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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSP March 8, 1983 ~ 01 ANDOVER SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL MEETING - MARCH 8, 1983 MINUTES A Special Meeting of the Andover City Council was called to order by Mayor Jerry Windschitl on March 8, 1983, 7:36 p.m., at the Andover City Hall, 1685 Crosstown Boulevard NW to discuss a contingency plan for municipal water and the allocation of the City's 1983 CDBG funds. Councilmen present: Elling, Knight, Lachinski, Orttel Councilmen absent: None Also present: TKDA Enginer, Mark Schumacher; City Engineer, James Schrantz; and City Clerk/A. Administrator, P. K. Lindquist Mayori Windschitl explained that he, Councilman Elling, and State Senator Greg Dahl inspected the landfill on Saturday afternoon. There is an obvious large depression in the landfill that has to get solved, as it is collecting water in its unterminated state. There is also obvious erosion taking place on the site. Plus they got a perspective of where the hazardous waste pit is. It is fenced and appears to be on one of the highest points in the landfill; so if it is leaking, it would be heàding toward the creek. The Mayor also stated that they are filling almost up to Crosstown Boulevard, which he thought was outside the boundary negotiated with the owners. It is being filled with broken wood products, pallets, etc. The Mayor stated another thing taking place is that lime sludge is being brought in from the St. Paul water treatment plant, which the employees at the landfill say is not as easy to work with as that from Minneapolis. It was the Mayor's understanding that the agreement was the lime sludge would come from the Minneapolis treatment plant. The Clerk researched the agreement with Waste Disposal, and later in the meeting noted that the source of the lime sludge was not specified in the Special Use Permit. Councilman Elling stated there is talk of Waste Disposal wanting to bring in sewer sludge to place on top of the lime sludge in lieu of topsoil. He stated he has talked with the Sewer Board about this and they are checking on the chemical background of sewer sludge. Councilman Knight stated the smell of sewer sludge is really objection- able, and there were comments to the effect that the surrounding residents have had enough irritation from the landfill over the years. It was not known whether or not Mr. Roth responded to the PCA demands by the March 7 deadlinE nor Exactly what is taking place with this matter now. ~iscussion was on how to use the 1983 CDBG funds granted to the City, which is approxi- mately $59,ODO. Many suggestions were made, but the Clerk reviewed the guidelines that must be followed, that it must be demonstrated that there is a need for the project, that it must serve the low and moderate income, that it must be a capital-type improve- ment to serve a disadvantaged area or remove slum or blight. The problem Andover has is that the average income is fourth from the top in Anoka County and there is no obvious disadvantaged area in the City. The Clerk was asked to present some ideas to see if such projects would be allowed for use of the City's CDBG funds. Those included erecting one or more signs in the City to inform the residents of meetings, vacancies on committees, etc., a spring clean-up project, a reforestation program to replace those trees which died of oak wilt around the City, hiring laborers to improve the park system, or using it for the hazardous waste problem. Council returned to this item later in the meeting. D1scussion then centered around the development of a contingency plan for municipal water. Councilman Lachinski asked if a report could be done on the underground hydrology of the area and make a determination as to what is going to happen as a result of the landfill. Mr. Schumacher stated Terry Huntrod of TKDA has a master's degree in underground water movement and hydrogeology and has worked on the data report for the Landfill Q site in the Bunker Hills Park area. TKDA does not have a log of the background results of the work PCA has done for the testing and monitoring of the wells nor anything about the location or contents of the barrels in the hazardous waste Special City Council Meeting March 8, 1983 ~ Minutes Page 2 pit in the landfi 11. When dealing with an underground situation, when everything is not known about the undergrrund geology, the information can be gathered and predictions can be made as to what might happen. Mayor Windschitl explained that the EPA has addressed that question by siting test wells in the area to monitor the underground water. But he ·feH it is not an easy thing to determine with any accuracy. Mr;.Schumacher also explained the lateral movement of the underground water may also depend on what is going on around the landfill. He stated every time a well is pumped, a drawdown is created that tends to want to draw the ground water toward the well. If there are a lot of wells, as in a residential area, where no one well is pumping a lot but there is a lot of wells pumping continously, the ground water wants to pull in that direction. To pull a plume of pollution in that direction, it might take 20 years depending on the kind of material it is. But a lot of it is educated guesses based on data provided from various studies. He stated it is not true that water will be purer simply because it travels through ten feet of sand. It depends on what is in it. Councilman Knight stated nitrates would not filter out, but the material in household sewage sludge would filter out. Mr. Schumacher stated sand doesn't necessarily take out the exotic compounds found in the water. Councilman Elling stated the majority of the pollutants found in the water are from the chlorine family. Discussion was on a municipal water system itself, as the Council was particularly concerned with the residents along Andover Boulevard, including Hartfiel~s and part of Red Oaks and Northwoods. Mr. Schumacher stated in St. Louis Park the source of pollution was in the center of the City and chemicals had been dumped on site for 50 to 60 years. The pollution eventually got down into the ground water and in one well below the rock formation. They closed that well, gravel packed it up above where the source showed up, left the rest of the well in tact, and continued to draw out of the top 200 feet of the we 11 . They shut down five wells in the immediate area. They now have treatment studies going on to determine what kind of water filtration and treatment can be used. They want to eventually restart the wells, treat it, and start drawing the polluted water out. Otherwise what they think would happen is if they stopped pumping out of the polluted well but continue to pump'a steady draw from the outlying wells, the fear would be in 20 to 30 years the pollution would reach the outlying wells. Councilman Orttel stated if it is found the nitrate level in the shallow wells is high in Andover, the City would have to determine its obligation at that point. It has been at least 11 years since shallow wells have not been acceptable water sources. If the nitrate level is high, he felt in most instances a deep well, which is required by code, would solve the problem. Should the City be putting in a water system to correct the shallow well problem? He Þelt it would be much chepaer to put in deep wells to solve that problem. The nitrate problem is not a result of the landfill. Mayor Windschitl noted that because of the restrictions for well drilling placed by the Health Department on a portion of our City, the cost of the well has doubled. But is there any assurance thaLthe deep well wi 11 salve the problem? It was felt by some that most of the wells in Red Oaks and Northwoods were deep wells, because that was a requirement by most contractors even before the State requirement in the early 1970s. Discussion was also on the method of drilling a well as to whether that would encourage seepage of ground water to the lower aquifers. Mr. Schumacher explained what is done when drilling a well, feeling a tight seal is created. Discussion on the area to be covered in a municipal water system generally included the area from the existing system.in the southwestern portion of the City, easterly to the industrial area, southerly to the City border, and northerly to an area north of Andover Bouelvard, suggesting the possibility of even including the City Hall site. There were suggestions as to where a well might be placed, or possibly siting two wells on either side of the landfill area to balance the underground draw. That is Special City Council Meeting March 8, 1983 - Minutes Page 3 something that would have to be studied further as the plan is drawn up. The suggestion not to drill a municipal well within six miles of a polluted site as was suggested at a previous meeting would mean the well could not be drilled within the City 1 imits. Plus it was thought that some wells in the City of Anoka are within that distance of the landfill. Mr. Schrantz stated the PCA has asked that the City come up with a contingency plan for municipal water. The Clerk stated whatever funds the City expends for that plan can be put toward the 10 percent matching funds, unless the City uses CDBG funds to pay for that plan. She stated the PCA and County are coming out tomorrow with a cooperative agreement on this matter. The Council had no problem with Mr. Schrantz meeting with the PCA staff to go over the ideas for the contingency plan. Mr. Schumacher explained the water system would be a pressure system and the siting of the wells and tower generally are placed such to be the most economical, to run the least amount of trunk, and to balance the system. The size of the pipe would determine the amount of pressure. Mr. Schumacher stated some of the things that would need to be investigated are the options of tying into the existing system right away, of building another well and tank as a separate area, etc., and to determine those costs. He stated in developing a system, they are looking at fire flows more than at residential service. Mr. Schumacher stated TKDA sent a letter to Mr. Schrantz estimating a cost of $4,500 to do the study of the hazardous area on the PCA map for the contingency water plan. Discussion was on whether or not the City would be allowed to use CDBG funds for this study, generally agreeing that would be acceptable to the City if it is allowed. Discussion was also on whether or not the City would be required to pay for the temporary housing of the hazardous waste barrels once they are removed from the pit, with suggestions as to what type of building it would be and where it would be located. The Clerk was directed to check into this further. Councilman Elling stated what the PCA wants to know is the area that would be covered in the contingency plan and a ballpark figure on its cost. He didn't feel they would go along with an area any larger than the area designated for special well construction at this time, which is considerably smaller than what was being talked about this evening. He also felt that the City should not get involved with the barrels in the hazardous waste pit at this time as long as the County and PCA are moving on the problem. Councilman Elling also suggested setting up a separate account for monies spent on this matter, as all time and dollars, such as the time of the Engineer, secretarie~ etc., may be reimbursable. Council agreed with the last suggestion. Others on the Council noted the area with the most eminent danger of water pollution along Andover Boulevard wouldnot be inéluded if the PCA danger area is used as the study area. It was generally felt the 1arger area should at least be presented first, especially the area along Andover Boulevard, Hartfiel's and Lund's Evergreen Estates. This is not an attempt to write a new comprehensive plan but to show the extra costs involved to redesign the system to work around the pollution problem and to tie into the existing system. Mr. Schrantz also explained a map showing the cross section of aquifers in the area, stating it is not known whether the clay layer is continuous. Assuming the clay layer is continuous, there wouldnot be infiltration into the lower areas. If there are breaks in it, however, there could be infiltration anywhere in the glacial drift plus it couÎd also affect the larger aquifers which flow toward Minneapolis. It was generally agreed that the contingency plan should be developed and to authorize TKDA todo that plan at the $4,500 as they have quoted. Before making that authorization, however, it was agreed to find out whether 01' not the City can use its CDBG funds toward that study. Special City Council Meeting March 8, 1983 - Minutes Page 4 MOTION by Orttel, Seconded by Lachinski, that we direct the City Clerk to present a plan for partial use of our Community Development Block Grant Funds to the County for the drafting of a contingency plan for city water in the sensitive area around the landfi 11. DISCUSSION was the boundaries of the plan would be left to the discretion of the engineers. If the project is funded, then a motion would be made to authroize TKDA to do that~study as they have proposed. Motion carried unanimously. nisrussion returned to possible uses of the remaining CDBG funds assuming the $5,000 will be allowed to be used for developing the contingency plan for municipal water. Other suggestions made that the Clerk could ask about included constructing the bui lding to temporarily house the barrels removed from the hazardous waste pit, doing something along Bunker Lake Boulevard where the junkyards are located such as constructing a more attractive fence, etc., doing something with the parks such as Kelsey Park, developing biking or horseback riding trails, etc. It was also noted that the money could be used to provide housing for the handicapped, or it could be loaned to another city for this year, which would in effect mean the City would have both the ¡983 and 1984 allocations to use in 19S4. The Clerk was also asked to find out what some of the other cities are doing with their funds. It was agreed to add this item to the Agenda on Tuesday, March 15. By then the Clerk will have an answer as to what can or cannot be done with the funds and the Council can discuss this further at that time. Councilman Orttel stated in reading the list of contaminates in the hazardous waste pit and in noting comments made over the years of how water travels and in talking to some people, he felt things just didn't fit right. On Saturday he learned some very interesting information from an individual about the hazardous waste in Andover, as that person was directly involved in placing a lot of it for a large local manufacturing firm in Anoka prior to the placement of the pit. Councilman Orttel stated the highest concentrated chemical shown in the well is trichlorethylene. But there is none listed in the sheet~ showing the contents in the pit. Also, with underground water movement of three feet per year, there is no way the contaminates could be coming from the pit, because the pit has not been there long enough. What is bothering him is that the main chemicals found in the ground were never put in the pit, and his worst fears are that the problem probably did not result from the hazardous waste pit. Councilman Orttel went on to say he feels the removal of the barrels from the pit are important, but the bigger question is what if that isn't the cause of the problem. According to the individual he talked to, that individual dumped barrels and barrels of trichlorethylene into the landfill for 9~ years. The point is not all were put 0.·- in Andover, as a good share of them were put on the City's border in the old Anoka landfi 11, though he has never seen any results from that particular location. That particular company now has their own hazardous waste pit within the confines of their property in Anoka. And nothing has ever been said about this. Councilman Orttel stated it was confirmed by this same individual that these barrles were also dumped somewhere along the Rum River and in the area of Crosstown Boulevard and 165th. He stated there may be a very good case against the generator, though he didn't know how identifiable it is. He felt they should be made to show their records, but he didn't know how the City would go about that. Mayor Windschitl suggested this individual be approached as to whether, or not he would be willing to talk with the authorities about this. Councilman Elling suggested Colleen Herman from the County Attorney's office be contacted, as she has done research on the Waste Disposal site ever since Mr. Roth closed the landfill as far as the generators and their liability. MOTION by Orttel, Seconded by Lachinski, to adjourn. Motion carried unanimously. Meet1ng adjourned at 9:37 p.m. ~~~,~~~tarY