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Department Approval: REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION , �: . 1�Ianager Reviewed: DATE: 8/1 9/02 ITEM NO.: `I, A. Agenda Section: Reports/Recommendations Consider Excavation Permit and Wetland Banking Plan for Woodview Marsh Restoration Proj ect Background: The Ramsey County Open Space north of Larpenteur Avenue betweenDale Street andRice Street has had a number of different uses over the years. It was farmed prior to it becoming Ramsey County Open Space. The land was managed as community gardens until the mid-1980's. Currently this Open Space is 49.8 acres, with 38.5 acres of existing wetland. The vegetation is a monoculture of invasive grasses, and is not considered a high quality wetland. Ramsey County in cooperation with Capitol Region Watershed District (CRWD) and the Nlinnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) is pursuing a grant to restore aportion ofthis Open Space for wetland bank credits as described in the 199 1 Wetland Conservation Act (WCA). The WCA was legislation approved by the state to ensure that NTinnesota would incur no additional loss of wetland acreage. The Cities and Watershed management organizations were named as the Local Goveming Units (LGL� to administer the Act. As described in the WCA, if a wetland is filled as a result of construction, the property owner must restore an upland area to wetland to make up for that loss. The owner can either construct the new wetland or can purchase wetland bank credit acreage to meet their "no net loss" requirement. Ramsey County when constructing roadways is subject to the same "no net loss" requirements. By restoring portions of the open space to wetland they will be able to bank the wetland acreage for future projects, as well as improve the overall aesthetics of the area. In order to restore a portion of this open space to wetland, Ramsey County needs to exca�ate 25,000 cubic yards (c.y.) ofinaterial. Islands within the restoration area will use 8,000 c. y. of material, the excess material, 17,000 c. y., will either be hauled to the County Public Works Kent Street storage area, or trucked directly to an alternative disposal site. The Pig's Eye Landfill Remediation Project is one possible alternative disposal site. The County will continue to evaluate soil disposal options for the project. In order to increase the amount of water supplied to these basins, the outlet to this Open Space will be altered. This will not impact any properiy adjacent to the wetland. The new elevation of the outlet will still be at least 2 feet below the lowest floor elevation of the surrounding homes After the excavation is completed, the new wetlands and surrounding areas will be revegetated. The vegetation within an area of appro�mately 12 acres in size will be chemically treated with Roundup this fa1L The proposed method of application is by helicopter. Excluding the exca�ated areas, about 9 acres will be seeded with a blend of wetland grasses. Additional planting will be done after the new water level has been established for the new wetland areas.