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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP May 11, 1977 CITY of ANDOVER SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL/PARK AND RECREATION COMMISSION MEETING MAY 11, 1977 Minutes A Special Meeting of the Andover City Council and the Park and Recreation Commission was called to order at 7:40 p,m, by Mayor Jerry Windschitl at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW, Anoka, Minnesota, Council Members Present: LachinSk1, McClure, orttel, VanderLaan Commissioners Present: Rzeszutek, Chairman; Ancheta, Hand, Pahl, Rogers, Strandmark Commissioner Absent: Lapham Also Present: Robert Hutchinson, Anoka County Health Department; Edward Fields, Anoka County Commissioner; Ronald Roth, owner of the landfill, 95 West Ivy, St, Paul; Jerry Sunde, Engineer, 10524 Zion Avenue South, Bloomington; e, K, Lindquist, City Clerk, The ~urpose of the meeting was to discuss the sanitary landfill, The Council expressed their concern over the extension of the landfill, It was thought the landfill was going to stay within the trees, and now we find it's possible all the trees will be removed exposing the landfill on both Andover Road and Crosstown Boulevard, This dimishes the value of the area as a future park and eliminates the natural screening, The City also understanél3there has been some changes in the readings of the north wells and that an agreement has been made to install some test monitoring in the creek itself, Also, after the landfill is full, should there be some ground water pollution, who is responsible? The PCA monitors wells for 5 years, but who will take the respon- sibility after that in case there is ground water pollution? Mr, Sunde explained the PCA has struggled with the problem of long-term liability ever since they started issuing permits, The County and the PCA feel~ that even after the landfill is closed, the landfill operator retains liability for the site for potential ground water problems, Once the landfill is completed, two feet of final cover of relatively impermeable soil is put on top, putting a tight cap on it, This is felt will help the leachate problem, Water runoff is encouraged from the site as much as possible, Thelreason for the redesign of leve~on the site is the PCA Will be re- quiring a minimum of two percent slope on the tops of landfills, The site was redesigned for this minimum slope, I It was also explained to the Council that the PCA monitors all landfills for 5 years, All landfills produce leachate, but the amount produced will depend on the quality of final cover put on it, Landfills really don't start generating high volumes of leachate , until it reach~s field capacity, where the refuse can't soak up any more water, The theory of finishing certain areaS of fill and putting the final cover on it prior to waiting to the 'end to do the whole site is that then the final cover will be on before , the entire field has reached field capacity, As the leachate travels through the soil, , the strength dimishes with distances away from the landfill, And at this site, the ground water moves toward the creek, As the landfill reaches field capacity and starts I to generate lea~hate, it will be strongest at first and will decrease over the years, Any ground water pollution should show up the first five years, It really is a function of how well theloperator performs on putting the final cover, getting the proper slope~ and planting good vegetation, ,- Special City Council/Park/Recreation Commission Meeting May 11, 1977 - Minutes Page 2 Engineer Sunde also explained that requiring clay bottoms on landfills has been dis- continued because the PCA found out that the system is extremely expensive and may not be necessary. Should the seal rupture, concentrated amounts of leachate collected would leak out causing a more serious problem, Also, once the leachate is collected, what do you do with it? Mr, Roth commented that the technology involved has changed over the last several years, There are differing': opinions on the different programs, and each one is individually dealt~ with by the characteristics of the particular site, the end goal, and the final capacity, This particular dump has been here a number of years, Actually, this land- fill is a part,of the community as there is a very high participation by the community for a variety of reasons, and residents are not charged for its use, The re~uired setback from the creek is 300 feet, In looking at the original and revised maps of the landfill, the differences are the grade revision for a minimum of two per- cent, taking the surface drainage away from the properties toward the river, and leaving an area lower than was anticipated in the original plan, The height in some areas is approximately 6 feet higher to get a better slope, It is intended that every- thing is not going to be steeper than 4 horizontal to 1 vertical, which is County requirements. According to the Engineer, violations in height are only in a very concentrated area, Again the City eXpressed the concern that taking out the trees is unreasonable and would destroy the whole area for any future park site, Also, our Ordinance requires screening of the landfill, and the trees are the best natural screening. If the trees are removed, the City will come back and require screening according to the Ordinance, A portion Of the extension behind the building is peat, and there's no way landfill can be put in peat, And it can't be dug out without creating a water hole, Row does Mr, Roth intend to leave that land? The City doesn't want to have something that is unsightly when it's all done, The addendum does not address the final use of the land, The original final use was to develop a park, including skating areas, softball diamonds, golf driving range, picnic and playground areas; but it doesn't show who will do it or how it will be done, The addendum changes the contours of this area, whi~h also changes its ultimate final use, The final grades on the landfill should never be changed, With the increase in elevations in some areas, there is not a corresponding increase in volume because of the one area being lower than originally planned. Mr. path felt that as the landowner it wasn't his responsibility to furnish the skating rinks, etc" for the use of the residents; and if the City wished to purchase the property, negotiations could be discussed, The area should be worked in with the overall City: development plan Of the area, Mr, Hutchinson brought up the problem of methane gas produced by landfills, This gas can accummulate in basements of houses nearby, which is potentially explosive, One advantage of the type of soil we have is that this gas is vented into the atmosphere where it creat+s no problem, The Anoka landfill has a 'methane monitoring system, and the PCA will PIObablY be requiring this in the near future on all landfills, Mr, Hutchinson also informed the City of the violations of the landfill, Within the last 6 weeks, the quality of daily coverage has deteriorated; there is no seal by the casing of the well which leaves an avenue for contamination to reach the ground water; the last monitoring sample has not been received; and ._0 several monthly operational reports on the volume of trucks coming into the landfill has not been received, Mr, Roth responded that it is not his intention to withold reports and that some are - S~ecial City Council/park/Recreation Commission Meeting May 11, 1977 - Minutes Page 3 delinquent, but they will be received, The water monitoring was taken on time and will be included with the regular monthly report, The well that is in question is an add- itional well and there has been some problems with the well driller, However, the situation can be corrected. The problem with the daily cover is the operational ability of the equipment, In Mr, Roth's opinion, the cover has been adequate and is definitely within the air pollution standards, The policy of the landfill is to be a 6-day operation and not to be open on Sundays, There has been approximately two weekends a year for the last 6 or 7 years where the landfill was open on Sundays in connection with the clean-up program in Coon Rapids, There has been some communication problems on this, But, basically, it's not a common practice, and there should be no dumping on Sundays, If Mr, Roth was planning on turning the area into some kind of commercial or private enterprise of some sort, the City would like to know now, What is the land going to be used for? Mr, Roth is willing to meet with the Park Board to plan a total program, He wants to make this a unit development compatible with the community, He doesn't believe that anyone ever comprehended the amount of residential dumping that has become evident, If the landfill would be operated on a fee basis to the residents, then a strong argument could be made to turn the land over to the community, With the contour changes, there will be some limitation as to its final use, Mr, Roth's feeling was to prolong the life of the landfill, Also, there is a lot of land in that proximity that can be developed to blend in with the whole over all plan, There is a performance bond registered with the County to insure compliance with the Ordinances. There are no bonds to protect the City Or the County after the landfill is completed, however, Mr, Rogers felt that the best use of the land would be for_an athletic facility, but by changing the contours and elevations, that use would be eliminated, !1r, Sunde felt that a 2 percent grade is suitable for some ball fields and football fields, The elevations can be graded up, but can't be cut. No final determination can be made as to what the rate of settling of underlying refuse will be as it ,decomposes, The amount of settling depends on the type of material used in the end, the daily coverage, traffic over a particular area, how well the refuse was compacted, etc, The western portion of the landfill has been completed for about two I years and will be ready for seeding by the end of this year. The County Ordinance does say that within 30 days after you reach the point that you can't go any further, it shall be completed, sloped, 24 inches of "top soil, and seeded, Mr. I Sunde explained they can't finish parts of the landfill until they are reasonably sure they are Igoing to have some contours the PCA will approve of, No matter what happens, the iCA still has the right to come in and tell them to change the contours, Everyone estimated that the landfill will probably be full by 1980, The City has to have some guarantees that there will be monies available to do something with the area , when it is eventually completed and some insurance that the wells in that area don't become contam{nated, It is not necessarily common practice that upon completion of the landfill the land reverts back to the City or the County, It depends on the value of the land, In many of the Outstate areas, the land is provided by the County or the land is owned by the County, In this case, the land is privately owned, I S~ecial City Council/Park/Recreation Cpmmission Meeting May 11, 1977 - Minutes Page 4 Hr, Hutchinson saw no difficulty with the additional heights as suggested on the addendum, His concern is how will this affect the ultimate final use of the land, since the original final use has been changed because of the elevation and slope changes, Mr, Roth's primary concern is to lengthen the time of the fill, The final USe of the land is negotiable and open for suggestions at this time, The elevations can't be approved by the City until the final use is determined, Beginning 1971, the PCA required that an end-use plan be made; but nobody was sure at that time what could be developed on these pieces of land, None of the landfills licensed at that time have closed yet, Some end-use plans of landfills entail recreational facilities, development of agriculture sites, and light commercial, Sand pilings through the refuse in the landfill are needed to put a building on that land.. There is a limitation on the ki~ds of structures that can be built on landfills, Mr, Roth felt that the 115 acres of the Dndfill plus the adjoining 160 acres which is being purchased should be in a concept that is compatible with the City's needs and what can be done with the property, He felt that basically the land value is such that you couldn't afford to put industrial activity on it, The end-use progran will have to be compatible relative to the land value, He also felt that it is not feasible to increase the size of the landfill or to open another one in any part of the surrounding 160 acres, Mayor Windschitl recommended Mr, Roth contact the Park/Recreation Commission to discuss the final use of the landfill, Then elevatiotBcan be discussed, etc, Also, the City needs some guarantee that the finishing is going to be done on a timely basis and that funds are available to do it, A requirement of all developers in the City is that either a bond is posted, money is put in escrow, or the· work is done ahead of time, The City needs some assurance that there are monies available to take care of potential problems, Mr, Roth explaJned'that the expenses of running the landfill have increased tremendous~ because of th~ requirements of the PCA (monitoring, equipment needed, final cover, etc,), It might not be unreasonable to establish a minimum charge to the resident~ and all these things put together into an end-use program with the City participating in, Maybe there's some trade-off that can be done here, This is something that could begin immediately, I Mr, Roth stated that monetarily the land couldn't be turned over carte blanche, The I question stil~ remains as to who will develop the final-use plan and what will that plm be since the ~ddendum changes the contours, He's up for negotiations and suggestions as to the final use, f{IJlVa~ ¿,; l," D~' tL d;.Ii:l The City is definitely against the destruction of all the trees, As many of the trees , in the~e should be left, and under no condition should it be exposed to Andover Road or Crosstown I Boulevard, Many trees were already lost around the creek because of the Coon Creek Watershed Board, Mr, Roth predicted that they are planning to remove these trees by aboutlnext spring, Grass is a better collector of leachate than trees because of the downward movement of leachate, When leachate hits the water, it then moves laterally, Mr, Rogers wo~ld never recommend this for an athletic facility for the City, He would look more toward the central or northern part of the City or one on each end of the City, If an agreement was made, this area could be looked at as a combination Of 76 acres used for athletic facilities and the other areas used for other purposes, multiple Special City Council/Park/Recreation Commission Meeting May 11, 1977 - Minutes Page 5 dwellings or condominiums with garages in the middle, He's looking for some commitment from the owner as to what he's planning to do with the property, Councilperson VanderLaan summarized the discussion, Regarding the guarantee of finishing and the fear of water pollution, the Clerk Treasurer could be directed, with the help of the Attorney, to investigate the legal ramifications of this and with the County, investigate the items in their Ordinance to determine a position for the City; then make a recommendation to the Council, We should also be asking for a more determined alternate land-use plan, As to the item of screening, we are talking about visual pollution, The Park Board could look at that and give a recommendation on it, Mayor Windschitl informed Mr, Roth that it is now up to him what direction he wants to take, and everyone would be willing to meet with him to discuss this further, Mayor Windschitl also had some minor points concerning the landfill, The dogs need to be tied up because they are leaving the property, Mr, Roth explained that he needs three dogs for security reasons, They will be leashed, Also, something needs to be done about the open trucks coming in, The refuse creates a problem for residents who live on the traveled roads, Maybe literature could be passed out as trucks come in explaining that they should be tar.ped or bagged, Mr, Roth polices the area from Bunker Lake and Crosstown to the landfill, the area he feels is his responsibility, There is also a lot more traffic on Crosstown now, which also creates a litter problem, Mr, Roth agreed to do something about this problem, An ideal test well is between 5 and 10 feet deep into the ground water table, It's the water that is above the clay area they are concerned about because when leachate hits the water it starts to move laterally, One deeper well is also required by the PCA, Mr, Roth is trying to determine the flow of the ground water to protect himself against liability from contaminated wells in the area, Mr, Roth also explained that the huge loss of trees in the City has been a tremendous problem to the landfill and has consumed a lot of space, Mr, Hutchinson reviewed the renewal of the license for the landfill, He will recommend the County Board renew the license with specific conditions to be complied with by a specific date, recommending August 31, Some of the conditions would be that the Southwest slop~s be put in final condition, that litter control devices be provided and used, that pickup around the site be more frequent, daily cover immediately, and eroded areas be covered, If the landfill is not in compliance by that date, the license could be suspended or criminal proceedings could be initiated, I I MOTION by McClure, Seconded by VanderLaan, to adjourn, Motion carried unanimously, I Meeting adjourned at 10:10 p,m, I Respectfully submitted, /-11 I . 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