities, whether it be electric, gas, water, sewer. There was one business in town that he read a report on that was in a program not too long ago. They have calculated they saved $30,000 a year on the efficiencies by that program; and it is a free program conducted by the University of Minnesota. Mr. Kosluchar stated, in summary, the City's demand is low. The City's aquifers are looking good. Residential consumption is lower than the goal. The City's peaking factor is lower than the goal, and the City has some conservation practices in place. The City is in pretty good shape with regard to sustainability of its water sources. It is working refinements and maybe working on the future with some of the things the Commission recommended here, the stormwater reuse, working on water efficiency programs and formalizing them, working with other zoning and planning agencies and the City's neighbors; and the City will be in really good shape in another ten years. MOTION by Commissioner Oquist closing the public hearing. Seconded by Commission Hansen. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE PUBLIC HEARING WAS CLOSED AT 8:26 P.M. MOTION by Commissioner Oquist recommending the adoption of an updated Water Supply management Plan for the City of Fridley for the purpose of meeting State and regional long- range planning requirements for the City's water supply, with the discussions from tonight. Seconded by Commissioner Heintz. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 2. RECEIVE THE MINUTES OF THE OCTOER 3, 2016, PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING. MOTION by Commissioner Heintz receiving the minutes. Seconded by Commission Oquist. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 3. RECEIVE THE MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 7, 2016, PARKS & RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING. MOTION by Commissioner Heintz receiving the minutes. Seconded by Commission Oquist. Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 16 of 17 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 4. RECEIVE THE MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 11 2016, ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING. MOTION by Commissioner Hansen receiving the minutes. Seconded by Commission Heintz. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 5. RECEIVE THE MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 15, 2016, ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY AND ENERGY COMMISSION MEETING. MOTION by Commissioner Hansen receiving the minutes. Seconded by Commission Heintz. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 6. RECEIVE THE MINUTES OF THE OCTOBER 6, 2016, HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING. MOTION by Commissioner Oquist receiving the minutes. Seconded by Commission Heintz. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. 7. RECEIVE THE MINUTES OF THE NOVEMBER 3, 2016, HOUSING AND REDEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY MEETING. MOTION by Commissioner Oquist receiving the minutes. Seconded by Commission Heintz. UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. OTHER BUSINESS: Ms. Jones announced that the Commission will be meeting on January 18, because the City has received a land use application to expand Woodcrest Baptist Church. She suspected that Planner, Stacy Stromberg, would also have a 2016 year end summary for the Commission. ADJOURN: MOTION by Commissioner Oquist to adjourn. Seconded by Commissioner Hansen. Planning Commission Meeting December 21, 2016 Page 17 of 17 UPON A VOICE VOTE, ALL VOTING AYE, CHAIRPERSON KONDRICK DECLARED THE MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY AND THE MEETING ADJOURNED AT 8:30 P.M. Respectfully submitted, Denise M. Johnson Recording Secretary