Nate Monahan, Recreation Manager and Rebecca Haug, Water Resources Manager
Title
NRCB UPDATES
Background
2021 - 2025 Open Space Capital Improvement Fund Budget
Approved by the City Council on December 21, 2020. The City Council directed additional funding as a placeholder for future trails in 2022 - 2025. Staff is currently working on hiring a consultant for the Sunrise Ponds trail and continuing to finalize details with SRF consultant on the entrance sign for the BWS on Lexington Avenue. The structure at the BWS will be brought forward to a future City Council Workshop for discussion on how to proceed.
Blaine Wetland Sanctuary Southern Portion Restoration
Restoration activities are underway in the southern portion of the Blaine Wetland Sanctuary. The weather has allowed for the haul roads and staging areas throughout the site. Tree cutting and chipping started on January 4, 2021. Work in the buffer areas began on January 11, 2021.
The devastation of the impact from the Emerald Ash borer beetle is very evident throughout the site. The contractor will remove the dead and diseased ash trees throughout the BWS this winter.
The biggest challenge for the contractor has been from the public using the site to walk, bike, and snowshoe. The city has installed signs stating “Wetland Habitat Restoration No public Access” at North Oaks Park and at the project access on 109th as people were using the area as a parking lot. Residents are also using the haul road to the northern portion as a trail so additional signs will be going up along the trail in the northern portion requesting the public to stay on designated trails. The operators of the tree cutting and chipping machines cannot always see people since their equipment is so large.
The contractor is hoping to have the southern portion work and the ash tree removals complete at the BWS by early March. All work is weather dependent. Additional work at the BWS such as herbicide applications and prescribed burns will continue on a regular basis at the site every year.
Proposed Main Street Wetland Mitigation Bank
The city submitted a conceptual mitigation plan for the Main Street Wetland Mitigation Bank to the regulatory agencies this past summer. The regulatory agencies are the Coon Creek Watershed District, MN Board of Water and Soil Resources, MN Department of Natural Resources and the Army Corps of Engineers. The agencies reviewed the concept mitigation plan and submitted comments to the city. The consensus from the agencies is the project is viable to be permitted as a wetland bank.
The project goal is to return a portion of wetland in Pioneer Park to its original condition, before it was impacted by historic ditching, encroachment of invasive or weedy species, or the suppression of natural processes that once naturally maintained wetland habitats and diversity.
To achieve this objective within a portion of Pioneer Park, a variety of wetland restoration methods will be used. The changes that can be expected to see are the removal of dead, diseased, or weedy tree species (i.e. green ash with emerald ash borer, box elder, aspen), removal of non-native shrub species (i.e. common and glossy buckthorn), removal of weedy grasses (i.e. reed canary grass), the use of mechanical equipment such as mowers, targeted herbicide application, seeding of native species, and the use of prescribed fire. All of these methods will help bring back the natural functions and diversity of the Pioneer Park wetland system.
The revenue generated through wetland banking projects is used by the city for improving, maintaining, and augmenting our parks, trails, and open spaces.
The next step in the process is to meet with the city council and determine if a formal wetland bank application should be prepared and submitted for consideration by the regulatory agencies. The process of establishing a wetland bank is lengthy and there will be ample time for residents to provide comments on the project prior to the start of any restoration work.
The current plan does not include any restoration work to the east side of the existing trail within Pioneer Park and does not include the entire park area The plan does include an additional boardwalk along the western side of the wetland restoration area.
Recommendation
Informational
Attachments
2021 - 2025 Open Space Capital Improvement Fund Budget
BWS Southern Portion Restoration Project Map
Main Street Wetland Mitigation Bank Map