04-07-21 Planning Commission - Laserfiche WebLink

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Mr. David Grant Boston Scientific – Building 14 Expansion Response to Neighbor Letter 12 March 2021 Page 2 of 6 With that said, specific responses to the concerns set forth in the Arden Hill Residents’ Letter are as follows: I. NOISE CONCERNS a. Garbage: Emptying the oversized compactor occurs daily between the hours of 5:20 – 6:00 a.m. on the northwestern most position of the property, a site not currently screened by any physical structure. This is not only unsettling but an unwanted daily alarm for the closest residents. This continues to be out of compliance for the City of Arden Hills Code: 660.04 Collection and Licensing Subd 4. i. Subd. 4. No person, company, or corporation shall collect or remove garbage, refuse, recyclable materials, or other mixed municipal solid waste in any residential district or from any property sharing a property line with a residential district in which the collection can cause a negative impact to the adjacent residential district (i.e., noise, odors), except between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. We brought this to Mike Mrosla’s attention in December 2020 and he stated it would be immediately addressed but even after 60+ days this remains a persistent issue. Response: Boston Scientific was first introduced to this concern during the December 14th Neighborhood Review Meeting. The day following the meeting, our facility staff reached out to all on-site service vendors requesting they abide by city ordinance 660.4, Subd.4 and to stay within the allotted time frames. It was noted by Arden Hills Planning Manager Mike Mrolsa that the very next day Waste Management arrived at the facility at 6:05am. Boston Scientific understands that there have been a few occurrences since the December 14th meeting where refuse collection happened prior to 6:00am. Additional corrective actions are in place with continual monitoring of the area, such as; weekly touchpoints with Waste Management, evaluation of other suppliers, signage at refuse compactor to stipitate allowable collection times, and daily review of security footage to verify compliance. Boston Scientific will continue to take action in order to comply with the city ordinance. b. Commercial HVAC Equipment: Current operations entail the air handling units running 24/7. Varying degrees of noise are emitted from these pieces of equipment and that needs to be studied in their current, future, and max-output operation for noise emission. Adding to the current noise levels will be two and likely three additional pieces of equipment mounted to the roof structure. The increase in noise of these running simultaneously is yet to be understood. The new height would be unobstructed by trees and noise will surely increase the noise level in surrounding neighborhoods. Response: Boston Scientific completed a noise study in January of 2021 which captured ambient noise readings at two un-obstructed locations on the NW property line for a period of 24 hours. Results indicated that noise levels generated by existing HVAC equipment on the roof did not exceed the nighttime L50 levels for residential land use (based on our nearest receiver). The expansion project will not substantially increase noise emissions. The design of the building expansion incorporates a mechanical penthouse that is designed to protect the HVAC