This is the response to the press release by the Minneapolis Roberts
Bird Sanctuary in Peril folks.
I wouldn't mind seeing the actual maps and plans. As a birder I know it
is one thing to hear a bird described,
much better to actually see the bird.
Sysliene Turpin
Minneapolis, MN
I
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [Mpls] PRESS RELEASE: Minneapolis Roberts Bird Sanctuary
in Peril
Date: Wed, 5 Feb 2014 16:39:36 -0500 (EST)
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
I have been working on the Roberts Bird Sanctuary Management Plan and
addressing questions and concerns related to that plan so that it can move
forward in the Operations and Environment Committee. This has been a very
extensive process and is almost completed. The sewer work affects that plan. I
would like to provide the following MPRB press release about that sewer
work to provide the context and additional details about how that work will be
done.
Thanks,
Scott Vreeland
Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
Commissioner District # 3
Chair Operations and Environment
(612) 721-7892
MCES Sewer Rehabilitation – response to press release Minneapolis Roberts
Bird Sanctuary in Peril dated 2/3/14
The following information addresses some of the concerns expressed in a
recent news release issued by the Friends of Roberts Bird Sanctuary (FRBS).
In particular, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board (MPRB) would like
to take the opportunity to explain the transparent community engagement
process and the efforts the Park Board has taken to protect the sanctuary and
minimize the impacts of the sewer line project.
Commissioners and MPRB staff take great pride in consistently providing
sound environmental management for more than 6,700 acres of parkland. Both the
MPRB and the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) have
community notification and engagement processes. Both processes were
effectively
applied to the sewer line project to ensure that concerns expressed by
neighborhood and stakeholder groups, including the FRBS, were addressed and
incorporated into the final construction plans and agreements brought forward
to the MPRB for approval last fall.
Many public meetings were held to discuss the need for the sewer line
rehabilitation and the steps being implemented to lessen the environmental
impacts to the Sanctuary. On August 13, 2013 a public meeting was held at
Lyndale Farmstead Park to discuss the project implementation and explain how the
investigative work by an independent arborist and wildlife biologist was
helping shape the final construction plan and schedule of the sewer work in
the Sanctuary. On August 21, 2013, FRBS spoke at the MPRB Board meeting
open time thanking the Board and MPRB staff for including them in the process.
On September 12, MPRB and MCES staff attended an open house for the
Sanctuary to present the construction plan and the steps being taken to
minimize
the impact to the parkland and Sanctuary. On October 2, 2013 the temporary
and permanent easements were brought before the Board at a regular,
publicly advertised Board meeting, for approval.
The MCES plan for the existing sewer line, which follows an old parkway
alignment through the bird sanctuary, has always been to rehabilitate the line
in-place and after construction leave a maintenance access following the
old parkway alignment. This access road will allow an 8 to 10 foot clear
path for maintenance vehicles to access the line for routine inspection.
Responding to staff and stakeholder groups concerns, this access path will not
be a 10 foot wide path, instead it will be constructed into two gravel
surface strips separated in the middle by vegetation. The design will allow
each tire of the maintenance vehicle to drive on the strip of gravel and
safely access the line. It will appear to park users as a path not a gravel
road.
In addition, the MCES project will remove the old parkway surface of
Macadam, an early version of road surfacing that mixed asphalt oils with sand to
produce a drivable surface. This Macadam material will be removed and
disposed of following State and Federal guidelines. It will not remain in the
Sanctuary.
MPRB and MCES staffs have consistently presented at the public meetings
the need for a permanent easement and a temporary construction easement. The
30 foot wide permanent easement is the same width requested and approved
by the Board over all the MCES sewer lines that are located and
rehabilitated within the MPRB parkland. Given the limited access into the
Sanctuary,
MCES requested a 60 foot temporary easement to allow safe access for the
type of equipment required to rehabilitate the line. After careful review,
MPRB staff allowed a 50 foot temporary easement over most of the line,
necking the easement down in areas to 40 feet along the sewer line to preserve
significant trees mapped by the project arborist. All trees that are removed
have been paid for by the MCES and funds will be used, along with other
capital improvement monies, to plant native vegetation within the Sanctuary
that will greatly improve the vegetation diversity, creating improved
wildlife habitat.
The sewer line project through the bird sanctuary is part of the MCES’
Southwest Minneapolis Interceptor Rehabilitation project to rehabilitate 3.5
miles of aging and deteriorating sewer lines in the Linden Hills and East
Harriet Farmstead Neighborhoods in Minneapolis. The project is set to begin
this spring, starting along the south end of Calhoun, running south through
William Berry Park, west through Roberts Bird Sanctuary and the Peace
Garden, and ending up along Kings Highway.
The MPRB believes the final outcome of the sewer rehab project in the bird
sanctuary is in line with the FRBS group and it will ultimately benefit the
environment, birding habitat, and accessibility of the bird sanctuary.
Scott Vreeland
Seward, Minneapolis
About/contact Scott Vreeland: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/scottvreeland
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