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News Alley ~ Updates from City HaIl--June 29, 1998 ~ Public WorkslEngineering Week of May 11-15, 1998 . City has been approved to con- duct Phase II of the traffic signal conversion to LED display for the traffic signals on Trunk Highway 5. Program is being funded by NSP. Week of May 18-22, 1998 . Utility Operator Jerry Johnson was bit by a dog on Tuesday while reading water meters. The dog has been quarantined and the matter has been turned over to Public Safety. . The Public Works Department held an employee picnic in honor of National Public Works Week. Week of May 25-29, 1998 . Speed study for T.H. 101 from West 86th Street to T.H. 5 has been completed by MnDOT. The results of the speed study indicate the current authorized speed limit of 40 m.p.h. is appropriate for existing conditions. . The Lake Lucy water storage tank has again been painted by some youthful local starving artists. At this time, the Sheriff's Department is still investigating the matter and does not yet have any suspects. The graffiti is artistic in nature and not believed to be gang related. Week of May 25-29,1998 · Trunk Highway 7 access closures at Cypress and Fir Tree will take place Monday, June ,I 5. · 1998 SealcoatProject com- mences Tuesday, June 16, weather permitting. · Storm Damaged Tree Status: Clean up continues with completion anticipated by June 24. Week of June 22-26, 1998 . 1998 Sealcoat project is substan- tialIy complete. . The emergency repairs to Well No.7 have been completed and the system is now back in operation. Finance Department . The 1997 audit has been com- pleted and financial statements issued. They will be distributed the first week in July. Planning Department . Attached is an article that appeared in the Star Tribune editorial describing theSouthwest Metro Transit's "Welfare to Work Program." . At the June 17th Planning Commission meeting, the Library Board requested that the City Council establish a task force to hel locate and determine needs for a future library. . See attached regarding Lower Minnesota Watershed District. . Minnehaba Watershed District is requesting a liaison be appointed to their board. Staffrecommends Phillip Elkin be the liaison (see attached letter). CITY OF CHANHASSEN 690 ary Ctnttr Drive. PO Box 147 [h.nhtmen. Minntlota 55317 Phont612.937.l900 General Fax 612.937.5739 Engineering Fax 612,937.9152 Pubilc Saflry Fax 612,934.2524 W1b www.ci.chanhtmen.mn.UI June 24, 1998 Ms. Vemelle Clayton Lotus Realty 470 West 78th Street Chanhassen, MN 55317 Re: Acceptance of Utility Improvements Villages on the Ponds, Phases I & II - Project No. 96-13 & 97-8 Dear Vemelle: On June 22, 1998, the City Council denied your request to accept the utility improvements in Villages on the Ponds. In addition, the City Council required the punchlist items, erosion control measures, site grading, and restoration to be completed by July 13, 1998. No further extensions will be granted. If the work is not completed by this date, the City will use the letter of credit to complete the necessary work. The City Council also permitted Houlihan's to proceed ahead with fmal plat recording (Villages on the Ponds Third Addition) and building permit issuance without utility acceptance. Once the punchlist items, erosion control measures, site grading, and restoration have been completed, the City will reconsider acceptance of the utility improvements. If you have any questions regarding this matter, please feel free to contact me. Sincerely, CITY OF CHANHASSEN ¡Wd/? /' David C. Hempel Assistant City Engineer DCH:jrns c: Anita Benson, City Engineer Bob Obermeyer, Riley-Purgatory-Bluff Creek Watershed District Paul Danielson, BRW \'cfs 1 \vor2'cng\projccts\villages\utility acceptance.doc The City of Chanhassen. A growing community with cltan Idkes, quality schools. a charming downtown. thriving bUlintl"'. and beautiful parks, A great pldee to live. work. and pldy .'U"'-¿4-1998 14:43 BRW 612 370 1378 P.02/02 KREBSBACH &. HAIK, LTD. ATTORNETS AT LAW 70' J'OUATH AVEIiIIU.I: SOUTH ~UIT£ aQO J\.IINNEAPOUS. J\.I/NNtsOT^ 55415. 631 1'ELIltPHON£ ,.. Z1 :133.""100 Trt.ECO""~" CD I' 333..,85& June 23, 1998 CITY OF CiWlHASSfH OOŒ@ŒBWŒm JUN 24 1998 Ms. Julie Long BRW Thresher Square 700 Third Street South Minneapolis. MN 55415 RE: Riley-Purgaroly-BluffCrcek Watersed District Permit #96-5 ¡ Village on the PondB: ChanhasSCIl Dear Ms. Long: The District issued the permit on October 2, 1996. Condition #3 ofehe permit required that alTcct",d areas be restored by September 17. 1997. On Qc:tober 9. 1997, the District's wrote you regarding serious violaHons with permit's erosion control and restoration requirements of the watershed permit ENGINEERING DEPT. As of October ofIast year thl:! site bad not been properly restored in violation of the Permit, At that time, the District Managers required that a remedial pIan be submitted to Engineer. The site was restored; however, the District Engineer IIDted longer-term COncerns about the restored areas and the design and function of plan with respect to erosion control. The pennittee assured the District that if ils plan was ineffective that additional remedial worlc: would bc perfonncd. Eight months (OUowing the plan's implementation, serious erosion conlrnl problems remain. Again, the DislI'ict directs the pennittec to ~ubmit acceptable plans to the District ënginea. TIle plans and related work should be submitted, accepted, complcred and approved by the District Engineer 110 later than Friday July 10, 1998. Otherwise the DiSùict will commence an IICtion in Statc District Court to enforce complianCe with its pennit condition. " Sincerely, ~ c 11l ec: Robert Obermeyer Louis A. Haik TOTAL P.Ø2 Sta'"iI1œ Editorial O IåIkll.tM.h¡ ¡llIe,œm PAGE AlO' STAR TRIBUNE MONDAY, JUNE 22 . 1998 EdiIoria/¡, labeled 'Our Perspecdve.· rqnesent tluJ ilUlitutional voic8 oftIuJ S/QT Tribune. They are pn¡xzreti by rluJ EditoritU Depønment which is independent oftIuJ nowsroom. JoIII R._'PubUsher ~wr ~ i1m _.EdilOr _ AIbrt&M-Editor. EdilOrialP_ Pam fine- M8Sl8ßing Editor 1m Soya' Deputy Editor. Editorial Pqes Welfare to work The new bus hours to southwest suburbs You're on welfare, have no car,live in the inner city and must find a job as part of the government's welfare- to- work scheme. Entry-level jobs are available, but many are in distant sub- ' urbs. where employers desperately want workers - often for second or tlùrd shifts. If there's been no late- evening bus to bring you home from the second shift or take you there for the tlùrd shift, what's a person to do? The answer: Check new bus sched- ules if your prospective employer is in a southwest suburb. Southwest Metro Transit this month began 9 p.m to 1 a.m. semce to and from downtown Minneapolis; final trips are coordinat- ed with Metro Transit late-night ser- vice to some other suburbs. It's an important experimental expansion of reverse commuting between city and suburb. something Southwest'Metro · Transit pioneered several years ago with h~p from Hennepin County. · businesses and community age_cles. · The new service involves important cooperation between Southwest Met- ro, the Metropolitan Council and county and city governments. State funds h~p. Lining up riders will be community agencies operating job banks in the Neighborhood Employment Network (NET), which helps steer unemployed and underemployed people to job openings. When job bank folks heard details of the expanded service they applauded Southwest Metro official Kate Garwood; NET coordinator Mike Brinda says similar applause oniy has happened once before in 15 years of NET meetings involving the job banks. That shows how people on employ- ment's front line regard the new bus service. The 1997 Legislature appropriated $2 million to the Met Council to ex- periment with alternative transporta- tion approaches. The council. in turn, allocated half the money to metropoli- tan counties earlier this year. Varied experiments are going forward - bus passes, vans. use of retired Metro Mo- bility vehicles, car pooling and other new service. Lessons will guide distri- bution of the remalning funds thisS11mm~. Coordination between Southwest Metro and the council's Metro Transit, the Twin Cities' main bus system, can prevent late-evening homebound rid- ers from being stranded downtown. Southwest Metro. meanwhile, will be flexible about where buses pick up or drop off passengers at suburban work sites. As a small company it can be more flexible and experimental than Metro Transit. If the new hours succeed in winning passengers and in getting business support and involvement, govern- ment's welfare-to-work effort will get a boost - with the beneficiaries being both inner-city people needing work and suburban employers needing workers. ·<"", . Lower Minnesota Watershed District Recently, the City ofChanhassen was received a copy of the I 2nd generation plan to review. In reviewing this plan I learned some disturbing facts about the operation and regulation of this watershed district. The watershed begins in savage and extends all the way to St. Paul. When the watershed was established in 1957, the primary function of the district was to maintain commercial boat traffic along the Minnesota river. Thirty one years later, the primary function of the watershed district has not changed. The district has stated that they do not want to deal with regulation issues such as the Calcareous Fens, Trout strearns or erosion issues within their district. We have also learned the district has no rules or legal permitting authority within the watershed district. In spite of this they continue to issue "permits" and allow activities within the watershed which conflict with the City's water quality ordinances. In 1995 they issued a permit for Statewide Auto to fill in the floodplain, expanding the junkyard, without notifying the City of Chanhassen. This in spite of the fact that the City has a court order prohibiting the expansion of the junkyard. We, along with other municipalities and agencies a within the district submitted comments on the plan, urging he district to abandon it's current regulating practice and focus on public education and water quality issues along with the current dredging operations. These ideas were rejected by the board members. The final plan now goes back to the local and to state agencies for review. I will keep you updated on any developments on this issue. G:\eng\phillip\Educat\ Lower Minnesota Watershed District "~ Gray Frashwater Center Hwys.15 & 19, Navarre Mail; 2500 Shadywood Road Excelsior, MN 55331-9578 Phone: (612) 471-0590 Fax: (612) 471-0682 Email: admin@minnehahacreek,org Web Site: www.mlnnehahacreek.org Board of Managers Pamela G. Blixt James Calkins lance Fisher Monica Gross Thomas W. laBounty Thomas Maple, Jr. Malcolm Reid District Office: Diane P. Lynch District Administrator .a.\. PriIIed on IeC)UecI paper containing VJ:/III8ast3O%posIconsumerwaste. Minnehaha creek" Watershed District Improving Quality of Water, Quality of Life !/ J r /1.;. , , MEMORANDUM RECEIVED JUN 3 1998 DATE: TO: FROM: May 29, 1998 CITY OF CHAi'JH!\SStl\¡ Mayor Mancino & Manager Ashworth Diane Lynch District Administrator RE: Board Liaisons is: Lance Fisher Phone #542-5867 The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District would like to enhance communications with all of our member cities and townships. As a result of several meetings with cities, the Board decided on May 14 to assign a manager (liaison) to each of our member cities and townships. The liaison is supposed to establish a relationship or enhance an existing working relationship with a public official representing the assigned city or township. In addition: -The manager (liaison) assigned is the only Board representative to the city or township authorized to represent the Board, unless the Board determines it is in the best interests of the District to involve another/other manager(s) -It is the responsibility of the liaison to represent the Board accurately regarding Board action or the status of Board activities -When speaking on his/her own behalf, the liaison must make it clear that she/he represents only one point of view on Board matters and does not have the authority to make promises regarding future Board action -The liaison is supposed to communicate by phone and personal visits to the each city or township at least quarterly, in order to provide information on specific concerns and to mutually provide updates regarding activities that affect both entities -In addition, it is the liaison's responsibility to keep the MCWD Board and staff informed regarding township issues and concerns The Board requests that your city pass a resolution or complete another form of authorization to appoint a public official to interface with the liaison. In addition, please assign a staff person to be the official liaison with District staff. If possible, we'd like the name of the public official and staff liaisons by June 19, 1998. If you have any questions. please contact me at 612-471-0590. Thank you!