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05-07-1986 PC MIN . . . SPECIAL MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER PLANNING COMMISSION HELD AT THE ELK RIVER COMMUNITY CENTER WEDNESDAY, MAY 7, 1986 Members Present: Chairman Tralle. Commissioners Wilson, Temple. ArlonFuchs and Tom Warner Staff Present: Stephen Rohlf. Building and Zoning Administator 1. Site Plan Review for the Proposed RDF Plant which is an Conditional Use in an 11 Zone Mr. Don Chimiel of NSP presented an overview of their site plan which included ingress and egress, signage, landscaping and drainage. Chairman Tra1le opened the public hearing. Leslie Davis was present of 1138 Plymouth Building. Minneapolis, Minnesota. Mr. Davis's comment was that the refuge derived fuel plant should not be looked at separately from the United Power Association site which is where the RDF will be burned and which is the real cause of pollution. Mr. Ron method Myher of Elk River agreed with Leslie Davis and had an alternate to process waste. Dennis Carlson of Elk River stated that at the recently held 2001 Conference the citizens of Elk River stated tha~ what they wanted Elk River to be in the year 2001 was an environmental clean country environment and also they did not want to become a garbage dump for other counties. Mr. Carlson also stated that the RDF will be the first thing people see when coming into Elk River from the East. Marlene Hinges of Elk River stated that she was against having the RDF plant located in Elk River. Mr. Ron Myher stated that, this will have a negative effect on property values. Mr. Myhre also questioned that of the six sites looked at by Anoka County, five of which were in Anoka County and one the Elk River site. He questioned why the Elk River site was picked. Sharon Pulliam of Texas stated that she would answer questions on the new process brought up by Ron Myher. Sue Myher of Elk River said she was concerned of the lack of public awareness. . . . 2 Planning Commission Minutes May 7, 1986 Marlene Hinges asked why the meeting was never advertised in the paper? Steve Rohlf, the Building & Zoning Administrator, indicated that it had been. but due to the legal requirement of being in the paper ten days prior to the meeting it was not in the latest addition of the Elk River paper. but in an earlier one. Mr. Davis felt the site plan should have been the last thing done and that Elk River should have decided whether they wanted the plan first before they looked at the site plan. The Building and Zoning Administrator indicated that when the public hearing is held to discuss the conversional issues traffic, pollution, etc. that they did not want that meeting bogged down with details such as "How many trees they were going to plant on the site if approved." Leslie Davis also wanted to know why it was not on the front page of the Elk River newspaper that there was going to be a meeting. Mr. Ron Myher asked why everybody was not notified by mail, meaning everyone in Elk River. Chairman Tralle indicated that would be an impossibility and the legal requirments are not there for such an action. Mr. Myher also stated that he was worried that the waste water from washing down the facilities would go through the drainfield on site. The Building and Zoning Administrator indicated that there would be a holding tank for any water generated by the plant that had a possibility of being toxic and that water would be pumped and brought to a treatment plant. Mr. Dennie involved would be Carlson stated that he felt a time table listing the meetings with the RDF and what was going to be decided at those meetings a good idea to have such a, time table in the local paper. Mr. Norn Schifer1 of Anoka County spoke to the criteria of why Elk River was picked as the site for the RDF plant. Mr. Schiferl indicated that they wanted an location near to UPA the burning plant,. They also looked at existing land use capability. access was another one of the criterias for picking the site. Another criteria was whether the land was for sale or not and also whether the site was buildable. Also they wanted it located centrally around the larger uses of garage. The Planning Commission property. They stated provide for stacking plant. then discussed the ingress and egress of the that they preferred to see the main gate open to of trucks off of 165th and on the site of the RDF Representatives hauling hours. discussed and to the site from NSP indicated that the gate would be opened during The four lane improvement of 165th to the main gate was it was agreed that it was appropriate for traffic movement so that it doesn't become a problem with local traffic. . Mr. Speck indicated that the NSP site plan map did not show that he owned the land to the south of 165th and that it should be corrected. . . . 3 Planning Commission Minutes May 7, 1986 Access off Highway 10 was brought up and the fact that it was a straight shot with good visibilty. It was indicated why MnDot did not have a big problem in that location where trucks would have to go from Highway 10 to 165th Avenue. The consensus of the Planning Commission regarding ingress and egress to the property was adequate. The next issue brought up by the Planning Commission was fencing. Commissioner Temple felt that a six foot chain link fence proposed by NSP with one strand of barb on the top would be adequate. Commissioner Temple questioned NSP if they felt that the chain link fence would hold in any loose debris from blowing off the site. NSP indicated they should not be any loose debris associated with the site other than possibly the citizen's dumping of garbage area. Chairman Tra11e asked about the emergency unloading area. NSP indicated it was an area to dump any hot garbage, that would be garbage that was on fire so that they could sort through it and put it out and then it would processed in the plant. NSP also indicated that their own people would be trained in fire prevention and suppression. The next item spoke to was landscaping. Mr. Dennis south of additional Carlson Highway plantage of Elk river was worried about the visibility from the 10. NSP indicated that their site plan showed an which should help screen the plant. Commissioner Wilson indicated concern with the storage of bales of metal that were extracted from the garbage. NSP indicated that this would all be stored within semi-trailers and then shipped out as soon as the trailers were full. The question was raised as to whether the garbage they were leaking garbage who would clean that up. on-site was their responsibility if the haulers had an on the roads it would be their responsibility. trucks coming in if NSP indicated that leaky garbage truck Staff recommended that the landscaping plan be accepted as shown. The next issue brought forth was signage. NSP indicated that they were looking at a 6' x 8' sign on site adjacent to their front gate. The Planning Commission recommended that their signage be as permitted in the zoning ordinance and that NSP come up with a definite plan before final approval. 4 Planning Commission Minutes May 7, 1986 ~ The next issue discussed on the site plan for the RDF plant was lighting. NSP indicated the only lighting on site on the off hours would be security lights and that should be done in a way that would not affect the adjacent properties. The Planning Commission at this time recommended that the entire proiect be developed at once. Everett Speck questioned how NSP would be sure there was nothing harmful in the garabe. Don Chimel of NSP went through the process of how RDF plant works at this time. The Planning Commission indicated that they felt it would be a good idea to have the City test liquids that would be stored on the on-storage tanks prior to bringing them to the treatment plant to make sure it was not some- thing the treatment plant could not handle. Also the City would want the right to inspect the RDF site when they felt it was necessary. ~ Norm from only would Anoka Schifer1 of Anoka County indicated that some of the garbage coming Anoka would be from transfer sites and sorted for toxic materials and 30% be from local haulers. Therefore, the majority of the garbage be sorted through prior to getting to the RDF plant, taking it from County. The next item discussed by the Planning Commission was hours of operation. NSP indicated that they were looking at 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday thru Saturday to receive waste. They also indicated the operation of the plant that wasn't associated with trucks coming in and out would be not detectable outside of the plant, so hours of operation should not be a problem. Commissioner Wilson recommended that the citizens dumping be from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m, when trucks were not hauling so there was not a traffic hazard to local citizens. The next item discussed by the Planning Commission was drainage of the site. It was the consensus of the Planning Commission, per Terry Maurer, the City Engineer's letter that the drainage on the site was not adequately addressed and should be re-addressed and more retention area for run off be available. The Planning Commission recommend that the guard house associated with the RDF plant should not need to meet the setbacks required in an 11 zones so that they could be situated next to the front gates. . . . \. ~ Planning Commission Minutes May 7, 1986 Leslie D~vis indicated that he wanted the Planning Commission to know that if they approved the RDF Plant, no other decision they would have to approve in their position would ever be more tragic and that if we allow garbage burn-' ing it guarantees burning and burying of garbage forever and we must stop it now. The Planning Commission asked if staff had any further comments. The Building and Zoning Administrator had the following comments: That the entire RDF site should either be landscaped or tarred. That all buildings associated with the site plan meets setbacks and proper building permits must be obtained prior to construction if the RDF plant conditional use permit is approved. Also Steve Rohlf, the Building and Zon~ng Adminitrator wanted to emphasize the fact that waste water associated from the processing line should not be introduced into the on- site drainfield and that Russ Anderson, Elk River Fire Chief indicated that the ingress and egress and roads associated with the plan were adequate for fire protection, however, he did have concerns with the water storage tank on site that would be used for fire supression and wanted to know what the holding capacity of that was. The Building and Zoning Administrator also emphasized that the draingage plan should be reviewed again because they did not indicate adequate holding capacity for drain- age forthesite and that C3 land should not be used for the RDF site because it is not an approved use for C3A property. The Planning Commission members indicated that they would like to have a work session jointly with the Council and John C10vnay of the Cedar Corporation who is the consultant for the City on the RDF project to go over some of the more technical issues of the RDF to familiarize both the Council and the Planning Commission with those items. A recap of the Planning Commission concerns for the Council are as follows: 1. That the ingress and egress to the property appeared to be adequate and they recommend approval as shown on the NSP site plan. 2. That the fencing be the six foot high chain link fence around the entire property. 3. That the landscaping of the property be approved as per NSP site plan. 4. That the signage be addressed prior to final approval of the conditional use permit for the RDF plant. 5. That the lighting associated with the plant not be done in a way that would bother any of the adj ourning land owners. . . . 6 Planning Commission Minutes May 7, 1986 6. That the entire project be developed at once to insure that the conditions are all met before operation. 7. That the City has the right to inspect RDF plant to make sure that the conditions are being met. 8. That the hours of operation for trucks bringing garbage into the site be from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday thru Saturday and that the citizens's bringing garbage in be from 6:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., Monday thru Friday. 9. That the drainage plan recommendations and be conditional use permit. be as per re-addressed Terry Maurer, City Engineer's prior to final approval of the 10. That the guard house should not have to meet the setbacks required for an 11 zone. 11. The joint meeting between the Planning Commission and the Council be set up as a work session with John Klovning, the City Consultant on the RDF plant to familiarize both the Planning Commission and Council of some of the more technical aspects of this plant. COMMISSIONER WARNER MADE A MOTION TO COMMISSIONER WILSON SECONDED THE MOTION. CONTINUE THE PUBLIC THE MOTION PASSED 5-0. HEARING. There being no further business, COMMISSIONER FUCHS MOVED TO ADJOURN THE MEETING. COMMISSIONER WARNER SECONDED THE MOTION. THE MOTION 5-0. The meeting of the Elk River City Council adjourned at 11:00 p.m. ~eLstrator