The La Crescent City Council spent the majority of Monday night’s meeting hearing concerns and options relating to storm-water drainage and power lines.

Water drainage

La Crescent city engineers Dillon Dombrovski and Don Borcherding of Yaggy Colby, Rochester, presented information on the drainage systems on Larch Avenue, Beacon Valley Road, Hill Street, and South Third and Fourth streets.

Excessive rain water in the past year has caused concern with residents and city officials, and some corrections are being proposed. In some cases, there may be some cost sharing with residents and the city, Mayor Mike Poellinger explained.

“The issue is…when developments are built, homes go in, but not necessarily all the sidewalks and backyard improvements (are completed), and it starts to change the flow of water,” Poellinger said.

“…(over) the past three or four years we’ve had more 100-year rainfalls than we certainly have anticipated,” he said. “The other issue we had this year is just the saturation of the ground.”

At issue, as Dombrovski explained in his presentation, looking at the area around McIntosh and Beacon Valley roads, is grading and sump pump access.

An 8-inch wide pipe, perforated to absorb ground water, is proposed to be installed in between the residential homes on McIntosh and Beacon Valley roads.

“There’s an existing catch basin on McIntosh that would be tapped into and storm weather could be directed toward,” Dombrovski said.

But, with costs as much as $1,400 per household, the proposed drainage system—consisting of a swale (or lowered tract of land) made of turf with hook-up points—would need to go through a public hearing.

Residents questioned the mayor and the council about the city helping with the costs.

“In the past, the city had participated in the projects, and that’s what we’re proposing to do tonight,” Poellinger said.

Other residents wanted to know why the council approved developments that would not drain correctly.

Poellinger explained that some of the developments were done up to 15 years ago, and at the time, different standards were applied to the construction. Also, he pointed out, water problems have come to light recently which had not been an issue before.

“We have correspondence from some property owners in this subdivision that said they didn’t have a problem and they’re now experiencing a problem,” Poellinger said.

The council voted to put the project out for bid, get an actual cost, and said it will hold a public meeting, likely in early September, with the affected landowners to communicate the actual cost to homeowners.

In the past, Poellinger said, the city has paid for all the engineering and a portion of the utility work. He also said there may be a way to access the cost against the property, or defray the cost if homeowners qualify.

Complete information on casts and deferments will be made available at the public meeting once it has been set, he said.

Don Borcherding reviewed the Larch Avenue, Hill Street, Redwood Avenue, and Third and Fourth streets areas, which have had continuing drainage problems since Stoney Hill was constructed, according to residents from the area.

“We did a study of all the main systems that go down to the Redwood area,” Borcherding said, “and it’s about half the size of what it really should be.”

With pooling water and water overflowing down many streets and alleys, residents were concerned about how to stop water they’ve never had to deal with before.

The entire area needs to be reviewed, Poellinger said, and some simple grading may be an option for the moment. He requested Yaggy Colby to return with proposals on the water problems, after doing what they can, as soon as possible.

Power line opposed

The council unanimously approved a resolution, drafted by city attorney Bill Von Arx, opposing the construction of 150-foot towers with 345kv power lines as part of the CapX2020 project.

The city also affirmed it would “schedule and hold informational meetings to inform the city and its residents of the actual need for the project if La Crescent is selected, as well as the environmental studies and results relating to the project.

The city also requested, should the lines go through the city, that property owners be “justly and appropriately compensated” for the taking of their land, and further requested they be informed as soon as information on the project becomes available.

But some residents, including Jeremy Chipps, a Citizens Energy Task Force member, vocally oppose the need for the project, and while thanking the council for drafting a resolution to oppose the project wanted the following addendum added:

“WHEREAS, the CapX2020 issue is currently before the Administrative Law Judge in the Certificate of Need process (public written comment ends Sept. 26, 2008)

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the City of La Crescent does not believe that

the CapX 2020 power line project from the Twin Cities to La Crosse is needed

and requests that our citizens not be required to pay increased electric

rates to fund this CapX project UNLESS THE NEED for it is demonstrated with

clear and convincing evidence.

But Poellinger and other councilmen, such as Ben Rudert, did not feel they were expert enough to comment on the need for the project -- or for the construction of lines outside the city limits.

“We don’t really have a say in this, as such, so we’re trying to limit this (resolution) to what we have a say in,” Poellinger said. “And that is construction of those lines in the city limits. Our issue going forward is, if we (go) beyond our city limits, then we also take on future liabilities for decisions made by people outside of our area, which makes us then binding legally for things going forward and that’s what we’re concerned about.”

Poellinger said the decisions will be made by state and federal governments, and as a city they have little say in the matter, but the resolution is a way for the city to say they do not want the lines in the city limits.

“We don’t have any recourse anyway, as it’s been explained to us,” Poellinger said about the project. “What’s been explained to me by our legal counsel is you need to take this resolution to the township, to La Crosse, to each individual jurisdiction and have each one of them pass a similar resolution.”

Poellinger said a town of 5,000 people was not going to stop the project, and councilman Dale Williams agreed.

“You have to go to every one of these (towns and cities) to get your voices up if you want to be heard if that‘s what you want to have done,” Williams said. “We’re doing everything we can that our legal representation is telling us we can do.”

Chipps asked that the resolution be tabled until the next council meeting to give Von Arx a chance to review the additional clause for consideration, but the council did not grant his request.

“You’re asking us to make judgment on something we’re not experts on,” Rudert responded.

Poellinger said, as things are added to the resolution and it gets more complicated, he feels less comfortable signing it, as it will get “bigger than our means.”

Chipps asked if, in the future, the council would consider adding his addendum as the process moves forward.

“I think as times change in this process, we’re always open,” Poellinger said. “It’s our obligation to be concerned about the city.”

The resolution will now be sent to the Dept. of Commerce and to the administrative law judge conducting the hearings in St. Paul.

Other Business

A public meeting for the Safe Routes To School Project will be called for Thursday, Aug. 27 to discuss the completed plans and specifications.

Yaggy Colby requested an additional $8,500 for the Chestnut/North Second Street reconstruction project. The additional cost is due to increased material costs. The council approved the request, noting the cost of all materials--especially asphalt--has in some cases doubled over the last year.

The city’s summer recreation director, Jon Steffes, asked permission to establish a fund for children of low-income families to receive assistance participating in programs, such as swimming lessons and for swimming passes. The funds would come partially through an anti-tobacco campaign and a proposed trialathon next year.