MCES Fridley

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Okay, thank you for bearing with us, I think  we're going to go ahead and get started. I'm   from Metropolitan Council Environmental Services,  and my name is Tim O'Donnell, and for the public   hearing record I'll spell my name, it's T-I-M,  capital O, apostrophe, capital D-O-N-N-E-L-L. And good afternoon, everybody, this is  Peter Lindstrom and that's spelled P-E-T-E-R Lindstrom L-I-N-D-S-T-R-O-M, and I'm a Met  Council Member, I'm chair of the environment   committee, and I want to welcome you to today's  public hearing. I'm a chair of the Environment  

Committee as I mentioned and the environment  Committee deals with our Metropolitan Council   Environmental Services division, and you'll  hear us use the acronym MCES in referring to   this division of the Met Council. So at this time  I would like to call the public hearing to order.   Now the subject of this public hearing is the  MCES Draft Facility Plan. This plan outlines   our recommendations for the Fridley Area  Lift Station L32A project. With this project   we propose to rehabilitate and upgrade our  regional sanitary sewer lift station, currently   located in Brooklyn Park on the west side of the  Mississippi. The lift station is 50 years old and   has reached the end of its useful life. It is also  nearing its full capacity, and will not be able to   convey future wastewater flows. Constructing a new  larger lift station on the east side of the river  

in Fridley will help us to continue providing  sufficient and reliable wastewater service   for the northwest part of the region. Our staff  will provide more details during the presentation. Next slide please. As we begin our public hearing  today we'd like to welcome a few local officials.  Tim, do you have a few names out there? I know there's a few of them. Yes, this is Tim O'Donnell again and  we have from the Fridley City Council,   council members Ann Bolkcom  and Stephen Eggert are here.   From Anoka County we have County  Commissioner Mandy Meisner from District 4. Fantastic. Council Members, Commissioner,  welcome to the public hearing.

And then this is Tim, this is Tim  again, I just wanted to add we have some city and county staff with us too, from  City of Fridley, Brian Strand and Stacy Stromberg,   from Brooklyn Park Craig Runnakko  and from Anoka County Jerry Auge Fantastic. Welcome to all our city and county officials. We also have several MCES staff   with us today to present the Draft Facility  Plan for this project, and to collect comments.   I'll have them unmute and turn on their video and   introduce themselves, we've heard  from Tim already, Tim, hello. 

Hi again, this is Tim O'Donnell  T-I-M-O-D-O-N-N-E-L-L, and I'm a Senior Information Coordinator  and Project Citizen Liaison for Met Council   Environmental Services, basically  I assist with our public outreach   efforts on our sewer construction  projects, good to be here tonight Thank you, we have another Tim  with us as well, Tim Wedin. Thank you Council Member Lindstrom, my name is Tim  Wedin, spelled T-I-M last name capital W-E-D-I-N. I am an Assistant Manager with Interceptor  Engineering at Metropolitan Council   Environmental Services, and I'll be part of the  project team for the lift station L32A project. Thank you, and Jenny Baroda,  would you like to say hello?   Hi, this is Jenny Baroda and I'm a Principal  Engineer in Interceptor Engineering with   Metropolitan Council Environmental Services and  I'll be working with Tim Wedin on this project.

Excellent, thank you. And assisting us behind the  scenes today are our communications consultants   Ashley Osteraas and Angela Klein.  Would the two of you like to say hello? Sure, my name is Ashley Osteraas,  A-S-H-L-E-Y O-S-T-E-R-A-A-S   and I'm assisting with the project communications.

Well thanks everybody, and welcome  again, next slide please. The purpose   of this public hearing is to, one, summarize  the proposed lift station improvements project   and explain alternative approaches that we have  evaluated. Number two, answer any questions   that you may have about the proposed project,  and last but not least, receive your comments   for the public record. In addition we have a  transcriber recording the proceedings for our   official public record, the transcription  and video recording of the presentation will   be posted on the project website in early  January. As we conduct this public hearing   there are a few things I'd like to point out. All interested persons may present comments   or opinions as they relate  to the Draft Facility Plan.

We will read your comments and questions posted in  the online chat box in the order they are entered.   If you would like to speak out loud we will call  on you and unmute your microphone in the order you   have clicked your raised hand symbol. We ask that  you state and spell your first and last name each   time you speak, also please include your address  and the organization you represent, if any.   Individuals will have three  minutes to offer their remarks,   designated representatives of groups or  organizations will have five minutes. We also welcome written comments and will provide  you instructions on how to submit them. We also   will read into the public record any comments we  have received prior to today's public hearing. 

Next slide. For the last couple of weeks a paper  copy of the Draft Facility Plan has been available   for the public to review at the Fridley and  Brooklyn Park City Halls, the Mississippi   Library in Fridley and the Brooklyn Park Library.  An electronic copy of the Draft Facility Plan   is available on our project website, on the  Metropolitan Council website. Next slide.   We will continue to have the Draft Facility  Plan available for review through December 28th,   which is the end of the public comment  period. On the screen you can see the   various ways you can submit comments in addition  to commenting during this public hearing today. 

We will show you this again  at the end of the hearing.   Next slide. Our project implementation schedule  includes these key dates and time frames.  We published a legal notice of the public  hearing in the Star Tribune on November 15th, we mailed the public hearing notice on December  4th to property owners in the proposed project   areas, as well as numerous government and  community stakeholders. We sent email invitations   and did social media posts in December. We are  holding the public hearing today, December 17th.   The Metropolitan Council review and adoption of  the final facility plan is scheduled for January   and February 2021, and in March we will submit  the plan to the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency   and will include our application to be included  on a priority funding list. This funding would  

be in the form of low-interest loans that  MCES would pay off over a 20-year period. Next slide please. For our agenda today we've  already covered the welcome and introductions,   our presentation will describe our  organization and what we do for the region,   explain what a facility plan is and define  terms that we use in the wastewater industry,   look at the need for this project, discuss our  proposed facility improvements for Fridley and   Brooklyn Park and our evaluations that led us to  this recommendation, cover the cost implications   of these regional sanitary sewer improvements,  and go over our public outreach and facility plan   schedule. Then after our presentation we  will open it up to comments and questions.   At this time I'd like to turn it over to  Tim O'Donnell to begin our presentation.  Thank you council member Lindstrom, again my  name is Tim O'Donnell spelled T-I-M-O apostrophe   D-O-N-N-E-L-L and I work at Metropolitan  Council Environmental Services or MCES.

I'd like to begin our presentation with a brief  overview of the regional wastewater system   and our service area and facilities. After that we  will zero in on the improvements we are planning   for our regional sanitary sewer facilities  in Fridley and in Brooklyn Park. The regional   wastewater system is run by MCES and we are an  operating division of the Metropolitan Council.  

The map on your screen is of the seven-county  Twin Cities metro area. It shows our wastewater   service area and the regional sanitary sewer  facilities. The color shading on the map shows   the areas that we serve, it's basically the  urban and suburban portions of the metro area.   Each color shaded area corresponds to one of  our nine regional wastewater treatment plants.

Our wastewater collection system consists of  approximately 640 miles of regional sanitary   sewers, which we also call interceptor sewers.  These are shown as purple lines on the map. We   also have 61 pump stations, also known  as lift stations, and we have 190 meter  stations to measure the volume of wastewater  flowing from each community that we serve.   These interceptor sewers that  you see on the map are in effect,  they in effect intercept the flow of wastewater  from 110 communities in the metro area   and carry it to our treatment plants. In addition  to these sewers that MCES operates for the region, 

these 110 communities combined operate more  than 5000 miles of local sanitary sewer pipes.   The small black squares on the map indicate the location of our wastewater treatment plants. The nine plants combined treat 250 million  gallons of wastewater every single day.   They discharge the resulting clean water to the  Mississippi, Minnesota and the St. Croix rivers. Now to put this volume of wastewater into some  perspective, 250 million gallons of wastewater   would easily fill the Empire State Building every  day. The wastewater from the northwest suburban   area shaded green on the map flows through  a series of regional sanitary sewers through   Minneapolis and St Paul, then arrives at our  Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Plant, which is   about three miles southeast of downtown St Paul.  It's important to remember that MCES' primary  

role is collecting and treating wastewater, also known as sewage, and that's essentially   everything that goes down your drains. Your cities  on the other hand, in addition to their local   collection of wastewater they are responsible for  the drinking water treatment and distribution,   as well as storm water management, so our primary  role again is wastewater collection and treatment. We're often asked in public hearings like  this, how does MCES finance the system?  What we do is we bill the 110 communities  that are connected to the system   to pay for our operation, maintenance and capital  improvement costs. The cities in turn bill these   costs and their local costs to the property owners  who are connected to their local sewer system.   In the end about 60% of your sewer bill  pays for MCES' regional system costs   and about 40% stays in your community to  pay for your local sewer system costs.  

The sewer user fees that we collect are  enough to fund the regional wastewater system   without the need for tax dollars. We also do  not levy special assessments on properties   near sewer projects like we're talking  about today. These projects have a broader   public impact and so their costs are paid for  region-wide. And now after this broad overview   into who we are and what we do for the region,  I'd like to turn it over to my colleague Tim   Wedin and he'll focus on our plans for the  Fridley and Brooklyn Park areas. Thank you.

Thank you Tim. To begin we would like  to explain what a facility plan is. It is a document that summarizes the current  state of the existing MCES wastewater facilities.  It identifies the need for rehabilitating existing  facilities or constructing new facilities. It  

also determines the potential environmental and  other impacts of new facilities. It considers   those factors and recommends a course of  action. This document is a prerequisite   to qualify for financing from the Minnesota  Public Facilities Authority. Next slide please. There are several terms that we use during  our presentation and in our facility plan. A  

wastewater sewer system is a system of underground  pipes that carries wastewater or sewage away from   buildings. Cities operate their own local  wastewater sewer systems within a community.   MCES operates the regional wastewater sewer  system that carries wastewater from city   systems to our treatment plants, similar to  how a freeway system carries regional traffic.  MCES interceptors are large underground  pipes that make up the regional sewer system.   These pipes can be either gravity pipes or  forcemains. A gravity pipe is a sloped pipe  

that carries wastewater downhill or by  gravity without mechanical assistance.   A forcemain, on the other hand, is a pipe  that carries wastewater being pumped or   forced uphill as opposed to wastewater flowing  by gravity. Flow meters are devices that MCES   uses to measure the quantity of wastewater a city  sends to the regional wastewater treatment system,   similar to how a city water meter measures water  usage in a home. Lift stations or pumping stations  

pump waste water from low points in this  local sanitary sewer system to higher points,   allowing the flow to be carried by gravity  pipes to the wastewater treatment plant.  Finally, a siphon is a pipe that  conveys flow beneath a low-lying   area such as a river, other utilities or  other obstructions. Next slide please.   Lift Station L32 is located in Brooklyn Park at  7700 Mississippi Lane North. Our proposed lift  

station L32A is located at 6900 East River Road in  Fridley on MCES property. This was previously the   site of Camp Lockeslea and is located across the  Mississippi River from the existing lift station.   Next slide please. Lift Station L32 is about  50 years old. Components such as the structure,   piping, and controls are showing signs  of deterioration and require replacement.  Failures at the lift station have resulted in  backups of wastewater into nearby homes. There   have been odor complaints due to the inability to  address airflow at the current facility. The lift  

station is almost at full capacity with the  existing flow conditions. Next slide please. This slide summarizes the flows that we have  conveyed through the lift station over the   past several years. In 2016 our average daily flow  was 16.5 million gallons per day with peak flows   reaching up to 38.4 million gallons per day. Flows  continue to increase as communities grow.   Our flow projections for 2040 are for an average  daily flow of 25 million gallons per day,   with a peak daily flow of  48 million gallons per day.  

Ultimate capacity projections for the  area are for 34 million gallons per day   average daily flow, with a peak daily  flow rate of 67 million gallons per day. As a comparison our current peak flow capacity at  Lift Station L32 is 43 million gallons per day.  Next slide please. The conditions that are driving  us to complete this construction   for this project include the fact that the  existing lift station is 50 years old and  has reached the end of its useful life.  Condition assessments have documented structural,  

mechanical and electrical deficiencies that  have led to system failures such as backups   and odor issues. The lift station is almost  at its full pumping capacity. L32 does not   have sufficient capacity to serve the current  or future needs of the area. Next slide please. As part of our evaluation we performed an  overall system analysis of the pipes leading to   and from Lift Station L32. We determined  that there is sufficient capacity   upstream of L32 for future growth.  We've also determined that downstream   capacity is sufficient to support  future growth. Next slide please.

Our facility plan includes an analysis of various  alternatives for preventing spills at the lift   station. Our design guidelines recommend a  60-minute response time under peak flows.   That allows time for our staff to address any  issues at a lift station that may cause the   pumps to shut down unexpectedly. Under current  flows we have about 53 minutes of response time.   We have determined that we need an additional  30 minutes of response time for the ultimate   flow of 67 million gallons per day under peak  flow conditions. We analyzed several options   to provide this spill prevention. In-line  storage, or storage in the pipes themselves, 

is typically how we accomplish this. To provide  that additional in-line storage we've determined   that two small submersible lift stations could  be added upstream of L32 to address lower   interceptor connections. We are also  evaluating the independent pumping system   to be included in the lift station that  would provide for additional response time.  This would include high-capacity pumps that  would operate independently of the standard   pumps in the event of a failure. The lift station  would also include traditional resiliency features   such as a split wet well system, redundant  pumps, and other features that will help   improve resiliency and prevent spills  at the lift station. Next slide please.

For the lift station project we  evaluated three different alternatives. The first was to do nothing, to leave things  as they are right now. The second alternative   was to replace the lift station in its current  location with a new larger lift station that   would be suitably sized to handle the  flows that are projected for the area.   The final option was to construct a new larger  lift station on the east side of the river in   Fridley, again to handle the higher flows that  we project for the area. Next slide please.

Alternative one, the do-nothing alternative, keeps  the existing lift station the same size without   any upgrades. The limitation to this alternative  is that the station will continue to deteriorate   if we do nothing. We're not fixing the problem  that we currently have. Because of the continued   deterioration, excessive maintenance will  be needed at the lift station in the future.   This will lead to increased failures at the lift  station. Failures would include an increased   frequency of backups in the area and potential  for an overflow or spill into the environment   including into the Mississippi River. Because of  this, this is not a recommended option.  

This does not address environmental,  health and safety concerns such as spills,   it does not meet our customer service goals, it  is not recommended per our policy of providing   continued and best customer services to the  communities that we serve. Next slide please. Alternative two includes the construction of  a new lift station on the west side of the   Mississippi River at the existing lift station  location. It would include construction of a new   larger pump station that would meet future flow  and resiliency needs. It includes an independent   pump system inside of the new lift station to  help mitigate spills. Two new submersible lift   stations would be added upstream of this  existing lift station. Other resiliency   features that we have previously discussed such  as the split wet well would also be included.  

The project would upgrade the existing odor  control system. We would need to maintain   operation of the existing lift station while  we are constructing a new facility. Once the   new lift station has been completed we would  demolish the old facilities. Next slide please. This slide shows an approximate  layout of where our facilities   could be located if we were to try to keep  them on the west side of the Mississippi River.  

The facilities are very large compared  to the property. Setback requirements   limit the space that we have available to  construct a new facility at this location.   Next slide please. Our cost estimate for this  new facility includes the new pump station,   new submersible pump stations upstream of L32,  dedicated pumps at the lift station, odor control   upgrades and acquisition of temporary easements  to allow us to construct these facilities.   We estimate that this alternative would  cost approximately 36 million dollars.   Next slide please.

There are several limitations  with alternative two.   We need to keep the existing lift station in  operation during construction. That limits the   space that we have available onsite to construct  a new facility. In order to construct the facility   we need to acquire additional property. That would  include temporary easements around our facility   in order to stage equipment and to stockpile  materials. Additionally there would be a lot   of construction difficulties that we'd have due to  the depth of of the facility. We'd need to provide  

sheeting that would protect the neighboring  properties and the street during construction.   Space limitations would also limit the screening  in the area. This is not a recommended option.   Space constraints due to setback requirements  from the river, the bluffs, the streets,   and the neighboring properties limit the area  that we can work in. It is very challenging  

to build a new lift station on this site while  keeping that existing lift station in operation.   Likely we would need to purchase more  property near the site to provide screening   and to construct the new facility. Because of  these limitations we do not recommend moving   forward with the option of constructing a new  facility on the existing site. Next slide please. Our third alternative is the construction of  a new lift station on the east side of the   Mississippi River. This alternative includes  construction of a new pump station in Fridley,   an independent pumping system and other resiliency  features that we've previously discussed,   odor control, and flow metering. The west  side would still require some facilities.  

These would include a control  building or an odor control building,   a siphon structure or head house to conduct  wastewater underneath the Mississippi River,   an odor control structure to manage the odorous  air that accumulates at the siphon structure,   and two small submersible lift stations to serve  the city connections to our interceptor system.   The project would also include  rehabilitating the two ductile   iron pipe forcemains that cross the  Mississippi River. Next slide please. This is our conceptual plan that shows  the location of our new pump station   on the east side of the river  and what it would include.  

Our main concern would be ensuring that we meet  the required setbacks from the right-of-way to   the east, as well as the setbacks to  the west from the Mississippi River.   The space that we have here also allows us to  provide adequate screening of our facility.   Next slide please. This shows the facility that  would be located on the west side of the river.   The odor control building would be constructed in  approximately the same location as the existing   lift station. We would include a siphon structure  that would allow wastewater to enter the siphons  

which would conduct flow underneath the  Mississippi River. Other minor improvements   would also be included on the west side of the  river such as site screening. Next slide please.   Wastewater would continue to be conveyed  underneath the Mississippi River   through the four pipes that are located here.  

These four pipes would be converted into  siphons which would allow wastewater to flow   underneath the river. The two pipes that are shown  in red will be rehabilitated. Next slide please. The estimated cost for alternative 3 includes a  new pump station, two smaller submersible pump   stations, dedicated pumps in the lift station  for spill prevention, a new odor control system   on the east side of the river, flow metering, a  siphon head box, odor control modifications on   the west side of the river, and rehabilitation  of the pipes crossing the river. Our estimate   for the entire project is approximately  51 million dollars. Next slide please. Alternative 3 has some limitations. There  are a number of construction challenges   due to the proximity of the river and the depth  required for construction of the lift station.   It is also the highest construction cost of  the three alternatives that we have considered.  

However it is our recommended option. The  large available space that we have on the   east side of the river allows us to meet all of  the requirements for building the lift station   in this area. The 22-acre parcel that we own is  large enough for the new lift station. We would   not need to acquire any additional easements or  any additional property to allow for construction.   The large space will allow for adequate  screening of the facility from our neighbors.  

This alternative will provide a sustainable  long-term solution for conveying waste water   in the region. The lift station structures will  be designed for the ultimate peak flow rate   of 67 million gallons per day. Other mechanical  and electrical equipment, such as the pumps,   pipes, and controls will be designed to convey our  interim capacity of 48 million gallons per day.   Again this is our recommended and most  preferred alternative. Next slide please. This slide includes some images of some  other lift stations that we have constructed   in or near residential areas, as well  as what cities they are located in.  

These facilities all include the  same features that we are planning   for the new L32A project, such as spill  prevention measures and odor control systems.   As you can see from these images, none of  our lift stations really looks the same.   We try to design them such that they fit into the  character of the area in which they are built. Next slide please.

Additional information is included in the Draft  Facility Plan. Background information and past   studies that have been done to date related to  Lift Station L32 and the system that leads to L32   are included with the report. A detailed analysis  and comparison of each of these alternatives is   also included. The complete report also includes  an environmental review of each alternative,   including wetland delineations, evaluation of  archaeological and historic sites, and the Draft   Discretionary Environmental Assessment Worksheet  that we prepared as a part of this project.   We also include a geotechnical report of the  Fridley site and a project delivery schedule.  

Next slide please. Financing for this  project will be provided through a low   interest loan from the Minnesota Public  Facilities Authority. These below market-rate   loans are used to finance eligible projects  and keep wastewater rates low. These loans   are paid for through existing municipal and  industrial wastewater rates. Next slide please.

The Public Facilities Authority  loan has a 20-year term.   Loans for these projects are paid  for from two funding sources.   The first is the Municipal Wastewater Charge,  which is the MCES portion of your sewer bill. The  

second is the Sewer Availability Charge or SAC,  which is a one-time charge for new connections.   The 51 million dollar loan for the project will  be paid for through existing sewer rates. Of the   $188.00 annual average MCES wholesale rate that is  currently charged to communities, $1.38 will pay   for this project, one dollar and 38 cents. When a  builder or development constructs a new building,  

$64.08 of the total SAC charge pays for  this project over the next 20 years.   This project is already included in the MCES  capital improvement plan. These loan payments   are already built into future increases to  municipal wastewater charges and SAC rates. These   figures just show the relative impact on rates  and how the project will be paid for over time.   These numbers do not reflect an increase  in sewer rates due to this project. Next slide please. With the completion of our  facility plan we will move forward with the design  

phase of the project. The design phase will  include engineering studies that will investigate   construction methods or how the facility will  be built. Studies will also consider what odor   control technologies will best mitigate odors. We  will investigate the design of the lift station   and create a physical and conceptual model of the  new lift station and odor control system. We will  

work on the architectural design of the buildings  and how they fit with the character of the area.   We will coordinate with local entities  and stakeholders such as the cities of   Fridley and Brooklyn Park as well as other  regulatory agencies and interested parties.   We will consider various land use  requirements to site our buildings.   We will begin to secure permits that are  required by different regulatory agencies.   We will study site restoration needs on  both the east and west sides of the river.  

These factors will all be considered during the  design phase of the project. Next slide please. Our next steps include collecting written  comments on the Draft Facility Plan.   Written comments are due on December 28th by 5 pm.  In January and February of 2021, the Metropolitan   Council will review the final Facility Plan,  which will include these written comments,   comments from tonight's meeting, and our responses  to these comments, and adopt the Facility Plan.   Once the Metropolitan Council has adopted the  Facility Plan, we will submit it to the Minnesota   Pollution Control Agency with an application for  the Clean Water Revolving Fund Project Priority   List. At the same time we will move forward with  design of the project. That design is scheduled   to last for the next two years, from 2021 through  2023. Construction is anticipated to begin in 2023  

and last through 2026. Next slide please. With  that I will return the meeting to Council Member   Peter Lindstrom, who will guide us through  our public comment and question period. Fantastic. Thank you Tim O'Donnell and Tim Wedin  for your presentations. And yes, at this time I   would like to open it up to our public hearing  attendees for your comments and questions on the   facility plan. I'd like to remind you to state  and spell your first and last name each time   you speak, also please include your address  and the organization you represent, if any,   for the record. You can follow the instructions  now on the screen to type into the chat box   or click the raise hand symbol. So at this time  I'll keep my eye out for comments and questions.

Council Member Lindstrom, this is Tim O'Donnell   from the MCES staff. While we're waiting to see  if there's questions from people in the audience,   we did get one question that we received  in advance of the hearing by email,   and that is from Martin Gavic, spelled  M-A-R-T-I-N G-A-V-I-C, and he lives at 141   Hartman Circle in Fridley. Mr. Gavic asks us will  there be any orders emitted from this lift station   and if so, how will you control them, and  where is the exact location of the lift   station on the property. I believe Tim  Wedin covered this in the presentation,  

but Tim if you could just briefly repeat some of  this information to answer Mr. Gavic's questions? Thank you Tim, and thank you Mr Gavic for the  question. I'll take them in the reverse order.   As far as the location of the proposed lift  station, right now we are proposing that the   building itself will be very close to where  the existing Girl Scout building was, so,   be fairly far away from the homes in the area,  fairly far away from the property boundaries of   the property, try to remove it as much as we can  from from the area. We do need to maintain some   proximity to the existing pipes, but we are trying  to be considerate of our neighbors in the area. As   far as the odors, we will include odor management  as a part of the project. There's a number of   different technologies that are out there that  are available for us to take care of odors at this   facility. There may be momentary periods where  we will still see odors from that facility and  

that may be because the media that is being used  to mitigate these orders has reached the end of   its useful life. This more likely will be during  times when we are changing out the media at this   order control equipment, so there will be, likely  there will be some momentary, temporary odors at   that site but for the most part the odor control  system will prevent any odors at the facility. Excellent, thank you. Scanning for other questions or comments.

Don't see any questions in the chat, I see Joe  MacPherson from Anoka County let us all know that   Anoka County submitted comments in the form of  an email and does not have any further comments   at this time, and thanks us  for the detailed information. Looking for any sort of raised  hands or additional comments. Council Member Lindstrom, we do have a couple  of additional comments in the chat box from   Fridley City Council Member Ann Bolkcom and also  from Anoka County Commissioner Mandy Meisner.

I see that, thank you. Great, a comment from Ann  Bolkcom about great news about the Girl Scout spot. and from the Commissioner says, agrees, "I know the camp is a beloved  place for a lot of Fridley residents,   thank you for the detailed presentation." And we have a question from Barb Bergseth on  71st Way Northeast, 146 71st Way. "How much noise   and smell are generated from the  lift station?" That's question number   one and question number two, "What is  the expected start date of construction,   if approved?" Is there someone from our team that  would like to take on those two great questions? Thank you Council Member Mr. Lindstrom, I think I can  answer those questions, and thank you Ms. Bergseth  

for the questions. As far as how much noise  and smell are generated from the lift station,   we will be required to meet the  City of Fridley code requirements,   they do set forth limitations as far as the level of noise that can be generated  at the facility, and how many decibels   can be heard at the property boundary. With  our separating that, pushing that back from   the property line, that will help mitigate that  issue. Also the planting of trees and other   greenery in the area will also help mitigate a lot  of that sound issue. Most of the equipment itself,   especially the pumps and other equipment that  will be used for operation of the station will   be located inside of the building, so that will  also help mitigate a lot of the noise in the area.   Odors, like I mentioned previously the level  of the orders will be very minor. Most of the  

time it'll be noticed when we are changing out our  filter media as a part of the odor control system.   I'm not sure that I can really quantify  what the order will be, but we're    definitely mindful of that with this  facility, as with all of our other facilities.   As far as when the construction will commence  I think right now it's too early for us to give   an exact date of when construction will begin,  we're still in the planning phase of the project   and there's still a number of things that  can affect when the shovels hit the ground,   but right now we are projecting the 2023  start date for construction activities. Great question, and I see we have another question  from Tom Kimlinger, 109 Hartman Circle, "What   is the planned use for the rest of the property  not covered by the buildings?" Great question. Thank you Council Member Lindstrom, and thank  you Mr. Kimlinger, that is still a question  

that is being discussed. At this point in  time we don't have a solid answer for what   the remainder of the property will be, or what  will be done with the remainder of the property.   Part of the reason for that is we don't  know how much of the property we're   exactly going to need to use. We've estimated  of the 22-acre parcel we will need to use   about seven acres of it, which will mean  that there's still another 15 acres that   we don't need. There's still a lot of discussion  with the City of Fridley that we're having   as far as what options are available  to that parcel. Those options include  

developing the area for residential housing,  those options include Metropolitan Council   retaining ownership of the area as a buffer and  including some public space, but at this point   in time it's too early for us to determine  what that property is going to be used for   in the future. That will be something that we will  continue to discuss with the City of Fridley and   come to a conclusion with them on moving forward. Excellent. Commissioner Meisner  asks a good question, "If approved,   will there be community meetings  offered either to gain feedback from   residents or simply to communicate  the plans before you break ground?" Is there a member of our team that would  like to address that good question? Thank you Council Member Lindstrom,  and thank you Commissioner Meisner,   that's a very important question. Public outreach  is a very important part of all of our projects  

and we will continue to involve the  public in the project as we move forward.   It may be a while before  you hear from us as far as   project breaking ground, like I said,  it'll be 2023 before we break ground,   but we will be working closely with the City  of Fridley on the design of the project.   That typically includes sitting down with City  Planning Committees to discuss how the project   is going to look, not only the building but  also landscaping and restoration of the site. I'm trying to think if there's somebody  else on the team right now that can   help speak a little more to project  communication as we move forward here.   Is there anybody else that would like  to add to what I've included here? I would just add that as Chair of  the Environment Committee for the Met   Council I'd be delighted, Commissioner,  to come to a County Board meeting or   any other public forum and help talk about the  project. I'd extend that to the Fridley staff and   City Council officials or any sort  of neighborhood groups out there,   I know I'd be willing to address  those groups and your local council member, I'm sure, would  join me in those meetings as well.

Anybody else from our team  like to chime in on that one? Council Member Lindstrom, this is Jenny Baroda, I would like  to add that we will also be working with other   stakeholders like Friends of Mississippi  and the Department of Natural Resources   as we progress during the design of this project.  So, we'll be working with them to determine how   that site would look like, what are the setback  requirements and all that good stuff. Thank you. Excellent, thank you. And this is Tim O'Donnell, I'll jump in here too.  From the aspect of our community outreach, we can  

certainly hold additional local public information  meetings as we move through the design process to   start to show you what we're looking at for design  of the project. And then certainly again before   construction would begin, that's the point that we  will have the most detail that we could offer to   the public on the final designs and construction  schedules, what we would be doing to try to   mitigate the impact of the construction while  it's taking place. So yes, definitely we will   hold additional meetings to keep informing  the public about our project. Thank you. Thank you. Michael McCarthy asked the question,  "Will there be any effluent storage on the site?"

Thank you Council Member Lindstrom and  thank you Mr. McCarthy for your question.   We will not be storing effluent on the site.  One of the things that we know is when we store   wastewater at a location, that can cause odors,  and we're trying to do what we can to limit the   odor causing areas. So, one of the evaluations  that we did as we went through and looked at   spill prevention for this location  was an evaluation of storing   wastewater at that site, and we quickly  determined that that was not a viable alternative. Great question. Keeping on the theme of odors,  Stephen Eggert asked the question "What is the  

typical amount of time needed to change out  media for odor control? I expect there is a   range for different or newer systems." Tim  would you like to handle that one as well? Certainly, Council Member Lindstrom, and  thank you Mr. Eggert for your question.   I believe, as I recall, you are correct.  It really does depend on the size of the   odor control system and the type of the odor  control system that we use for managing odors. As I recall, as I recall, time for change-out of the  media for a lot of our odor control systems   is on the the order of  magnitude of about a half a day, so four to six hours. Excellent. Another question that  just came in from Barb Bergseth,  

146 71st Way Northeast, "As a  residential homeowner on the north side,   we like the option of a buffer by the Met Council  for the 15 acres not used for the lift station."   So not necessarily a question but  a great comment from Barb Bergseth.   All right, did I miss any questions in the  group chat, and I will scan for raised hands   as well. Team members, if you see  something that I missed let me know. Sure, this is Tim O'Donnell. We do have one person  who's joined our public hearing by their phone,   the phone number begins 612-382, could  we unmute them just to see if they have   a comment or question, or whether they're  here just to listen to the presentation? They are at the the bottom  end of the participant list. Yes, can you hear me now? Yes, we can hear you.

Hi, my name is Roland Diederich, I  live in Fridley, Minnesota on 66th Way,   40-year resident, and my question is if there's  a breakdown on the Fridley side of the river,   are you going to then start trucking the  waste away from that area down to St. Paul? Great question, so if there's a breakdown-  just to repeat the question, if there's a   breakdown on the Fridley side how will that  be handled, will it be trucked to St. Paul? Yeah, I'm visualizing some kind of breakdown,  things do break down and you need to move that   waste, I envision trucks driving down East River  Road headed their way towards Pig's Eye Island.

Sir, could I ask you to state your  name and spell your name again please? It's Roland, R-O-L-A-N-D, last name  is Diederich, D-I-E-D-E-R-I-C-H. Thank you, Mr. Diederich, for your  question, I think it's an important one.   I mentioned earlier on in our presentation about  spill prevention. That's really a key thing for  

us, something that we really try to factor into  the design of our projects. We talked about   redundant pumping systems, redundant pumps at the  lift station, so when we design our pumps- when we   design our lift stations, we design them such that  one pump is out of service. So when we look at our   facility if we've got an eight pump facility that  we proposed here, we look at it as if one of those   pumps is down for servicing. So we're designing  it based on seven pumps being in operation. We   also design our facilities such that they include  emergency generator backups, so that if something   does happen where we lose power to the facility  we have an emergency diesel generator at that   location that immediately starts up and starts  the pumps operating again. We also talked a little  

bit about an independent pumping system that  would be included as a part of this facility.   These would be larger pumps, either diesel driven  or that include a dedicated diesel generator set   that would be able to pump the wastewater  at a higher rate. We also talked a little   bit about including some lift stations upstream  of this facility, that would allow us to store-   temporarily store wastewater inside of our pipes  so we're not spilling into the environment. Worst case scenario, I have seen where we have had  to use tanker trucks, not necessarily to pump from   the facility and route it down to Pig's Eye to  the Metropolitan Wastewater Treatment Facility,   but maybe down to- well, down to a receiving  facility, I know Fridley has a liquid waste   receiving facility that we operate nearby,  that we could bring waste to. That would be   absolutely the worst case scenario for a  situation like this, and we really try to   design our facilities such that we never  have to get to that worst case scenario. Okay. I guess that's my big main concern,  

because we had a railroad bridge go out  here a few years ago, maybe 10 years ago,   when we got five inches of rain per hour, and  so things do happen that we can't plan for. And that's a statement,  I guess, it's not a question. Thank you. Thank you. It's a great question and comment. These  are machines and technology, right,   so occasionally they go a bit haywire  and we need to be prepared for that.

Other questions or comments? Council Member Lindstrom, this is Tim O'Donnell  again. We had a question kind of got buried into   the chat box, but we could go back to this  one from City Council Member Ann Bolkcom.   She wants to know if, can we expound  on some of the options for the   extra property that we would not be using for the  station site. Tim Wedin, could you handle that?

Certainly, certainly Tim, thank you very much  and Council Member Bolkcom, thank you very much   for the question. There are two options that  we have looked at currently for the use of that   additional 15 acres of land in that area. One of  the options that we looked at was the development   of some single-family housing around that  area. There are some limitations to that site,   there's a fairly significant wetland in that area,  that has some impacts on that. Again a lot of the   same limitations that we have with sighting our lift  station would also be imposed on any building in   that area, so the setbacks from the Mississippi  River, the setbacks from the bluff, the setbacks   from the the right-of-way of East River Road and  also the property line setbacks would impact on   where that single-family housing could be built  out. We've talked with the City of Fridley staff   about some ideas related to that, and looked at  some of the potential for where that single-family   housing could be built, the limitations for  where that single-family housing could be   built and the requirements for building out the  roads and the utilities that would need to be   included as part of that construction, so  that's one option that we've looked at.  

The other option that we've looked at is,  again, keeping that area as a buffer and   looking at it as more of a public use space.  we've talked with the City of Fridley and   one of the things that they've brought up with  us is that they are a river community with no   access to the river, and so we've discussed the  idea of including trails, possibly a canoe and   kayak launch at that location, so those are  the two options that we've really looked at   moving forward with the site. At this point in  time it's still fairly early to make a final   decision on what it is that we want to do there.  we want to work very closely with the City of   Fridley and help determine what's in everyone's  best interest moving forward with that location. Thank you Tim, and Council Member Bolkcom  seeking a little bit more clarification   on what the building would look like exactly.  I suspect it may be a little early to have a  

determined answer on that. Obviously we  would work with the City of Fridley on that,   but anything further we can say about what the  building itself would look like at this point? Thank you Council Member Lindstrom  and thank you Council Member Bolkcom.   It's really hard for me to say what the building  will look like. I'll give you some answers that   may help direct you toward our line of thinking.  If you reflect back to that slide that I shared   that showed the location, or showed the different  buildings that we have or the different lift   stations that we have, the Chaska wastewater,  or the Chaska lift station that we have,   that was something that we worked very closely  with Chaska and Carver County on the look of that   building. So that's the building on the lower  left of the image that we're showing right now,   just to the left of that building is the Carver  County Government Center, and so we worked very   closely with the City of Chaska and Carver County  to build a facility that would look very similar   to the Carver County Government Center. The City  of Chaska also asked, and I believe this is part  

of their building code requirement, that that  we use a specific brick, what they refer to as   a Chaska brick that has a very distinct look to  it as a part of the exterior of our facility.   L73, up on the top section there in the middle,  that was again something that we worked very   closely with the City of Woodbury on as we  designed that facility. They were aware that the   area of the- the nature of the area where we were  building this facility was being developed as we   were moving forward, so they wanted something  that would fit in with that character of the   surrounding area, so that's why we built  something that looked more like an upper scale   house. So as far as what our facility will look  like, I don't know, but there will be a lot of   things that we will have to factor in as we move  forward, and those things will include building   code requirements from the City of Fridley, those  things will include requirements for building   close to the Mississippi River, there will be  some requirements that will be in place because   we're in a flyway. We've talked about designing  for- designing the building and lighting for  

bird safety, there are a number of things that  we'll have to factor into that design, and we'll   work with the City of Fridley on moving that  forward and how that building is going to look. Thank you Tim. Tom Kimlinger asks  a further question, "Is it possible   to move the pump building as close  to the center of the property?   That would make the largest  buffer in all directions." Tim? Thank you Council Member Lindstrom, thank  you Mr. Giancola, or Mrs. Giancola, or  

thank you Mr. Kimlinger, thank you, I apologize  for that. That's definitely something that we want   to look at as far as sighting the facility. Again  we're trying to keep our lift station as close   to the existing pipes as we can. As we separate it  from those pipes we run into some hydraulic issues  

of being able to move wastewater from that siphon  or that siphon crossing of the Mississippi River   to the new location of the building, and so that  has an effect on how far north we can put that.   There are also other site limitations that I  mentioned previously about the area, not only   the setbacks from the Mississippi River and East  River Road but I also alluded to a wetland that   is onsite. We need to make sure that we're far  enough away from that wetland when we construct   our facility, so we're not adversely impacting  it, so there are a lot of things that we'll   need to factor in as we move forward with the  design of the facility. Obviously like you say,  

the further away we are from our residents the  less impact that we will have on our neighbors,   but there are other things that we can do to  help mitigate that impact as well. That'll be   a lot of screening that we'll move forward  with as we move forward with the project too. Thank you. Don't see any other questions  at this time in the chat. We'll give it a few seconds here. And I don't see any raised hands.

Okay, any other questions  via chat or raised hands? Seeing none. One last call, any other questions out there? Okay. Very good, seeing none.

At this time I would like to   remind folks where you can review a copy of our  Draft Facility Plan at these various locations, and I would like to remind folks, next slide  please, I would like to remind folks that the   public hearing record will remain open until 5:00  pm on Monday December 28th. So if we get off the   line here and you remember one additional  comment that you want to make, or a question,   you have until December 28th, and you may submit  comments through any of the methods now showing on   the screen by mail, by email, by the council's  public comment line, or by TTY text telephone. Next slide please. So from now through the next several years, as we  design and construct our projects, here's how you   can contact us, and also see the latest project  information. This is also where we will post   information from this public hearing and from our  project open house that was in November. So I'll   make a final, a final-final call, is there anyone  else who wishes to speak on this matter today? Scanning the chat.

Council Member Lindstrom, I don't see any  other raised hands or comments in the chat. Very good and I will reiterate that we're happy to  come to a council meeting, a city council meeting,   or work with the county to help get the word  out on this really important project. So   seeing no further comments we will adjourn  the public hearing, and thank you so much for   participating this evening on this public hearing,  and just wanted to say your input is so important.   We really appreciate you taking the time to learn  about this Draft Facility Plan and appreciate your   feedback. Look forward to working with our county  local partners and with the neighborhood on making  

this project a great success, and we hope you  enjoy the rest of your day. Thank you very much!

2021-02-15

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