MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
PALMER TOWNSHIP
February 8, 2016
The regular meeting of the Palmer Township Board was called to order at 7:00 p.m. at the Palmer Township Hall, with Kathryn Miller absent and Deputy Clerk, Susie Brown in attendance. The meeting was opened with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Susie Brown read the minutes of the January 11, 2016 regular meeting. Supervisor Demeules made a motion to approve the minutes as read. Motion seconded by Supervisor Larson. Motion carried unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report: Treasurer Johnson read the Treasurers report. Supervisor Larson made a motion to approve the Treasurer’s Report as read. Supervisor Demeules seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.
Sheriff’s Report:
Sgt. Andy Oachs was in attendance this evening. There were 83 calls for service. Up from last month. No major incidents to report. There were four crashes and a few snowmobile complaints. There were no questions from the audience.
Fire Department:
Chief Ron Koren reported there were 16 calls for service with 3 medicals and 1 auto accident in Palmer. The Fire meeting is on Wednesday.
Road Maintenance / Signs:
No issues on signs. Clint was asked to check for drifts around the lakes and on 90th Street. There have been a couple of parking issues that are being addressed.
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P. E. C.
Nothing pending for P.E.C. except looking at dates for 2016. April 30th, May 7th or May 21st were suggested dates.
Palmer Park:
Mitch stated the porti-potty is open and the lot is plowed for park users.
Lake Association:
President Wayne Smith presented the board with the water testing report. No other issues at this time.
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Legal Comments:
David Meyers presented the board with a copy of a weight restriction ordinance that could be used in Palmer. A fee schedule will also have to be developed. It can be in effect all year or would need to be posted when it is in effect. David will bring this back in March. A Supervisor will need to be in charge of the enforcement of this ordinance.
NEW BUSINESS:
6 Variances- Mr. Perkins will explain them.
1. Floodplain Driveway Elevation Variance-Because the road is below the floodplain where the driveway meets the road it doesn't meet the height restriction. Supervisor Demeules asked about run-off to 42nd Street. He also stated that the county does not recognize pervious pavers. The last 10 feet of driveway would be running towards the road. Mr. Perkins stated that all the water will be stored on property. There is a 5% grade going down to the road. There is a slope that is 20 feet westerly from the road and a 1-2% grade to the house with 20 feet sloping towards the road. Supervisor Demeules stated that the plans do not show a westerly slope towards 42nd Street. David Meyers stated that John Bogart from Bogart, Pederson, Perkins' Engineering firm, does not know about this plan.
2. 187' Variance in setback from OHWL of Briggs Creek South to build a driveway. Required setback is 200'. The driveway will be 13' from creek. That is the location of the existing driveway. The current house is non-conforming structure. If you raze the structure, the old driveway must be moved in order to build the new house. The creek splits east of 42nd Street and goes on both sides of the property.
3. 144' variance in setback from OHWL of Briggs Creek North to build a driveway. Required setback is 200'. New driveway will be 56' from creek, it is now 16'. The new driveway will be 40' further from North Briggs Creek. The new septic system will be in the middle of the lot, so Perkins can't move the new driveway. The new septic system is from previous variance approvals... The driveway will be 40' narrower and Perkins will be removing old blacktop.
4. 49.48' variance in setback from the OHWL of Briggs Lake to construct a new residence. Required setback from a Recreational Development Lake is 100'. There will be spread
footings used for the residence. An engineer will be designing them. They have lived there for 5 years with a Contract for Deed. Supervisor Larson said he knew what is under the residence and that is not good soil. The pilings will go down only a couple of feet. Chairman Ganz asked if the new residence will be the same weight as before. Mr. Perkins replied that that the structure would be 2 stories rather than the existing 1 story house, but it will be engineered before they start and he is 100% sure there will be no issues. Chairman Ganz commented that it is hard to grant a variance when they don't have all the answers.
5. 147.47' variance in setback from the OHWL of Briggs Creek South to construct new residence. Required setback is 200'.
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6. 149.97' variance from Briggs Creek North to construct a new residence. Required setback is 200'. Mr. Perkins commented that he has worked with the DNR and they said that it is not a forested creek at his site. Supervisor Demeules read from a letter from Roger Stradel sent in
September that stated he commended the zoning department for establishing higher standards for setbacks from the creek and encouraged the Board of Adjustment to uphold these standards. The house will be on a floating slab. Chairman Ganz asked about how much fill will be used? Mr. Perkins stated that 1500 yards of fill. Supervisor Demeules stated that would mean 150-160 trucks of fill, which will put a lot of weight on the township roads. Mr. Perkins replied that he would put a bond up to protect the Town roads, if he needs to do so. Chairman Ganz is concerned with high water. This lot was a water reservoir. Mr. Perkins feels that normal flood water will not touch it. Supervisor Demeules said he had problems seeing what kind of vegetation will be used to prevent excess run-off. He saw no mitigation for run-off. It looks like there is a 15 degree slope of fill all around the house and there will be run-off. Mr. Perkins replied that Supervisor Demeules is wrong. Supervisor Demeules stated he stands corrected and the slope was 15 feet out from the house and not 15 degrees. Chairman Ganz stated that the center of the driveway is at finished grade. Mr. Perkins felt it is not as bad as people think. Supervisor Demeules stated the elevation is 970.1' for the finished floor and the elevation for 42nd Street is less than 967'. That is over 3 feet higher than the road. Supervisor Demeules was concerned about storm water run-off from the new structure. Mr. Perkins said that the county is not concerned because that is clean water, but he would add gutters to the whole structure. He added that the DNR feels this is a huge improvement. The DNR likes that this has less of an imprint than what is there now. Chairman Ganz stated that this is the intake for all the lakes. It is a very delicate piece of property. The Board does not see a hardship. Mr. Perkins replied that the floor is rotten and the electrical is bad. He did not have an inspection prior to moving in. He feels that the new house will have less impact.
Chairman Ganz opened the meeting for public comments.
Charlene Langowski -5060 114th Ave. asked if it was a contract for deed. Mr. Perkins stated that he does not own it. Ms. Langowski was concerned that if something happened to Mr. Perkins during the building of this and his wife decided to move away, the contract for deed owners may not be able to put it back to its original state. Ms. Langowski stated that in the 10 years she worked with the DNR with weed spraying that the area could never be sprayed. The DNR would not even let them plant cat-tails in the area because it is a protected trout stream. She couldn't believe that the DNR would be in favor of this now. Mr. Perkins replied that she should learn more about the watershed. Mr. Perkins stated that he is buying the property when this all gets worked out
.
Mr. Peyton of 11153 42nd Street stated that he is a fisherman and there are no trout there now. He likes Chris and he feels he is trying to make the property better. His home was built in 1937 and he has no water damage underneath it according to his inspection of it. No amount of fill is going to affect it. Chris is moving sheds and making it better. We are talking about a property that
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already has a home on it. What will happen if he can't build on it? We have lived here 1½ years and we have no water damage in our crawlspace.
Margo Josewski of 11455 42nd Street is concerned that her property may be affected by this. They recently built a new house on a special piece of property that never had a house on it. They worked with the county to build it and followed all the rules. Three years ago the water rose to right where the county told them it would and they are happy they built where the county told
them to build. She feels rules and regulations should not be changed just because someone wants to build something they want to. The rules and regulations are made not to be broken. It affects
other peoples' properties and the road. It also could be harmful to the beautiful wildlife. Setbacks are there for a reason.
Jane Grivna of 11141 42nd Street lives a few doors away and is in the floodplain area. In the 2000's water from both the lake and the road came up to her cabin, but not in it. Water has to go
somewhere. That's a lot of dump trucks to be adding fill.
Terry O'Hara of 4763 109th Ave. feels that Mr. Perkins has done his homework and serious consideration should be given to his proposal. He loves it here and he likes that Chris will be improving his home. He likes pontooning around the lakes and looking at nice houses.
Rosalie Musachio of 5262 100th Ave. stated that she was concerned about these variances. We are living on impaired lakes. Her 1931 house will conform better than this new house. She looked at the DNR report and the 4th of July flooding event has happened, so we get more than just Spring flooding and this house is square in the mouth of the creek.
Suzanne Chmielewski of 11160 49th Street stated that she is concerned about how fragile the road is because it was built on a bog. In the past she has walked on the road in front of this house with water up to her knees to stop the school bus from driving thru the water. The road will cost a lot to repair after so many dump trucks have weakened it.
Charlene Langowski asked about the septic system. The septic system is a pretreatment system designed for the new house. Sewage is treated as it goes. It has 3 tanks that will be maintained.
Supervisor Larson said he has lived here all his life. It was a garden and where Mr. Peyton lives was a resort. This house is too big for this property. It is not everyone else's fault that you want a bigger house. The log home next to you was for sale for a long time. Why not buy that one? Common sense says that house will not fit there. There is no land left and if that system fails; what will happen? The rest of the people will not want to put in water and sewer because your system fails and there is no land left to put one.
Chairman Ganz replied that I know this is your dream home. The heartburn comes with the size and changes to the lot that increase run-off. Someone else could build a new house with a smaller footprint. Mr. Perkins responded that the footprint will be less than what it is now.
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Chairman Ganz commented that the weight of the home will be greater and he is concerned about the stability of the home. Mr. Perkins feels that this is a well thought out plan. This was
Mark Schneider's (from county zoning) idea to put it like it is. Mr. Perkins stated he is part of this community and he wants to make it better. He was very sorry the DNR was not there to speak on his behalf. Chairman Ganz commented that this is a very touchy parcel.
David Meyers, township attorney spoke about the legal aspects of these variances. The
Shoreland Variances are controlled by the "Practical Difficulty" Standard. State, Federal,
and County law and ordinances require the applicant asking for a floodplain variance to meet the "Hardship" standard, which is much more difficult.
Supervisor Demeules has been here 60 years. The water has done a lot of damage during flooding. We have to be concerned about the township road and the water going on the road and the trucks on the road. These variances are creating more run-off. That is not acceptable. The applicant has failed to show that there will not be an increase in flood levels. The applicant does not have a run-off plan that would mitigate pollution to the already impaired waters of the Briggs
Lake Chain. The applicant has not shown that these variances are necessary to make reasonable use of this property. The burden of proof rests solely on the applicant to demonstrate that scientific data was used to determine that no increase in flood levels would result from the proposed development. The applicant has not shown exceptional circumstances or undue hardship to justify granting variances per Minnesota Statute.
Variance No. 1: Floodplain Driveway, motion to recommend denial by Steve Demeules, seconded by Mike Ganz, adopted by a unanimous vote of the Board with the following findings:
- The proposed driveway would divert additional water onto the Town road, in violation of Palmer Ordinance No. 111. A variance in the floodplain may not be issued if it conflicts with existing local laws or ordinances. See: 44 C.F.R. Section 60.06 (a)(3).
- Applicant Perkins has the burden to prove that there will be 0.00 additional water drained into the watershed, which could cause any increase in flood levels during a flood. Mr. Perkins argued that granting the Variance would add a very small amount of water to the lake and it would very slightly increase the flood level. Federal law prohibits the granting of a variance that would result in any increase in flood level. See: 44 C.F.R. Section 60.06 (a)(1). The Sherburne County Floodplain Ordinance, Section 16, prohibits a variance if it were to result in any increase flood height. See: Section 13, 10.3 (C)(b)(ii). See also: February 8, 2016 email from Ceil C. Strauss, of the Minnesota DNR, to Lynn Waytashek, in the last paragraph referencing Ms. Strauss’ September 17, 2015 email
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