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City of Gem Lake City Council Meeting Minutes April 18, 2023 1 | Page
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<br />City of Gem Lake
<br />City Council Meeting – April 18, 2023
<br />Meeting Minutes
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<br />Mayor Gretchen Artig-Swomley called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Councilmembers Jim Lindner, Laurel
<br />Amlee and Ben Johnson were present. Councilmember Len Cacioppo was remote from his home on Labore Road.
<br />Also present: City Attorney Kevin Beck, City Treasurer Tom Kelly, City Engineer Justin Gese, City Building Official
<br />Mike Johnson, White Bear Montessori Head of School Marnie McPherson, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA)
<br />representatives, Michael Ginsbach, Tim Grape, Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) representative Emily Hansen,
<br />Acting City Clerk Melissa Lawrence, Commission Chair Joshua Patrick, and residents Erin Florin, Tom Bolfing, Lynn
<br />Yadeau, Carl Wallin, Jim Wilson, Carol Schacht, Gloria and David Nathanson, Sharon Roland, Steve Varley, Richard and
<br />Roberta Pientka, Jon Reigstad, Jeff Tschetter, Jeremy Charles, and Ray Tessier.
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<br />April 18, 2023 Agenda
<br />A motion was introduced by Councilmember Linder to accept the agenda, seconded by Councilmember Amlee. Voice
<br />vote taken, all voted yes, motion passes, agenda accepted.
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<br />Minutes
<br />A motion was introduced by Councilmember Lindner, seconded by Councilmember Amlee to approve the March 21,
<br />2023, City Council Meeting Minutes. Voice vote taken, all voted yes, motion passes, agenda accepted.
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<br />A motion was introduced by Councilmember Lindner, seconded by Councilmember Johnson to accept the April 11, 2023,
<br />Planning Commission Meeting Minutes. Voice vote taken, all voted yes, motion passes, agenda accepted.
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<br />Special Presentation
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<br />MPCA Water Report – Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) Representatives Time Grape and
<br />Michael Ginsbach
<br />Michael Ginsbach of the MPCA shared with those in attendance that the MPCA has found one potential source
<br />to the contamination of 1,4 Dioxane in several of the wells located within Gem Lake. While most residents
<br />expected Water Gremlin to be the source, testing proved that not to be the case. The business Cortec Corporation
<br />located on White Bear Parkway in White Bear Township is showing trace signs. The contamination may be due
<br />to the commercial cleaning products the company uses. Cortec opened its own plant and laboratory in White
<br />Bear Township in 1992. Mr. Ginsbach invited those in attendance to ask any questions they may have regarding
<br />their findings.
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<br />Many of the residents in attendance asked questions along the lines of:
<br />• What the potential long term effects of consuming the contaminated water could have?
<br />• Is municipal water the right way to go, or can filters be installed or brand new wells be drilled?
<br />• Will more well testing be conducted and will the testing be expanded to cover more homes or areas
<br />within Gem Lake?
<br />• How long will it take for the MPCA to come to a resolution?
<br />• Is the MPCA looking into other possible sources for the contamination?
<br />A summary from Emily Hansen was that the State does not get involved, because it is hard to connect a health
<br />concern with environmental exposure and in Minnesota 4 out of 10 people have a chance of getting some sort of
<br />cancer. A summary from Michael Ginsbach was that municipal water is a way to go, filters don’t work very well
<br />to remove this type of contamination and need to be changed multiple times throughout the year and it would
<br />cost a lot of money to drill new wells that may not even fix the contamination long term. More testing is set to
<br />take place in the next month or so, the MPCA is waiting to see if that will be funded by Cortec or if it will come
<br />out of the MPCA’s funds. The MPCA hopes to come to a resolution sooner rather than later. This is an ongoing
<br />investigation and the MPCA will continue to look at other possible sources of the contamination.
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<br />The Mayor would like to invite the MPCA back around August to give another presentation on their findings
<br />after this next round of testing and further investigation of other possible sources.
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