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07/09/2000 - City Council Special Special City Council Meeting Minutes July 9, 2000 Page 1 PAGE 5 MINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE EAGAN CITY COUNCIL EAGAN, MINNESOTA JUL Y 9, 2000 A special meeting of the Eagan City Council was held on Sunday, July 9, 2000 at 11 :00 a.m. in the Emergency Operations Center in the Eagan Police Department. Present were Mayor A wada, Councilmembers Bakken and Carlson. Councilmember Blomquist arrived at 11 :55 a.m. Also present were Dakota County Emergency Relief Coordinator Dave Gish; Kim Ketterhagen of the MN Department of Emergency Management, City Administrator Hedges, Police Chief Therkelsen, Fire Chief Jensen, Director of Public Works Colbert, Superintendent of Streets Erhart, Superintendent of Utilities Schwanz, Police Captain McDonald, Fire Battalion Chiefs Dave Diloia and Mark Adam, Administrative Assistant Ken Southorn and Communications Coordinator Foote. STORM DAMAGE City Administrator Hedges began the meeting and indicated that this Special meeting needed to be convened in order for the City Council to declare a state of emergency due to the severe rain-storms and flooding which occurred following nearly 12 inches of rain which fell over portions of Eagan overnight on Friday, July 7 into Saturday, July 8. The flooding was exacerbated when another 3 inches of rain fell on the evening of Saturday, July 8. Hedges indicated that residents from the City have been asking many questions regarding drainage from the ponds and their yards. Many have asked if the City could do more to drain these areas. Residents also asked about the availability of sandbags, whether the City is providing sandbags and whether the City will be providing pick-up of trees and/or other household materials damaged by the storms. City Administrator Hedges informed Councilmembers that there are hundreds of homes which have sustained some level of flooding. Some homes in the Taconite and Cinnabar neighborhood have been damaged not only on the basement levels but as far as the main floor as well. Residents want to know whether or not there will be funds available from the City, State, or Federal Governments and how clean-up should occur. Councilmember Bakken informed the Councilmembers that he had a conversation with the National Guard regarding using their trucks to pump down the water in the affected areas. City Administrator Hedges informed Councilmembers that the City Council needs to make several policy decisions about how clean-up and recovery activities should Special City Council Meeting Minutes July 9, 2000 Page 2 PAGE 5 occur. We need to provide united answers so City staff can prepare and provide consistent information to residents on Monday morning. Administrative Assistant Ken Southom provided information to the Councilmembers regarding what FEMA disaster funds would provide. The relief from the Presidential Declaration generally would only include recovery costs for public structures. Other reimbursable costs generally include staff overtime, contractual workers, equipment expenses, etc. The City will need to keep a good tally of all staff overtime hours, equipment, etc. throughout the entire response period. Dakota County Emergency Relief Coordinator Dave Gish informed Councilmembers that for the City of Eagan to qualify for FEMA, there needs to be $6 million in damage across the County. He indicated that Eagan is probably at about $2 million so far and Burnsville is estimated at about $50 thousand. Gish informed Councilmembers that the County is trying to work on a plan to possibly include other storm damaged areas within the state into one large disaster area in order to reach this damage threshold more quickly. If a presidential disaster declaration is made, small business association loans from FEMA are generally available for residents. Gish informed Councilmembers regarding the procedures for declaration for the City to obtain disaster aid from the State and Federal Governments. He stated that residents would have to check with their individual insurance companies to assess their own home damage. The relief agencies, i.e. Red Cross, Salvation Army, Jewish Relief, are being called in to assist in the impacted neighborhoods. Mayor A wada moved, Councilmember Bakken seconded a motion to declare a State of Emergency for the City of Eagan. A vote was taken on the motion. Aye: 4 Nay: 0 Superintendent of Streets Arnie Erhart informed Councilmembers that the City has provided the sand we had available. Crews have placed piles at Lexington Diffley Athletic Fields and at Murphy Parkway for residents to utilize. The Lexington Diffley site was to have been the only site and was chosen for its central location. Sand was, however, brought to the Murphy Parkway area for use by City crews when the "river" began flowing through the neighborhood and was threatening a lift station in that area. Excess sand was then left on site for residents to utilize. The City has about 2,000 sandbags on hand and has been making them available on a limited basis from the maintenance facility. Maintenance facility phone staff has been telling people to purchase sandbags from a variety of local companies. Erhart indicated that the City has contractors bringing in more sand and has received a donation of 8,000 more sandbags which will be coming from the Village of Lake St.Croix Beach. Director of Public Works Colbert updated Councilmembers regarding the flooding. Colbert stated that Thomas Lake was still rising, however, the Special City Council Meeting Minutes July 9, 2000 Page 3 PAGE 5 Cinnabar/Taconite and general Cedar Grove neighborhood water levels have gone down significantly. Mayor A wada asked who would pick up the damaged items and if the City pays is it a reimbursable expense by FEMA. Dakota County Emergency Relief Coordinator Gish informed the Councilmembers that he believed this would be reimbursed by FEMA. Gish also stated that residents need to be made aware that they should take photos of damage for insurance purposes. They also need to be aware that gas and electric should be turned off before they return to homes to assess damages. The City needs to section off damaged areas to control what is coming and from where. The City needs to prepare a flyer containing needed information for residents to access assistance. Administrative Assistant Ken Southorn informed Councilmembers that the only items reimbursed by FEMA are overtime, use of City equipment, and contractors to clean up storm debris. Director of Public Works Colbert informed Councilmembers that the City could pick up tree debris from the storm starting July 15. This could continue for the next four Saturdays and would only include storm damaged tree debris. Councilmember Bakken made a motion with Mayor A wada seconding, to authorize necessary overtime, use of City equipment and contractors as necessary to provide for the clean-up of tree debris damaged by flooding on an on-call basis for the next (4) Saturdays. A vote was taken on the motion. Aye: 4 Nay: 0 Discussion followed regarding whether the City should provide dumpsters to the neighborhoods most heavily impacted by flooding. Concerns were raised about the need to keep garbage separate from construction materials and keeping hazardous materials from being placed in dumpsters. Communications Coordinator Foote was asked if the City needs to be concerned about management of hazardous materials that might be mixed in with other debris damaged by flooding. Foote indicated that all hazardous waste must be managed separately and the best way to do this is to request that residents separate it and bring it to the Eco-site. She also indicated that the City might consider asking Dakota County to assist more directly in neighborhoods where debris is especially profuse. Dakota County Emergency Relief Coordinator Gish suggested that the City consider creating an area where people could bring all of the materials damaged by flooding, on a particular day. This would be similar to other "clean-up day" events often conducted by other communities. Discussion followed regarding the quantities of materials and whether it would be best to manage it as a drop-off or if the City should find a way to have a garbage company pick up curbside similar to the curbside pick up of tree debris or if the City should provide dumpsters to specific areas. Director of Public Works Colbert suggested that individual residents be asked to contract with their private haulers for pick up of flood damaged materials and the City can provide reimbursement. Communications Coordinator Foote indicated that it might be more efficient and easier to Special City Council Meeting Minutes July 9,2000 Page 4 PAGE 5 track flood damaged materials if we use as many as possible of the eight licensed residential haulers to pick up materials from their own customers and have them bill the City for storm damaged debris. Eight haulers can move through and clean up this amount of debris more quickly than just one. The City can create a list of households needing debris pick up and cross-reference this with hauler lists. Councilmember Carlson stressed that all publications need to emphasize that only materials damaged by flooding will be picked-up in this manner and that the City needs to ensure a way to cross-reference addresses where haulers are picking up debris and track it against our own list of contacts from residents. Mayor A wada moved, Councilmember Bakken seconded the motion to have licensed haulers track the debris they pick up and bill the City for this service. This will be authorized for the same (4) week period ending August 5. A vote was taken on the motion. Aye: 5 Nay: 0 Mayor Awada asked about the possibilities of pumping pond and standing water areas, either with National Guard trucks that Councilmember Bakken is working to arrange or through some other means. Kim Ketterhagen informed Councilmembers that pumper trucks are on their way if we want them but the City will need to assist in directing them to the proper locations and determining where the water should be pumped to. Councilmember Blomquist asked where would the water be pumped to and how much can we pump out with trucks? Ketterhagen stated that pumping today cannot be done, because the ground is saturated and we can't be pumping to other ponds. Director of Public Works Colbert indicated that the only place that the water can be pumped is directly into the Minnesota River, if we can get the O.K. to do. so. He also indicated a concern that the capacity of the pumper trucks would not be adequate to even make a dent in bringing water levels down. Councilmember Bakken stated that he would rather see the assets in place and then determine that they are not needed, than to wait to make this determination. It was determined by mutual consent that Utilities Superintendent Schwanz would be the contact person for coordinating pumping equipment from the State, County and National Guard if the equipment is available and the need becomes apparent. Superintendent of Utilities Schwanz informed Councilmembers we have not lost any lift stations to flooding and that crews are continuing to monitor all lift stations, pond intakes and outlets to ensure that they all continue to function. Ketterhagen stated that the state is looking into combining all the Metro area storm damage into one disaster area. FEMA is already in the Midwest area and is currently looking at Eagan and should begin to have an idea about the amount of damage by tomorrow. If the City is declared a federal disaster area, 75% of Eagan's expenses will be covered by FEMA. This covers only the uninsured losses to public property. He Special City Council Meeting Minutes July 9, 2000 Page 5 PAGE 5 also reiterated that there are differences between the coverage by FEMA for public and private losses. Councilmember Carlson asked what kind of private assistance is available to the uninsured. Ketterhagen informed Councilmembers that residents may be eligible for low interest loans and possible reimbursement for damage; however, this type of reimbursement is usually pennies on the dollar for residents' losses. Mayor A wada commended the staff, from Police to Public Works and all other departments that have been out since the flooding began. She continued that everyone has been doing an excellent job throughout this period. She also stated that most of the public seems to recognize that the City is doing all it can to assist the community. OTHER BUSINESS There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:25 p.m. with a motion by A wada, seconded by Carlson. A vote was taken on the motion. Aye: 5 Nay: 0 Date City Clerk