2011-07-26_PWETC_Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ms. Bloom noted the staffing partnership between the Cities of Maplewood and Roseville would allow the Maplewood City Engineer to assist with some plans to alleviate ongoing problem areas that are not simply related to pipe capacity issues. Member Vanderwall suggested a great neighborhood volunteer opportunity for Roseville residents in cleaning up storm sewers after a rain event by raking them out and putting the debris with their other yard waste, recognizing that with significant rain events or on weekends, City staff may not be able to get around in a timely manner to clean all of them out, considering their other priorities during a significant event and emergency situations needing to be handled. Pictorial evidence was provided showing the size of debris going through the system, creating additional issues, including undermining a retaining wall by McCarron's Lake; and failure of the weir walls at Villa Park. Pictures included the Williams Street access road to the pond, recently bid and in process, with it faring quite well, as Capitol Region Watershed District continued to monitor the water coming in and filter benches (steel wool filing) functioning well with manhole water found to be clear. Ms. Bloom provided pictorial evidence that the Prince of Peace Church rain garden had survived and worked as intended, another success story with the City partnering for its installation with the Ramsey Conservation District (RCD). Chair DeBenedet observed the need for additional upland infiltration and rain gardens to further address the situation. Ms. Bloom provided evidence of the success of the Walsh Lake project; with no flooding of homes previous flooded after a new pipe was installed. Ms. Bloom briefly reviewed other areas under consideration through partnership with the Maplewood City Engineer to do some model sharing to address chronic issues still pending. Ms. Bloom noted that the 2003 Surface Water Management Plan indicated that some retrofit may be needed in neighborhoods to install or improve swales or install rain gardens. Ms. Bloom noted ongoing concerns with the Skillman Avenue cul-de-sac; the Bennett Lake system; and pipe capacity concerns where they were overtaxed. As previously mentioned by Mr. Schwartz, the Metropolitan Council's main trunk line became overtaxed and a number of homes experienced sewer backups, when the City's lines couldn't discharge fast enough into the trunk line due to that overtaxing. Ms. Bloom noted that the City did not observe any discharge from manholes (raw sewage), but it was 6-8' deep in the manholes. Mr. Schwartz opined that the overall message is that, while there remain a lot of issues, progress has been made over the last ten (10) years in addressing chronic problem areas; but work remains to be done. Mr. Schwartz noted that there were Page 12 of 18