May 16, 2017 Regular CC Meeting
City of Oronoco
Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Public Hearing @ 6:30 pm
Regular City Council Meeting @ 7:00pm
I. CALL TO ORDER
The Regular City Council meeting was called to order by Mayor Ryland Eichhorst at 7:05pm
II. ROLL CALL
Present: Mayor Ryland Eichhorst, Councilor Trish Shields, Councilor Beau Hanenberger, Councilor Carl Krause, Councilor Nancy Quimby, Clerk Sandy Jessen, Engineer Joe Palen, Attorney Fred Suhler, and Assistant Clerk Rebecca McGuire.
Absent: None
III. RIVER BEND FINAL PLAT PUBLIC HEARING
Mayor Ryland Eichhorst called the River Bend Final Plat Public Hearing to order at 6:30pm
Present: Mayor Ryland Eichhorst, Councilor Trish Shields, Councilor Beau Hanenberger, Councilor Carl Krause, Councilor Nancy Quimby, City Attorney Fred Suhler, City Engineer Joe Palen, City Clerk Sandy Jessen, Assistant City Clerk Rebecca McGuire, and Representative Craig Britton from WSN speaking on behalf of the Riverbend development
Carol Pfefferoen at 5993 100 Street NW, Oronoco: I am following up on the question I brought to Planning & Zoning. I was unable to attend the last meeting. What will happen to the water flow that comes from our field in to the ravine? Is there going to be a water way? Is it changing? I’m here to get answers.
Craig from WSN: Drainage pattern isn’t going to change. We will be providing a drainage utility easement through that water way that goes to the north that we will be able to maintain at all times.
Carol: So, it won’t change the lay of the land?
Craig: No, grading will not take place there.
Carol: How far back? I’m just curious how far back it is into our property. I can ask later.
Mayor Ryland Eichhorst asked Craig to show her what is being proposed. (Conversation continued where the property lines are and what the drainage pattern is.)
Craig: The main change to the plat does include the outlot transfer to the City; it is shown as out lot F and G, the reason for that is that is, this is on the East side where the access point is, was asked by the developers attorney to include, as it provides a clear outline of it. Other than that outlot B includes the pond. The Cul-de-sac in outlot E will be owned by the HOA. City will not maintain it.
Councilor Trish Shields: Will the HOA (Home Owners Association) take care of plowing?
City Engineer Joe Palen: Not the plowing. No. The center, the island in the cul-de-sac, will be planted in to the HOA. The HOA will be able to maintain the planting and landscaping only. We (City) will have the access to the water main under it.
Craig addressed the subdivision name change: Because there is a Riverbend (one word) Subdivision already, they recommended ‘River Bend Addition’. It is not finalized yet. They suggested the name of the street be changed as well to ‘Riverwood Court’ to match up with the ‘Riverwood Drive’ name.
Mayor Ryland Eichhorst: Just a general comment, I will move up the River Bend items in the agenda for council action. Just as an FYI.
Trish: How are F and G working?
Ryland: F and G will continue to be City property (G is an extension of the road to Riverwood Dr. – it’s just an easement through.)
City Clerk Sandy Jessen: The City will own it, its part of the Conditional Use Agreement.
Leanne Lokken at 1075 Riverwood LN: I’m not going to bring up old things that have already been argued on with this whole development. What would be the point? The one thing I do want to repeat though is that it is an incredibly bad place for an intersection; on an uphill and into the western sun. It’s just going to be a dangerous place to have traffic going in and out of there. The lower field…about 2/3 of it is property owners’ lots and the other 1/3 of it is outlot B. It’s been a corn or soy bean field for this past many years – is there any plans to do prairie grass, wild flowers, anything planting to prevent it from growing up buckthorn, boxelder trees and weeds as development is being built so it doesn’t get taken over by crap back there. The drainage pond; I asked if it’s um, don’t want to see any standing water back there for mosquito breading. It’s in my back yard, basically. So I want to make sure it isn’t a standing water thing. I’m questioning how that drainage pond will it be maintained. What is going into it? Sand, salt, garbage? What going to end up in that thing down there. How exactly are people going to get down there for maintenance? And I hoping they are going to do preservation of the white pines, cedars and anything they can maintain the whole wooded nature of the development. I’m concerned about dynamiting over there. I know there’s been preliminary drillings and hit rock not too far down. So there has been rumors that dynamiting probably will be used. So, how will that affect the nearby houses? The covenants…who enforces the covenants? Just the developer or does he have representation? Covenant board or architectural board? That sort of thing. And my last point is is what really is the purpose of this public hearing because it seems like a moot point. The developer is going ahead, has already advertised in the paper that lots are available, a big sign went up a month ago, truly what is the purpose of this public hearing?
Attorney Fred Suhler: I would like to respond to the one question about covenants. People who are part of the association enforce them, not the City. That is the way it is done. The homeowners themselves do that. It’s designed to protect the value of the houses.
Craig with WSN: To respond to some of the questions here; as far as the intersection goes, we looked at that point of access and tried to square it up the best we could to Riverwood Dr. Traffic coming out will be facing east. It was the only access point we had along that stretch. Yes we plan to plant grass, wildflower and there will be walking paths down there. The associating will have that, so it would be up to them to maintain it. The intent is have it grassed.
Leanne: Planting seed?
Craig: Right now it’s a chopped field. When that and the pond area gets disturbed, seed will be planted. They plan to do it with construction.
Leanne: So not in the immediate future, so over the summer it’s going crap.
Craig. No. They plan to do everything with construction. The drainage, as far as the standing water, we do have soil to increase infiltration. Even though the outlot of that pond sits up off the ground, there will be standing water at times, its designed as a wet pond. But with that said, because of the sandy soil we do have, it will be dry at times as well.
Engineer Joe Palen stated that there are requirements and standards for storm water treatment. Their plan is common with what we have in place here, that and in conjunction with city ordinance, we feel that this is the best solution.
Leanne asked about mosquito treatment.
Engineer Joe Palen said there will not be one. It is highly unusual. If you look at the City of Rochester and surrounding, they do not have any control plan. Water will be coming in and exiting that will help control that. We are following the standards. Any clean up that is needed for debris in the pond, the HOA will maintain. Although it is set up through the development agreement that the City does have rights to access that pond and clean it up at the HOAs expense if there is need.
Leanne asked about the easement.
Joe: The easement is 15ft wide. It is wide enough to bring in equipment if needed.
Leanne asked about erosion down into that thing, that path?
Craig: So the water from that development is being piped out to the north, so that’s all underground. It will direct it across…
Leanne asked if it will be clear. It’ll be clear of current shrubs and trees and things from being a drainage path?
Craig: Yes it will be cleared.
Joe: It’s at a 20% slope. It is comprimable.
Craig: As far as the preservation of the trees, we will remove only what is needed. They are trying to keep as many as they can on site. The tree line on the north side will not be touched. Dynamite; we are unsure of how much rock is there. There are a few things that can be done before dynamite. (Craig went over a few options that would be looked at first.) Dynamite is expensive.
Joe: The Purpose of the public hearing is a requirement. Advertisement is at the risk of the developer. This gives the Council a chance to hear public comment and for Council to address questions and concerns to the developer. The developer is/has been following all requirements by the City. There are precautions when blasting is involved. They hire specialized people to mitigate risk to surrounding area.
Leanne asked about sewer. (Discussion about sewer location and if it is a mound system. It is not. In outlot D area. Outlot A tested fine for the treatment system designed.)
Carol asked what happens to the rock that gets dug up.
Craig: They use it for fill areas. (Common practice)
Mindy at 1118 Riverwood Drive: I would live right next to this dynamite issue. Do we have to evacuate our home? I have 2 small children and pets. Joe: No. Mindy: Please expand on this. What are your safe technics? (City Engineer Joe Palen explained what the process is when using dynamite. No one will need to evacuate. There is not flying debris. The company doing the blasting monitors the vibration and they do carry extra insurance. In this instance it would be unusual to see any exceptional risk. Craig elaborated what is involved when you blast. Mindy was concern about the water pressure, will they be able to flush the toilet? Craig: There will be no change in the level of your water service.)
Mayor Ryland Eichhorst called for 3rd call on the public hearing
Carl Bakken at 955 Riverwood LN SW: Probably just voicing stuff that has already been said. I don’t know how much is being absorbed or taken in by the Council. From everything that I have seen and heard with this, it seems like um, I guess there is a question on the intent of the Council for the concern for the people, the residents of Oronoco. Is this more about the money, just lining peoples pockets? I understand there are 17 homes going on less than 5 acres. Which is totally inconsistent with any part of that development area. It is not how it was explained to us when we purchased our land, when we built there. Your cramming a lot of homes in in a small space. Without doing anything for a service road out, cramming more people into an area; it’s a shame. It’s a real shame. The residents are very unhappy. There is a lot more people that are not here and why they are not here is because they don’t have confidence that the Council will really truly listen to what they have to say. I am taking that chance and taking my time to be here to voice my concerns. Hoping it doesn’t fall on deaf ears. That there is not stuff going on under the table. It just seems…it seems wrong. I know some people talked about moving as a result because they don’t want to be a part of it. Maybe that’s a thing we have to consider. Water pressure is an issue. Safety is a concern. It saying you don’t care for the people. That’s a shame. That’s not why I came to Oronoco. That’s not why I raised my family here in Oronoco. So, thanks for letting me voice my opinions, concerns, thank you.
Leanne: I would like to comment to that too. We really feel we are not listened to.
Mayor Ryland Eichhorst: I’ll just make a brief comment. We have talked about this numerous times. The developer has worked with the City. We shared with them all the ordinances they have to meet. They are meeting those ordinances. At the same time we appreciate the public input but the ordinances they have met are very much incompliance with a new development coming into our city. The water pressure is a concern that we recently heard during these city meeting, complaints we have not heard prior to the hearing, We are working toward the water looping that will help with flow and the fire hydrants out there.. There are a lot of positive things that have come out of this process to make it a better situation. We also looked at the secondary access road and we know it would be quite an investment for the City, over $200, 000, and not a real viable way to pay for it. At the same time, we know that any roads are typically put in by the developers at their expense. Riverwood Hills properties 5,6,7,8 and 9 are currently on the market. We are hopeful in the near future a developer will purchase that land and continue to develop it. Riverwood 5 is currently in the City limits. There is opportunity to grow that area as well.
Trish: I think as far as safety goes, we are looking at putting in a trail for the kids down to the park so they are not out in the street. That has been something that has been brought up several times. We are addressing it later on in the meeting. Safety is being addressed as well.
Leanne said that it’s only accessible for a small group in the neighborhood. You have to walk on the street to get to that trail.
Ryland: That’s true for many parts of the City.
Carl: I’ve got a feeling the development… I have been against it all the way. Its cramming a lot of houses into an area it’s not suited for and you know at the time when we were talking about it, you said there was no developable lots in Oronoco…there is a lot over by Gas ‘N Go, there’s all kinds of lots. Not one sold. So it ain’t…
Ryland: I’m not sure about empty lots…
Carl: The sign is right there. It’s been there for 2, 3 months! If you pull out of Gas ‘N go, its right there!
Ryland: That property is for sale, yes. There is no developer there yet.