This transcript has been processed to include speaker names based on the municipality context provided and the dialogue within the meeting. **Note on Speakers:** * **Becky** is the City Administrator/Clerk (not listed in your initial staff list, but identified as the lead administrator throughout the meeting). * **Mark** is a Councilmember addressed frequently by the Mayor (likely a vacancy fill or preferred name not explicitly in the prompt list). * **Alan** is the City Attorney. * **Ryan** in the context of Planning Commission items is identified as **Ryan Eisele**. *** [0:00] [Music] [0:36] [Music] [1:37] [Music] [3:00] [Music] [3:53] [Music] [4:04] [Music] [4:53] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** It's much, much better—much better. So it's a lot more relaxing. So, good evening everybody. Welcome to Birchwood and our city council meeting for September. I'd like to call the meeting to order. Could we please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance? [5:15] **Group:** I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [5:28] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Our first item of business is to approve the agenda, and I have two items to add under "Administrator's Updates": item D, Tech Conversion Update; and E, Resolution 2024-40 authorizing EFT approvals. Do we have any other additions from the council? All right, hearing none, may I have a motion to approve the agenda? [6:00] **Councilmember Mark:** I'll motion to approve the agenda. [6:03] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** May I have a second? [6:04] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** I'll second. [6:06] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All in favor? (Aye). Opposed? Agenda approved. I'd like to open the public forum. Is there anyone here to discuss? Now, we'll have an additional time when we talk about Road Safety, so this would be for any other business that anyone would like to... yes, go ahead. [6:27] **Randy Lefoy (Cable Commission):** Randy Lefoy, 200 Wildwood. I'm your representative to the Cable Commission and I want to let you guys know, and anyone who's watching, we're having an open house on October 3rd. There are brand new facilities; you'll see our brand new truck. But I invite everyone to come down—kind of Fun and Bell there. So thank you. We'll send out the time and everything too. [6:45] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Great, thank you, Randy. We can do an email blast for that. Good. [6:51] **Jennifer Arsenault (Citizen):** Jennifer Arsenault, 432 Birchwood Court. I just wanted to thank Council for voting to approve hiring a mowing company for the green spaces here in the city. They look great, so thank you for doing that. [7:05] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Thank you. Thanks for your work on the parks. [7:12] **Barton Winter (Citizen):** Barton Winter, 1 Five Oaks Lane. I have a few issues that I just wanted to bring up. One, I know that we've had the music in the park and it's been based in the hockey rink. What I've done on a few occasions is clear brush on the outside of the rink, clear vegetation growing inside the rink, and then sweeping up. So I just want to say, I know we have a city employee and I'm not sure why, but things have been allowed to grow. Why have I—I'm perfectly fine in doing that, but in conjunction, I'd just again like to say that I understand that we've hired a mowing company to mow the open spaces in Ty Schmidt. I believe we're paying more easily in a couple of appearances than we pay for water costs at the rink and flooding the rink. So I just want to mention that I've been asking and saying our city employee has not been doing what I think is clearly what he needs to do in order to maintain the rink. But all of a sudden, we got some people that say the mowing is going too slow and we're willing to pay quite a bit more than what we're paying for flooding costs down at the rink. Again, I would like to see the rink maintained well and I'd like to be a part of the flooding process. I'd even pay for the flooding—not the employee costs, but the water costs. I'm interested in having a nice rink. And other things... just want to say that I believe that having a stop sign—I know this is part of the... maybe I should leave that part for later. Otherwise, the potholes. I've been looking for pothole repair on Hall but haven't seen it, and I know we're contracted to do it. Why isn't it done right away? We have a significant pothole there; people have to go around. I see no excuse for that not being dealt with immediately. I believe it was cut out of there to deal with a water main breakage, something like that. Anyway, that's my complaint. Thank you. [9:51] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Thank you, Barton. [9:55] **Steve Shad (Citizen):** Hi everybody, Steve Shad, Cedar Street. So I'm here to speak about the proposal on the deer hunt. Before you put me in a category, I grew up hunting—firearm hunting in Minnesota. My family rented land in the Nemadji State Forest for over 50 years to hunt deer. So this isn't coming from a place of a radical love of animals, but rather... well, I'm going to watch the debate later, that might be more interesting than my comments. Really, I'm coming at this topic from purely a rational standpoint: that the emotional idea of trying to save our property and our plants has given way to logic. Really, I guess it comes down to—I sent an email to the council over the weekend, so you have my basic comments. I don't know if there's a way to get that into the record; I brought a copy of it. But I start with a number of questions that I don't think the town can answer. The first one is: how many deer do we have in Birchwood? Can anybody answer that question from a scientific standpoint? I'm guessing the answer is no. How many deer are too many? What's the target that we're shooting for? I have these printed too, I'll give them to you. What is the number we are shooting for that is going to solve the problem in the town? How was the number 30 arrived at—the maximum number of deer that could be culled from the herd? What is the cost of the damage that has been caused by deer to private property? Has that been quantified? I don't think anybody has. How much damage to property has been prevented by the culling of the deer to date? Have we solved the problem? Is the damaged property less than it was before we started the hunt? How many deer have moved into Birchwood as a result of the vacuum effect from culling deer at a point in time? Has that been studied or quantified? And to what extent have births of multiples increased as a result of the culling? Now, there's a reason why Birchwood sought the involvement of Mahtomedi and White Bear Township, and that's because managing deer on a herd level takes huge amounts of land and a huge number of deer to be taken. There is not one municipality anywhere that has successfully solved the deer problem by culling, and the smaller the area that you're doing the work on, the less successful you're going to be. So I would ask: is Mahtomedi or White Bear Township still involved in the hunt? If they're not, why not? And if they're not, what is the effect of that on our ability as a small town of less than a square mile to be able to impact the number of deer that are here when, in some circumstances, deer will roam up to 100 miles to go into neighboring areas for land or for mating? I'm putting these questions out there for us to get into a logical discussion about this. The fact that we're hunting deer in our neighborhoods where kids are playing and families are walking is ridiculous, especially when we're the only ones who are doing it and especially because it's having zero effect. Thank you. [13:43] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Thanks, Steve. Um, Ron, did you have your hand up? Did you have a comment to make? [14:01] **Ron Malis (Citizen):** My name is Ron Malis, 420 Wildwood. I've been a volunteer for the culling of the deer. I've been a hunter since I was probably 10 or 12, similar to you, Steve. Along with that, the only thing that we found across the nation is the ability to control the deer herd is actually—and the DNR can support this, they've had meetings on this—we had meetings probably 3 years ago when we had our first hunt. At that time, our only solution was the culling. Other people said well, you could dart them and then euthanize them, we don't do that. The meat is used either for a food shelf or someone who asks for it. The actual number I think last year was eight, and I've seen at least eight fawns. So where are we at? We're trying to at least maintain it. Just because we say there's going to be 30, we think there's 30 to 40 based on the count that we've had when they actually group up in the December timeframe. Does that change based on our communities adjacent? Yes, they can move; they don't have a leash on them. It's very true, but we're not alone. Grand Rapids is doing the same type of study. There are all kinds of other studies being done across the nation on what's the best way. When I first moved here 40 years ago, the only deer I saw was a track in the construction site. We've now got deer continually. My cost alone is over $1,000 a year now; I had one pine tree that was mauled and had to replace that along with flowering plants. Is that times 300? I don't know. I'm not as bad as people that are on the side of Cedar Hall, that is a lot worse. So if you have a lot of gardening and plants, it is totally different. I think you had some good questions there. I'm not sure if the joining communities are doing that, but in reality, we have to maintain what we have and we're trying to do that responsibly. We're getting permission from any of the hunters or the property owners on how we go in and out of a given property. Not all people are going to be positive towards it, but I haven't seen a better solution for this. So is it a win-win? No, it's a compromise. We had eight we got last year; one got hit by a car on Century also, and then one the coyotes killed out on the ice. So there were 10 deer that were actually eliminated last year that we know of. So I don't know if I answered all your questions, but based on the meeting that we had with the DNR and all the other community members at the time, yes, there was some dissension, but by far the overall was we need to do something and this is what the DNR had guided us to. All the people that are going to hunt, they're all certified for their capabilities, they're using bows, so there are no firearms or anything like that. They've been trained and they certify for the hunt and they not only do our community but they do other communities too. Hopefully I answered some of the questions. I probably can't answer everything, but thank you. [18:31] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Thank you, Ron. Yeah, it's helpful. Thank you. Is there anyone else who would like to address the council? [18:36] **Steve Shad (Citizen):** Steve Shad, Cedar Street. So I live next door to the property where the runoff is happening. I've got a huge amount of sand at the bottom of my driveway from that property. [18:49] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** I'm sorry, this is the appeal that you're talking about at 160 Cedar? There is a session for that later. [18:57] **Steve Shad (Citizen):** Oh, okay. I thought you were talking about something... yeah, that'll work. I'll just wait. [19:04] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All right. May I have a motion to close the public forum? [19:10] **Councilmember Mark:** So moved. [19:11] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** Second. [19:12] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All in favor? (Aye). Opposed? Public forum is closed. All right, our next item is announcements. Becky? [19:21] **Becky (City Administrator):** Yes, we have the Birchwood Dock Association fall meeting coming up this Saturday, September 14th, at 10:00 a.m. We have fall cleanup days scheduled for October 12th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. The deer hunt dates have been scheduled for this year: they are September 27th and 28th, October 17th and 18th, November 1st and 2nd, and November 21st and 22nd—which is not on the agenda packet, so add November 21st and 22nd. Then we have an alternative date of December 13th and 14th if needed. Also, the November and December Planning Commission meetings were rescheduled due to falling within holiday time. So the new November meeting for Planning Commission will be the 20th and December 19th for their December meeting. That's it. [20:13] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Great, thank you, Becky. All right, our next order of business is the consent agenda. Does anyone on the council have items that they would like to pull out for further consideration? [20:25] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** I guess I want to understand: are we approving both the September and the August Treasurer's report this month, or is that something that's left over? [20:38] **Becky (City Administrator):** There were a couple questions, and Ryan—oh, this is not the questions relating to the report... [20:51] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** Okay, so I don't need to pull that out then. I do want to pull out the August 6th meeting minutes, item D, and then F-1 and F-2, both resolutions on the deer hunt, please. [21:10] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All right. With the exception of D and F-1 and 2, may I have a motion to approve the consent agenda? [21:18] **Councilmember Mark:** Mark will make that motion. [21:20] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** I'll second. [21:22] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All in favor? (Aye). Opposed? Consent agenda is approved, with the exception of D and F. All right, Ryan, did you have some comments to make about D? [21:40] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** Yeah, let me just find my page here. The only question I have here is... on page 40-50 of the minutes, it says, "It was resolved to approve as an advisory vote the 20 mph speed limit in Birchwood Village and increasing patrol." I don't quite know what an advisory vote means. I believe this should just state it was resolved to table the 20 mph speed limit until September, or to reconsider it in September. I don't believe it was approved. That's all I got with that. Unless anybody else got any grumbles, I'll move to approve the August minutes as amended. [22:52] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** I'll second. [22:53] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All in favor? (Aye). Opposed? Motion carries. Item D is approved, the meeting minutes from August 6th, 2024. All right, and item F. Ryan, you had a comment? [23:18] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** Yeah, I just want to ask a little bit about the deer hunt resolutions. I know my sense in the town is that this has become a little more controversial. We've taken some measures here to kind of help folks control deer, including a deer fencing ordinance we're at on tonight. I think the situation surrounding the deer hunt has changed pretty significantly, with Birchwood kind of being a go-alone thing since I don't believe our neighbors continue to do the deer hunt—White Bear Township or Mahtomedi. I would just ask if there's a way we can get some expertise in and maybe have a town hall meeting to explain the situation so that residents understand what the justification is behind it. [24:14] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** Can I address this one? Mahtomedi was interested in participating; however, the Metro Deer Hunt group couldn't get the paperwork done in time for them to join this year. They plan on doing it next year. The vast majority of individuals I have talked to are still in support of the deer hunt. We have over 20 residents that are using their property and they've signed off right-of-entries. There were also several that had requested to be included as well, but due to location next to major roadways or non-adjacent properties with not enough space, the Metro Deer Hunt group did not approve them. I'd say I think I've been approached by at least 25... Becky, do you remember if there were four or five next to Bob? [25:10] **Becky (City Administrator):** I think there's five. [25:11] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** Yeah, five more homeowners had requested to join. And due to being next to a rather busy road, in the event a deer gets injured, not having it go onto a road would be very important. In theory, next year when Mahtomedi participates, there is a large portion of a park area that's at the back that they were planning on using, which connects with several of our deer hunter locations, which obviously would make it more effective. So that is the information I have for you regarding the number of residents that have asked to participate. There were five of the adjacent properties that declined. [26:24] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** When was the last time there was a town hall regarding this? [26:28] **Becky (City Administrator):** Probably years prior to me getting on. I believe they set up the contract... when does the contract terminate? [26:34] **Becky (City Administrator):** The last one is 2025. [26:37] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** Well, I think it might be a good idea to certainly have a town hall and revisit this whole concept before we sign a new contract. I'd be interested in... since the number of hunting sessions is configurable, would it be possible to forgo the September hunt and schedule something in October so we can get a little more information out to residents before that? [27:17] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** I would like to point out that—have you deer hunted? I'm not sure that you have, but if you have, you know that deer tend to follow the same riding paths. If you want to cull deer, the earlier in the season you do that, the less chance you have of scaring off the deer from that area. That is typically why you try and get sooner into a hunting season. [27:51] **Councilmember Mark:** Well, I think we've had bad results in the past when you kick it down the road further. [28:01] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** Yeah, I just want to thank you, Ron, for giving your comments, and thank you, Kathy. I know you've put in a lot of effort on this, and also thank you, Steve, for coming in. [28:13] **Councilmember Mark:** I'd just say, from my perspective, I don't even necessarily view it as a necessity to help protect folks' flowers and whatnot. I think that's a piece of it, but I think just public safety with the roads is probably the best reason to do it—to protect people when you're driving at night. Plain and simple. [28:44] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All right. Well, let's revisit item F then. May I have a motion to approve the deer hunt resolutions? [28:53] **Councilmember Mark:** So moved. [28:54] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** May I have a second? [28:55] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** Second. [28:56] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All in favor? (Aye). Opposed? Motion carries. [28:59] **Alan (City Attorney):** If I may, you've got two resolutions there. [29:02] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Oh, she did... I said she did a motion for both. Should I do them separately? We can do them that way, right Alan? It was under item F under the consent agenda, so I just asked for F. We can go through them one at a time. May I have a motion to approve Resolution 2024-36? [29:28] **Councilmember Mark:** So moved. [29:29] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** I have a second? [29:30] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** Second. [29:32] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All in favor? (Aye). Opposed? Motion carries. Resolution 2024-36 approved. May I have a motion to approve Resolution 2024-37? [29:41] **Councilmember Mark:** So moved. [29:43] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** I have a second? [29:44] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** Second. [29:46] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All in favor? (Aye). Opposed? Motion carries. Resolution 2024-37 approved. Thanks, Alan. [29:57] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** Can I ask a clarifying question? Item H is just to re-evaluate it, not to approve it fully, right? [30:04] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Right, yep. Just to take a look at it and then make a recommendation. [30:08] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** Thank you. I read it that way but wanted to make sure. [30:23] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All right. Now we're on to City Business. A: We have an appeal regarding approval of the building permit at 160 Cedar. I'm going to ask you, Ryan, since you were at the Planning Commission meeting, to set the table on this, please. [30:35] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** Okay, I'll give a little procedural information here and then turn that over to the appellants to state their case. As many in this town are aware, the residents of 180 Cedar Street, Nancy and Dave Drew, have filed an appeal regarding permits that were approved. They basically sent a letter raising two issues. One was relating to whether the plan was correctly signed by a surveyor where the city code appears to require an engineer. The other area was that they believe that the city code was violated and that stormwater will harm them. City administrative staff reviewed the appeal and came to some conclusions. The Planning Commission heard the appeal and recommended denial of the appeal on both matters. So, that's a summary. I think it would be good to ask the appellants, Dave Drew or their representatives, to give us a 4-minute introduction, then hear from City staff and Marcus, our engineer, and finally give Mr. Morse, to whom the permit was granted, 4 minutes to respond. [32:44] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Does that seem like an okay introduction to you? Thank you, Ryan. Is there anyone on behalf of the appellant here to address the council? All right, seeing no one, I think we'd like to go on to the engineer. Marcus, could you address the council? [33:05] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** Marcus Johnson, City Engineer. Council, you guys have seen my response. I'm here for questions or anything else we want to further the conversation on. [33:18] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** Why don't you give us a little introduction? Since the appellants aren't here, the main thrust of this appeal is that Mr. Morse submitted a survey, and our city code says the survey must be signed by a licensed engineer. The survey was signed by a surveyor. Is that a good summary? Could you give us your analysis about how you determined the merits of that issue? [34:11] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** Yeah, as far as the stormwater concerns, there wasn't a design here that I saw that would require an engineer's signature. Going to the MPC's requirements, they don't require an engineer's signature; they do require a surveyor's signature for marking property lines and setbacks. That being said, I looked around and saw the city code had an engineer signature on it. I checked local towns around, and they just require a licensed surveyor, or either/or. And so that's the direction I went. [35:10] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** And Marcus, you are a licensed professional civil engineer, correct? And how would the survey have differed had you done the survey? [35:19] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** The only difference would have been my signature on it and my license number. [35:34] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** Thank you. Regarding the second part of the appeal... do you want to introduce that, Marcus? [35:50] **Alan (City Attorney):** Madam Mayor, just in articulating that part of the complaint, it was a two-part piece. I think it's appropriate to ask the engineer about the handling of the stormwater. Part 1-B is that the stormwater management plan must detail how stormwater will be controlled to prevent damage to adjoining property. The appeal is that there are no drainage control structures at 160 Cedar Street. [36:58] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** I can address both of those. Since there was no conditional use permit pulled for this, the impervious area was at 7%, so we don't meet the criteria for it being at 25 to 30% like the city code calls out. There was additional work asked of the owners of 160. There's not a whole lot of contours to it. It was three feet of separation roughly between the two. The code doesn't specifically say what size storm we're looking at. For bigger ponds in commercial areas, we're looking at 10 to 15-inch storms. We're not even anywhere close. I didn't see a concern for flooding. Now, that's not to say we're not going to get a 10-inch storm and have issues, but what's that level we're shooting for? It's not really clear. [39:10] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** When you evaluated this, was your view to evaluate what was reasonable? [39:15] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** Yeah, trying to find that reasonable figure. There is a benefit that this is the second wettest all-time record rain for this season. If they haven't gotten water in yet, it's actually good news for them. I've had Jack check in that back because that back is slightly filled in. It's going to be a worst-case scenario. Jack, would you like to address us about your findings? [40:06] **Jack Kramer (Building Official):** Jack Kramer, Building Official. Basically, I've been involved with looking at the silt fencing and making sure it doesn't affect the neighboring property. We see everything contained. One of the most surprising facts on that property is the type of soil—a kind of shale bedrock type, quite rocky. The perk rate on that soil is pretty rapid. There'll be very little retention moving onto adjoining properties. [41:06] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Great, thank you, Jack. Do we want to give Mr. Morse an opportunity to respond here? [41:18] **Avery Morris (Applicant):** Avery Morris, I'm building on 160, soon to be a resident there. I'd just say, working with all the city officials, I feel very confident in their ability to issue a good permit. Every question I've had, they've answered in a way to meet compliance with the code. With all the rain we've had, I'm surprised with how well the land drains. Right after a rain, there's a little bit of water in those low spots, but later in the day, it's dried. Overall, I feel very confident the city issued the permit in a right way. [42:30] **Alan (City Attorney):** Madam Mayor, just so we're clear for the record, this is an appeal of a city decision and has nothing to do with what the Morses did. [42:39] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Nope, we just wanted to hear from them. All right, is there anyone else that would like to address the council on this matter? Seeing no one... Ryan, did you have another question for Marcus before we go into the Planning Commission recommendation? [43:08] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** The Planning Commission looked this over. It could not determine the intent of the code when it specified "engineer" versus "planner" or "surveyor," and determined that was not a violation of the code and did not harm the Drews. It recommended denial of the appeal. [43:55] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** I had already commented regarding how wet the season has been. That bodes well. Also, the property is still under construction, which means landscaping and sloping still need to happen. I'm fairly confident that their engineers and our engineers will be reviewing everything again. [44:27] **Councilmember Mark:** I'm confident in our staff and what they approved initially, and the Planning Commission recommendation. It all seems pretty straightforward. [44:46] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** I will say, I have a lot next to me with one house on it that's three separate lots, and I can understand where the Drews are coming from. I worry that someday somebody might build three houses there. I understand the concerns, but I agree on the merits of the appeal. [45:34] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All right. As regards to Issue One, Birchwood Code 301.0557, Stormwater and Erosion Control Plans, may I have a motion to deny the appeal on that issue? [45:51] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** So moved. [45:53] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** May I have a second? [45:54] **Councilmember Mark:** I'll second. [45:55] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All in favor? (Aye). Opposed? Motion carries. All right, Issue Two. May I have any further discussion? [46:50] **Alan (City Attorney):** I think it's pretty clear the Planning Commission lumped that all together. For purposes of your record, you should walk through the actual appeal itself and have Marcus address points A, B, C, and D. [48:19] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** For 2-A, I have attached the survey with drainage arrows. It follows along the property line; it doesn't cross the property line. There's drainage coming from neighboring properties that come onto his property. To me, if it crossed the property line, we would be in a whole different conversation. [49:15] **Avery Morris (Applicant):** The silt fence is four to five feet off the property line. [49:53] **Jack Kramer (Building Official):** I did contact the owner's father and said it'd be a great idea to move that silt away to get the stress off that fence so it didn't have a breakthrough. [50:40] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** With the water moving towards that fence, is there concern that when that fence is not there, the water would then end up on the property? [50:48] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** They'll still have to reshape everything with landscaping. [51:27] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** Regarding B, the downstream storm sewer was designed back when there was a house there existing, so that impervious is already accounted for. As far as increasing the rate, the front has a pretty gentle slope coming down to the street. I don't think it'd be in the city's best interest to have people's property lower than the street and taking on the street's water. In this plan, we're trying to minimize as much as possible. [53:45] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** Comparing the whole, once all three properties are built, the impervious will increase. But for this property (160), we're decreasing compared to what the existing house sat on. [56:09] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** (Reading the appeal regarding 306.30 soil descriptions and construction plans). This section claims these have not been done. [57:30] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** The short answer to the 306 code is that it is a conditional use section as far as I viewed it, and so this didn't apply. At the end of the day, there's very few things we could have done differently. [1:01:33] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** Marcus, I want to call out: you said 160 Cedar would see flooding prior to surrounding neighbors, meaning 180 Cedar? [1:02:05] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** Yes, because 160 is at a lower elevation. [1:02:20] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** Is the net of water runoff from 160 to 180, or 180 to 160? [1:02:35] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** 160 has more drainage coming onto his property than he's putting back there. The net of drainage is from 180 onto 160. [1:03:06] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** And under the Drews' interpretation of city code, did the Drews' house increase the drainage from the property when it was built? [1:03:25] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** Yeah, assuming there wasn't a house there. [1:03:30] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** So if we take their interpretation, their house is actually pushing water onto Mr. Morse's property? [1:03:45] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** Correct. [1:04:10] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All right. May I have a motion on Issue Two? [1:04:20] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** I will move to deny the appeal of Issue Two on Birchwood code section 301. [1:04:30] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** I have a second? [1:04:32] **Councilmember Mark:** I'll second. [1:04:34] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All in favor? (Aye). Opposed? Motion carries. Appeal denied on Issue Two. [1:04:45] **Alan (City Attorney):** It'd be prudent to direct staff to take these findings and put them into a written statement and communicate that to the appellant. [1:05:05] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** So moved. Thank you to our city staff. And did you guys get married five days ago, Avery? [1:05:27] **Avery Morris (Applicant):** In five days! [1:05:30] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Congratulations! All right, we will be moving on to Item B, the Roads Committee proposals. There's been a roads committee task force set up to investigate public safety. Art, would you like to quickly go over the proposals? [1:07:05] **Art Areno (Road Safety Committee):** Art Areno, 432 Birchwood Court. We had four proposals based on road safety, not road convenience. Proposal One was a Citywide 20 mph speed limit to make it uniform, similar to Mahtomedi. This would address Hall Road as well. [1:09:56] **Kora Hankins (Road Safety Committee):** Kora Hankins, 165 Wildwood Avenue. Resolution Two is to add two new crosswalks with signage on Wildwood Avenue, one at Birch and Owl and the other at Grotto. We had issues near Birch and Owl where children almost got hit by a school bus. [1:13:20] **Art Areno (Road Safety Committee):** Resolution Three was the addition of one stop sign on Wildwood Avenue at 368, where Lake Avenue dead ends into Wildwood. This is to slow traffic over a blind hill. [1:14:48] **Ron Malis (Road Safety Committee):** The fourth one is solar speed limit signs—a readout of your speed. They're about $4,000 for materials. We'd want to start small, maybe buy one for next year's budget. It slows traffic down when you see your speed. [1:17:51] **Ron Malis (Road Safety Committee):** We had support from the Washington County police. Do people always look at signage? No. But the police have been out here this summer giving warnings. [1:21:15] **Brian McGinnis (Citizen):** 194 Wildwood. I'm in favor of the crosswalk at Owl Street. Visibility is not particularly good there. I'm also in favor of the 20 mph limit. One thing that bothers us are ATVs and golf carts going down the trail. I also saw kids on electric scooters going 15 miles an hour; it was a hazard. [1:24:24] **Barton Winter (Citizen):** 1 Five Oaks Lane. I don't think we need 20 mph; I think that's overkill. Hall Avenue is a thoroughfare and it's too narrow. There are substantial potholes there that haven't been dealt with. That's a serious safety issue. Vegetation is also growing over the road on Lake Avenue. [1:29:10] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** May I have a motion to close the public forum? [1:29:20] **Councilmember Mark:** So moved. [1:29:22] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** Second. [1:30:24] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All right. I know we want to vote on this, but let's make sure we have the document tailored to Birchwood in the packet for next time. I'd like to make a motion to table these until the next meeting. [1:34:15] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** Lift station update: we got good news from the EPA. We're sending final plans and specs next week. We're looking at approval of the plans and specs in October and bidding would be in December. [1:38:07] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** Once you guys approve in October, it'll be posted. EPA requires five weeks. Come the December meeting, we discuss the bids. [1:40:00] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Thank you, Marcus. Becky, let's take item D: the second reading of ordinance 2024-08-01 concerning variance application criteria. [1:41:00] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** We're trying to get a little more organized when we bring variances to the Planning Commission. This clarifies what we're looking for when we get applications. [1:42:00] **Ben Wikstrom (City Planner):** I spoke with someone yesterday who wants to do an addition which requires a variance. He asked if he could see if it's even possible before spending $2,800 on drawings and $1,500 on a survey. A "concept plan" doesn't really fit the ordinance as written. [1:44:27] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** I think the Planning Commission is happy to look at anything an applicant wants to bring in pre-application. A variance is a high bar. [1:48:50] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** May I have a motion to approve Ordinance 2024-08-01 regarding variance application criteria? [1:49:00] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** So moved. [1:50:21] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** Second. [1:50:23] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All in favor? (Aye). Opposed? Motion carries. All right, we'll take a 5-minute break before the budget discussion. [1:57:04] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Welcome back. We're on Item C: 2025 Preliminary Budget. Marcus, regarding road repair, we have $100,000 budgeted. Potholes are $15,000, and the estimate for phase two is $67,000. Is the $17,000 extra we added enough? [2:02:45] **Marcus Johnson (City Engineer):** I think you'd be pretty close, but I would consider over the next couple of years continuing to stick away money. [2:05:31] **Marsha Olson (City Treasurer):** Our reserves are currently at 18 months. A typical amount is 18 months, so we are at the recommendation. [2:06:18] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** I see an 11% increase. On page 161, the transfer to Capital Improvement Fund is $30,000. Is there any reason we couldn't set that to zero to help with these increases? [2:08:00] **Marsha Olson (City Treasurer):** If I zero out the 30,000, it goes down to a 5.58% increase. [2:11:11] **Marsha Olson (City Treasurer):** What if we took the 30,000 minus the 17,000 you put in for roads? If we put in $12,614, it would bring it to a 7.78% increase. [2:12:30] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** I'm okay with that compromise. [2:13:29] **Becky (City Administrator):** I contacted White Bear Lake to see if they could do our police services. Gem Lake is paying more for police for a smaller city than we are, so we're getting a good deal comparatively. However, I did notice the fines were lower this year. [2:16:38] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** May I have a motion to approve the preliminary budget with the change to the interfund transfer? [2:16:50] **Councilmember Mark:** I'll make the motion. [2:16:55] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** I'll second. [2:16:58] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All in favor? (Aye). Opposed? Motion carries. All right, Item E: second reading of Ordinance 2024-08-02 regarding animal fencing. [2:18:13] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** So moved. [2:18:20] **Councilmember Kathy Weier:** Second. [2:18:25] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** All in favor? (Aye). Opposed? Motion carries. All right, F: Solid Waste and Recycling management ordinance draft. [2:20:31] **Councilmember Ryan Eisele:** I like it a lot, but I think it needs to be "Birchwood-ified" a little more. For example, trash cans being 40 feet away from the street—I'll send you some markup, Becky. [2:24:24] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Item G: Birchwood Reclassification. The Met Council proposed Birchwood be "Urban Edge" rather than "Suburban." This would increase density from 5 units per acre to 14. Gail believes this was a mistake. [2:25:58] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** I propose a resolution to object to the reclassification and recommend we retain the Suburban designation. All in favor? (Aye). Motion carries. [2:27:31] **Councilmember Mark:** Item H: Maintenance help. Jim is working 5 hours a week. I've heard the pathways are a mess. We need to have a conversation about expectations. [2:29:03] **Becky (City Administrator):** I've gotten Ron Malis on board to help. He finished the list of park items in less than a week. I've been very impressed. Jim and Ron are now working together. [2:33:41] **Becky (City Administrator):** Regarding the tree inspection update, I'm looking for someone on the council to work with me on the Excel spreadsheet. [2:34:45] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** I can work with you on this for this month, Becky. [2:35:17] **Becky (City Administrator):** Item D: Tech conversion update. We can get internet for $50 a month from CenturyLink. Resolution 2024-40 would allow us to set up EFT payments. [2:39:54] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** I make a motion to approve the resolution authorizing EFT to CenturyLink. Second? (Second). All in favor? (Aye). Motion carries. Seeing that we've accomplished our business, I'd like to make a motion to adjourn. [2:40:30] **Group:** Second! (Aye). [2:40:35] **Mayor Jennifer Arsenault:** Meeting adjourned. Thank you, everybody. [2:40:40] [Music]