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City of Gem Lake City Council Meeting Minutes April 15, 2025 1 <br />City of Gem Lake <br />City Council Meeting – April 15, 2025 <br />Meeting Minutes <br /> <br />Mayor Gretchen Artig-Swomley called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Councilmembers Jim Lindner, Len <br />Cacioppo, Ben Johnson and Joshua Patrick were present. Also present: City Attorney Martin Norder, City Engineer <br />Justin Gese, SEH PE Lily Hock, City Treasurer Tom Kelly, Phillps Architects & Contractors President David <br />Phillips, Barnett Kia General Manager Michael Barnett, Planning Commission Chair Don Cummings, Acting City <br />Clerk Melissa Lawrence, and high school students and residents Lilah Davis, Jim Wilson, Carol Schacht, Rick <br />Bosak, Thomas Young, Jacob Furlong and Elise Dieterle. <br /> <br />April 15, 2025, Agenda <br />A motion was introduced by Councilmember Linder to accept the agenda, seconded by Councilmember Cacioppo. <br />Motion carried 5-0. <br /> <br />Minutes <br />A motion was introduced by Councilmember Lindner, seconded by Councilmember Cacioppo to approve the March <br />18, 2025, City Council Meeting minutes. Motion carried 5-0. <br /> <br />Special Presentations/Public Hearings <br /> <br />MS4 Presentation – SEH Representative Lily Hock <br />SEH Representative Lily Hock gave a presentation on the NPDES Phase II Stormwater Permit Program for <br />the City of Gem Lake. NPDES is an acronym for “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System” and <br />MS4 is an acronym for “Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System”. Gem Lake is in phase II small MS4, <br />which is general permit coverage. There are six (6) minimum control measures (MCM) that are looked at <br />for meeting requirements: <br /> <br />1. Public Education and Outreach <br />2. Public Participation and Involvement <br />3. Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination <br />4. Construction Site Run-Off Control <br />5. Post-Construction Run-Off Control <br />6. Pollution Prevention/Good Housekeeping for Municipal Activities <br /> <br />Some new things the permit is requiring for 2023 and beyond of the six (6) MCM’s are: <br /> <br />• MCM 1: Public Education and Outreach <br />o Annual Public Education & Outreach <br /> Illicit Discharge Detection and Elimination <br /> De-icing Salt Use <br /> Pet Waste <br />o Intermittingly – High Priority Topics <br /> Yard Waste and Construction Activities <br />• MCM 2: Public Participation / Involvement <br />o The City must provide (at least) one (1) public involvement activity that includes <br />pollution prevention or water quality theme <br /> Possible partnership with VLAWMO <br /> <br />The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandates the MPCA to evaluate MS4 permittees. The city <br />was notified on September 12, 2023, that it would be part of a routine audit which occurred on January 5, <br />2024. One Notice of Violation (NOV) was issued on February 15, 2024, that did not carry a penalty, but the <br />City of Gem Lake was required to take action to bring the SWPPP into compliance and resubmit. This was <br />completed in April 2024. <br /> <br />