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6.1. SR 02-22-2000'ity of iver TO: FROM: Item 6.l.a-f DATE: SUBJECT: Memorandum MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL STEPHEN ROHLF, BUILDING AND ZONING ADMINISTRATOR FEBRUARY 22, 2000 BUILDING AND ZONING DEPARTMENT ISSUES A. Charest Case The city brought criminal charges against James and Kirt Charest for multiple violations regarding wetlands, Wild and Scenic River, Floodplain, and Shoreland. After three days of trial, James Charest plead to and was convicted of violating the City of Elk River's Wild and Scenic River Ordinance and failure to comply with a Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) restoration order regarding wetlands. James Charest was given a $1,000 fine, a year probation, and order to restore the property as per the city's specifications. James Charest faces up to 180 days in jail, if he fails to comply with the conditions set by the court. The judge will also be considering the City Attorney's request that Mr. Charest reimburse the city's legal fees. Staff suspects that the city will receive all or at least part of the over $15,000 spent on prosecuting this issue. Kirt Charest accepted an Altbrd plea, through which he admitted that there was a strong likelihood that he would be convicted of violating the city's Wild and Scenic River Ordinance. This plea was accepted under a six month Stay of Adjudication. If in six months the property is not restored, he will be automatically convicted of the charges and could face up to ninety days in jail. If the property is restored on time he will have no criminal record for these offenses. The Judge will also consider reimbursement of city legal fees from Kirt Charest. B. Landfill Environmental Consultant Matt Ledvina of B.A. Leisch and Associates has been the city's environmental consultant regarding the Elk River Landfill tbr over a decade. Landfills are complicated evolving systems. Matt's history of dealing with the landfill would be extremely hard to replace. Mr. Ledvina has accepted a new position with another environmental consulting firm, Environmental Resources Group (ERG). A brochure from that firm is attached. Staff is recommending that the city retain the services of Mr. Ledvina by contracting with ERG for its consulting needs regarding the landfill. Staff further recommends that the city continue with the services of B.A. Leisch and Associates for issues at the RDF Plant, GRE's Facility, and the Old City Dump. s:\b&z\stever\camascup.doc 13065 Orono Parkway · P.O. Box 490 · Elk River, MN 55330 * TDD & Phone: (612) 441-7420 · Fax: (612) 441-7425 C. Code Enforcement/Housing Inspector The position of Code Enforcement Officer originally included nuisance complaints and coordinating recycling and the city's garbage franchise. Recently, this position was reduced to 20 hours per week because Debra Long (Building and Zoning Secretary) assumed the duties of recycling coordinator. In an attempt to keep up to the increased demand fbr building inspections, the Building and Zoning Department would like to change the duties of this position and make it full time again (the position is in the 2000 Budget as fulltime). This altered position will still deal with nuisance complaints, which is temporarily being handled by Stephen Rohlf. In addition, it will be responsible for apartment inspection and licensing. This will free- up Bob Ruprecht (the current Housing Inspector) to devote his entire time to residential inspection, which in turn will hopefully free-up some of Terry Zajac's time to help with commercial inspection. A Housing Inspector that also deals with nuisance complaints is a ~hirly common situation in other communities. Because of anticipated growth in both residential and commercial construction and the additional work load as a result of the new Energy Code, the Building and Zoning Department feels that it is imperative to increase inspection staff; if the level and quality of service is not going to suffer drastically. The City of Elk River charges the maximum permit fees allowed, we should make every eflbrt to provide quality service. D. B &Z Remodeling The Building and Zoning Department has $5,000 budgeted fbr remodeling to create an additional work area for another inspector. To create this additional work area the txvo closets in the hallway next to our Department will be removed. This work is proposed to begin in the near future. E. Public Awareness February 6, 2000 - Cliff Skogstad and Bob Ruprecht in cooperation with the Suburban Northwest Builder Association (SNBA) manned a booth at the Builder's Show held at the Elk River Senior High School. Having inspectors at these shows to answer building code questions is always appreciated by builders and homeowners. February 25, 2000 - The Elk River Building Department will be hosting a meeting with area building inspectors in the hopes of gaining consistency in the interpretation of the new Energy Code. February 29, 2000 - The Elk River Building Department will be hosting a meeting with area contractors to help explain the new Energy Code. There has been a great response by the builders to attend this meeting. An additional meeting on this subject will likely be necessary. Indoor air quality - The Building Department is looking into the possibility of hosting seminars on indoor air quality fbr the general public. s:\b&z\stever\camascup.doc F. Cliff Skogstad named as Vice-chair of the International Code Development Committee - Cliff Skogstad has been appointed to the International Code Development Committee by State of Minnesota Building Code Division and will be attending the International Building Code hearings in Birmingham Alabama in April, 2000. The State of Minnesota will be paying his expenses. Having one of its employees named to this prestigious position is a great honor for the City of Elk River. s:\b&z\stever\camascup.doc RESPONSE AND ACTION Everyone a~ ERG works to help out' clients comply with environmental laws and succeed with ~eir p~'.oiec~. When clients call, our peo- ple respond..,~This is a deadline-driven business. Our clients ~:gmmend us on prompt action, effi- cient utilization :of resources, and delivery of conclusive and accurate reports. QUALITY FIRST ERG places quality f'~rst when providing services to our clients. At the core ot ou~ cul- ture, we believe it is far bette~ ~ spend time on the Iront-end so each process is smoother near completion. In our experience, this ap- pro,ch saves our clients time and money. We invest in cutting edge technology r.o develop and implement betxer, faster, and more efficient ways to serve our clients, OUR GREATEST ASSET GOES DOWN THE ELEVATOR EACH NIGHT We know the greatest asset we can offer our clients is our people. Therefore. it's im- portant that ou~ people come back up the ele- vator each morning. At ERG, we pay close attention to the needs of our people. Client~ benetit from our culture; it's par: of the value we provide. The positive energy in our office facilitates creative problem soivin§ and Iong-t.erm, stable working re[adonships. CALL US When you're ready to st~r: planning your next proiec~ caJi us au 612.339.4750 and ~et us put our experience to work for ERG is an affiliate ~f Natural Resource Group, Inc.,' a privately owned ¢onsuRing firm located in Minneapolis, Minne- sot~ thai provides environmental permi~ng and compliance services primarily to the energy ~ransmission inclust~y. 1850 Internalieeal 900 Sec0a4t Aveeee Mia~eap011$, MN S5402 Tel: 612..139.4750 Fax: 612.339.4990 ENVIRONMENTAL RESOURCE GRouP LLC 1850 International Centre go0 Second Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55'402 Providing innovative and practical solutions to your environmental challenges. A COMPLEX ENVIRONMENT The environmental arena is filled with envi- ronmental laws and regu- lations from state, ha-. donal, and international jurisdictions that must be satisfied. Air emissions, wetlands, rernediation, due diligence, land~ill and compliance issues must be addressed. ~ ~ Working through this complexity is where Envi- ronmental Resource Group LLC (ERG) excels. BENEFITING FROM OUR EXPERIENCE ERG works hard to provide innovative and practical solutions to the environmental chal- lenges that our clients meet in the course of their busin-~_~s. Our. c~ients depend on. us co present timely solutions that ~rk. Our solutions start with the knowledge and experience of our people. ERG recruits talent from various e~vJronmeneal areas. Our experi- ence and knowledge allow us to reduce compli- cated problems into workable solutions. We draw on the experience that each staff member ' brings, which represents a multitude of projects and a wide array of environmental initiatives: A PARTNERS'HI P We listen to our client3 and understand their real proiect issues. We work to form a parmership by putting ourselves in their place, working with them to determine ~he best solu- tions, and applying our experience to bring suc- cess to their projects. OUR SERVICEs Our clients' projects range from small, specially focused tasks to strategic environmental manage- ment systems. Our services include, but are not limited AIR QUALITY Regulatory Assistance Permirdng Emissions Determinations Impact Analysis Emissions Control DUE DIUGENCE/COMPLIANCE AUDITS Phase I and Phase I! Site Investigations Compliance Reviews and Audits Restricted Waste Surveys Waste Disposal Assessments SITE REDEVELOPMENT Local, state, and federal Brownlleld Initiatives Comm,nity and Regulatory Liaison Regulatory Negotiations Funding Sources and Grant Applications ENVIRONMENTAL RESTORATION Remedial Investigations/Feasibility Studies Remedial Design and Action Work Plans CERCLAJRCRA Projects Risk Based Assessments ENVIRONMEi~rT'AL PERMITTING Clean Water Act U.S. Army Corps of Engineers U.S. Environmental Protection Agency State Water Quality Requirements State Environmental Regulatory Agencies Corridor Studies/Assessments Land Development Support SOLID WASTE Site Selection and Permitting landfill Services Air Quality Control and Gas Recovery Systems Compost Facilities RESOURCE ASSESSMENT & SURVEY MANAGEMENT Threatened and Endangered Species Wedands Sensitive Area Delineation Cultural Resources CONSTRUCTION IMPLEMENTATION Erosion Control and Restoration Plans Stream and Wedand Crossing Plans Residential Construction Mitigation Plans Pre-Construction Site Documentation ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS EMIS Development EMIS Implementation Expert Witness Investigations aad Testimony Database Management GEOGRAPHIC INFORPIATION SYSTEMS Environmental, Land Use, and Demographic Site Alternatives Environmental Constraint~ WiJdlile Proximity Studies 3D Geographic Analyses CAD-Specific and System-Wide Maps Desktop GIS Interfaces and Applications