Stormwater Oversight Commission Regular Meeting

Stormwater Oversight Commission Ottotorium Agenda Packet 1300 Market Ave. SW Grand Rapids, MI 49503 July 25, 2022 @ 2:00 PM Ottotorium Members: Julie Wildschut, Member Casey Kuperus, Member Carlos Calderon, Member Katie Doyen, Kristine Bersche, Chair Josh Lunger, Member Ken Yonker, Member Jack Barr, Vice Chair Betsy Hernandez, Member Randal Meyering, Member Staff Members: Carrie Rivette Michael Staal Kolene Allen Daniel Taber Chad Reul Legal Counsel: Copies To: Tammy Helminski Wendy Ogilvie Cara Decker Scott Saindon Joe Sulak 1. Meeting Called to Order 2. Roll Call 3. Approval of Agenda 4. Approval of Minutes Approval of Minutes from April 25, 2022 5. Correspondence 6. Reports i. Asset Management ii. Public Education iii. Project of Focus - Seymour Square 7. Old Business i. MS4 Permit 8. New Business i. Budget Generated 7/18/2022 03:34 PM  ii. LGROW Services iii. Bylaws Changes 1. Bylaws Revisions 9. Agenda Items for Next Meeting 10. Date and Time of Next Meeting 11. Public Comment 12. Adjournment II. Communications Generated 7/18/2022 03:34 PM  1.4.1 STORMWATER OVERSIGHT COMMISSION City Commission Chambers 300 Monroe Ave NW Monday, April 25, 2022 – 2:00 pm MINUTES Members Present: Kristine Bersche, Julie Wildschut, Jack Barr, Carlos Calderon, Betsy Hernandez, Casey Kuperus, Josh Lunger, Ken Yonker, Randal Meyering Others Present: Carrie Rivette, Mike Grenier, Mike Staal, Chad Reul, Dan Taber, James Hurt, Brian Bradley, Kolene Allen, Michelle McIntyre Minutes Acceptance: Minutes of Apr 25, 2022 2:00 PM (Approval of Minutes) Approval of Agenda Motion by Kristine Bersche, supported by Casey Kuperus, to approve the agenda for April 25, 2022. MOTION CARRIED. Approval of Minutes Motion by Jack Barr, supported by Casey Kuperus, to approve the minutes from January 24, 2022. MOTION CARRIED. Reports i. Asset Management Chad Reul presented: EGLE changed and reported differently. Asset management has been from August 1st to July 31st each year to calendar year. We cannot do stormwater assets in the winter, so new reporting year will be better for us. Reporting wise, the work we did last fall, you have seen it in the rotation of the August 31st date. The next time we meet we will transition all the numbers to the January 1st calendar. Last fall things were going well. This time of year, we start doing more. Launch for the season has been good. When we’re talking about our storm televising, we’ve got good things happening here. There is a camera truck coming into service at the end of June. This will help us target in on our storm goals. The camera truck handles many other assets for particular projects related to engineering. A lot of the televising does not count toward our stormwater goals - depending on how we change our permit for next cycle. We televise our assets to see if a street needs to be replaced. Having assets next to each other will make them more efficient. Televising has informed that our assets are in good shape, and we can get more footage to count toward our goals. Last year was the first year we finished the rotation and have now cleaned all the basins. This year, we are at 51% and we are moving up into our season. We were causing problems for the wastewater plant by overwhelming it with basin cleaning waste. This year is better and we shoudl meet our goal without overwhelming the plant. There are probably 25 different work types in our system. We report on 3 and explain what they are. If we need to do additional work types, let Carrie know. Carrie said we will not be presenting on this, but it will be in the annual report. Packet Pg. 3  1.4.1 ii. Projects of focus A. Alger Ravine Mike Staal presented: Final grading was finished in December. At that time, we were not going to plant any plants. Overall, things are looking good. Some tweaks need to be made. Some settlement has occurred. About 33% of it went in last year – at about 50% now. We will keep “plugging” away. Much of the work is to be done in May. $243K for this project. WMEAC, LGROW and Plaster Creek Stewards are also part of grant. Neighborhood involvement was good. We had a meeting at local church and there was a good turnout. Andrea got signups for site assessments. Overall, we have not heard much from people except those Minutes Acceptance: Minutes of Apr 25, 2022 2:00 PM (Approval of Minutes) on the ravine. Would classify concerns with changes. People have been concerned with water in the ravine at all times. We have been working with the public on perceptions, concerns with standing water, etc. B. Highlands Daylighting Brent Geurink presented: The Highlands 121-acre site was purchased by Blandford Nature Center and the Land Conservancy of West Michigan in 2017. On the map, the purple section shows the 48” pipe underground to upstream. The City had a stream opportunity and the project was identified to reduce erosion and sediment loading of Indian Mill creek. EPA calculators record ~7M gallons per year will be infiltrated. The project design was completed with funding from The City of Grand Rapids. The project budget is ~ $625K. $405K is from City of Grand Rapids. $217K is from Federal Clean Water Act Section 319 grant. The old fairway from the golf course is being restored and there will be a stream. There will be integration with native plantings and other projects to restore the golf course. The existing drain will be removed. The natural meander will be restored and there will be a flood bench. This will be closer to ephemeral. This is not like the Coldbrook Creek drain or Plaster Creek. The road crossings will not be integrated because of utility conflicts in the street. C. Glen Echo Carrie Rivette presented. This project has had speed bumps as some things needed to be changed and we’ll have to go back to EGLE this fall. Everything else has been going well. We should have an update for Seymour square next time. iii. old business A. Vital Streets Carlos Calderon presented. The annual report is happening now. Can we add presentation to agenda packet? Nothing is out of the ordinary as far as upcoming construction. Will need to report on bike line changes and things that are chugging along. The vital streets annual report is being presented May 10 th with Stormwater Oversight Commission. Jack will be presenting this for us – will not be during regular commission meeting. Vital Streets = Complete Streets + Green Infrastructure. In 2014, Grand Rapids voters established the Vital Streets fund. This fund dedicates its focus to improving our street conditions. This focus is fueled by our community values: Packet Pg. 4  1.4.1 • Safety • Healthy places • Vibrant economy • Environmental sustainability • Diverse transportation options New business i. Annual Report 1. Annual Report Minutes Acceptance: Minutes of Apr 25, 2022 2:00 PM (Approval of Minutes) Carrie Rivette presented. The annual report shows why we are set-up and what we do. Contractual services was over budget. Some of that is carry-forwards from previous years. The budgeted money had to be carried forward so it skewed our numbers. Knapp corner has recieved$2M in ARPA funds. The township has committed $125-175K. Extra funding from M & L streets was given, so those numbers appear over budget. The vital streets report shows low green infrastructure numbers this year, the biggest reconstruction was in an aera of groundwater contamination. Last year looks dismal but we new projects happening to help us meet our goals this year so overall very good news. Seymour square should have preliminary design soon. Will be giving an update on that soon. We are continuing to go for grants. Something to talk about nin the future would be what the community wants and how it will line up with our long-term plans. We need to take a dive into our bylaws to be more consistent with our stormwater standards document. Asset management goals should not be a surprise. The only thing we were under on is catch basin cleaning. This is because we had limited use of the vactor dump station. We are hopefully spreading out more with the calendar year. Now that we have been through the whole system, we should be getting less sediment. The report shows how many tons we disposed of last year (in tons). Carrie presented recommendations to stormwater policy. Right now we are preparign to implement our new permit. This has been acknowledged by EGLE. Now we will be educating commission on what is coming. Industrial stormwater program is to be implemented. Training has been good. Packet Pg. 5  1.4.1 Dan Taber presented. Viridian place went to planning for phase III. This is standard for our area. Thank you to commission for approval. Was able to help with planning commissions. There was discussion if winding the road and not waiting since the new section is private, but a straight line will be easier and less costly. Betsy Hernandez noted that Virdian Place Phase III was approved last week. In discussions with neighbors on the South side of street near Maryland, people have been happy with improvements to drains. We thought there would be more activity around phase III being approved. Carrie presented. We need to update annual report page 4 section 3.1 “error reference not found”. Also, Table 2 in section 3.2 should be “FY2021” Minutes Acceptance: Minutes of Apr 25, 2022 2:00 PM (Approval of Minutes) Motion by Carrie Rivette, supported by Jack Barr, to approve annual report as amended with grammatical changes. MOTION CARRIED. ii. Bethany Christian Services and Dwelling Place (670 Burton St and 2080 Union Ave SE) • Construction of 4-Story Office Building and 95 Space Parking Lot by BCS • 42 Residential Site Condominium Lots by Dwelling Place • Project Updates • Ownership Review • Funding Sources • Permit Update • Environmental Protection • Stormwater Management • Tree Canopy Requirements Dan Taber presented. Bethany Christian services and Dwelling place. This is a larger project being developed in the City. There will be a 4-story office building with additional parking and individual owned housing units. 42s condos as part of community land trust - non-profits to own land and individuals to own buildings. This is an attempt to deal with housing crisis. This went to planning commission in December and was approved. Dan spoke with engineer last week – said they are struggling with material availability and costs. Currently looking for affordable housing tax credits. Still working on drawing moving forward. For environmental protection there will be infiltration basins and smaller unground retention positions. The number of trees preserved will be helpful for stormwater with basins and ponds. Adding 150 more trees. Going above and beyond permit requirement. Planting trees aligns with other goals. iii. ARPA request – Butterworth Street Stormwater Project Proposal Carrie Rivette presented. Butterworth has issues during rain. In order to improve the road, we need to assess who will benefit directly. This project includes Domtar, the City and the County. Closer to $3.5M to do properly. This is not an easy fix. • Add stormwater control to flood prone street. • $3.5M • American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 Packet Pg. 6  1.4.1 Agenda Items for Next Meeting  Discuss vulnerability study - might need to go to City manager before hand.  Seymour square (Burton and Eastern) Streets partnership  Report on LGROW as a service. Date and Time of Next Meeting The next meeting will be held on July 25, 2022 at 2:00 PM at the City Commission Chambers 9th Floor City Hall, 300 Monroe Ave NW Public Comment Minutes Acceptance: Minutes of Apr 25, 2022 2:00 PM (Approval of Minutes) Ken Yonker presented. Catch basin cleanouts in Plainfield twp. Backyard inspections have been completed so will be going through Plainfield and Alpine this year. They are all ready so it is a good time to get it done. There is a lot of work there. Ottawa county: Nash creek inter-county drain district has a lot of issues with this “dead stream”. This is causing flooding in Village of Sparta. Came in as $8M project to stop erosion down stream. There was no negative feedback even including this $8M assessment (was estimated by Spicer group). We are working with EGLE. Last week asked for $8M of ARPA funding from state. Met with leaders to help get money but cannot promise $8M – maybe $7.5M. Hoping funding will be received by the end of summer. Carlos said Nash creek should be able to participate. Ken said this is a part of the plan as we move forward. People have volunteered to help with water holding. People have been excited – saying they have been waiting for years for this project. Ken has been working the county’s film department to use drones to put together a documentary on the Knapp’s corner project. Estimating that water coming into the pond and river will be significantly cleaner as it will have time to settle. Documentary will be an education model so that we don’t repeat mistakes. Same thing will be done for Sparta project, the drains are not just for stormwater – they are for environmental purposes, fishing, many uses but this one has been neglected. We are trying to find the writer of the story. The camerawork will be good but we need someone to write the story. Right now we cannot put trees in an area to stop invasive species. If have good data, we can say these species and look at legislative changes. Where we can plant trees, we can save money. Moving forward with full support and to move along side by side with Knapp. Dan Taber presented: LGROW forum is May 19-22 - registration is open online. LGROW.org to register. Kayaking, bird watch hike and beer drinking. The Spring forum is busy time of ear for Earth day. Rain garden blessing will be on Giddings. Asked City to come and speak and bless the drain. May 15th to support groups and individuals. There will also be an Indian Mill creek clean-up in May. Ken Yonker said his office is no longer in the road commission building – is now in the MSU extension building on Ball Ave. The road commission are great partners and are still connected through Skype. T Adjournment Motion by Jack Barr, supported by Ken Yonker, to adjourn at 3:17 p.m. MOTION CARRIED. Packet Pg. 7  1.8.3.1 BYLAWS OF THE CITY OF GRAND RAPIDS STORMWATER OVERSIGHT COMMISSION Whereas, the City Commission has determined to establish an advisory body for matters involving stormwater and stormwater management, as established by resolution number 83170, the following rules of procedure are hereby adopted by the City of Grand Rapids’ Stormwater Oversight Commission (Commission). ARTICLE 1 – MEMBERSHIP Communication: Bylaws Revisions (Bylaws Changes) 1.1 COMPOSITION The Commission shall consist of nine (9) members. Members shall be persons who represent varied interests within the watershed. 1.2 APPOINTMENTS An appointment shall be made by each City Commissioner and the Mayor shall nominate three members, one shall be a the Kent County Drain Commissioner or his/her designee, one shall be a representative of the West Michigan Environmental Action Council, and one shall be a representative of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce for terms commencing the first Monday in January, with the exception of the initial Commission members. Initial Commission members have terms beginning July 22, 2014. Commission members may be removed by a majority vote of the City Commission. 1.3 TERMS OF APPOINTMENT Appointments shall be for a three (3) year period and shall expire on the first Monday in January on the third year succeeding his or her appointment until his or her successor takes office. Initial Commission members will have terms expiring January 2, 2017. ARTICLE 2 - DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES 2.1 SUPPORT The Commission shall support and advocate for the goals and objectives established in the 2013 Stormwater Asset Management Plan, as updated. 2.2 MONITOR Packet Pg. 8  1.8.3.1 The Commission shall monitor the community's changing stormwater needs and recommend program priorities to address those needs. 2.3 REVIEW AND RECOMMEND The Commission shall: 2.3.1 Be an advisory body of the City. 2.3.2 Report on and make recommendations to the City Manager and City Communication: Bylaws Revisions (Bylaws Changes) Commission on stormwater performance, review expenditures and capital investment strategies. 2.3.3 Monitor achievement of stormwater outcomes 2.3.4 Review the City’s annual (Stormwater) Progress Report. 2.3.5 Make recommendations to the City Manager and City Commission regarding policies. 2.3.6 Plan for achieving Stormwater Management Level C as provided in the 2013 Stormwater Asset Management Plan, as updated. 2.3.7 Review, recommend and approve changes to the Stormwater Technical ReferenceStandards Manual and report all changes to the City Commission and City Manager. 2.3.8 Annually review and recommend changes to the established criteria within the 2013 Stormwater Asset Management Plan, as updated, for facility improvements, land acquisition, capital renovation or development. 2.3.9 Annually review the investments of the income tax extension designated for Vital Streets. 2.4 ADVISE AND ASSIST The Commission shall: 2.4.1 Advise the Environmental Services Manager regarding the effect of budgetary decisions on the stormwater system and interpretation of policy as needed. Packet Pg. 9  1.8.3.1 2.4.2 Assist the Environmental Services Manager in the evaluation of stormwater programs and facilities and make recommendations for improvements. ARTICLE 3 - OFFICERS 3.1 SELECTION At the first regular meeting of each calendar year, the Commission shall select, from its membership, a Chairperson and a Vice Chairperson, who shall be eligible for re-election on an annual basis. Communication: Bylaws Revisions (Bylaws Changes) 3.2 TENURE The Chairperson and Vice Chairperson shall take office immediately following their selection and shall hold office for a term of 1 year or until their successors are selected and assume office. ARTICLE 4 – DUTIES OF ELECTED OFFICERS 4.1 CHAIRPERSON The Chairperson shall review and advise on all meeting agendas prepared by the Department, preside at all meetings, appoint committees and perform all other duties as requested by the Commission. 4.2 VICE CHAIRPERSON The Vice Chairperson shall act in the capacity of Chairperson on her/his absence. In the event the office of the Chairperson becomes vacant, the Vice Chairperson shall succeed to this office for the unexpired term; and the Commission shall select a successor to the office of Vice Chairperson for the unexpired term. City staff shall act as Recording Secretary. The Vice Chairperson shall be responsible for reviewing and signing the minutes. ARTICLE 5 - MEETINGS 5.1 REGULAR MEETINGS Regular Commission meetings for each subsequent year shall be determined at the December meeting of the current year by a majority vote of the Commission. When the regular meeting day falls on a legal holiday, the Commission shall select a suitable alternate date in the same month. Packet Pg. 10  1.8.3.1 5.2 SPECIAL MEETINGS Special meetings shall be called at the request of the Chairperson or by majority vote of the members of the Commission. 5.3 PUBLIC RECORDS All regular and special meetings, including all meeting minutes, shall be open to the public. All meetings of the Commission shall be subject to the Michigan Open Meetings Act. Communication: Bylaws Revisions (Bylaws Changes) 5.4 QUORUM A majority of the total number of members then appointed shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business and the taking of official action. Whenever a quorum is not present at a regular or special meeting, those present may adjourn the meeting to another day or hold the meeting for the purpose of receiving information reports or presentations not requiring action by the Commission. 5.5 PUBLIC COMMENTS Comments from the public shall be limited to 3 minutes and persons may speak only once on any given topic. Notwithstanding the above, at the discretion of the Chairperson, a person may be permitted to speak at any time on any matter for any length of time deemed appropriate by the Chair (even for periods longer than otherwise permitted by these rules) when the Chair determines that the Formatted: Font color: Red Commission may benefit from such presentation. Speakers must address the Chairperson and must speak from the audience. 5.6 MOTIONS Motions shall be repeated by the appointed City staff member acting as Secretary if requested to do so by a member of the Commission. The name of the maker and supporter of a motion shall be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. 5.7 VOTING Voting shall be by voice and shall be recorded by yeas and nays. Roll call votes will be recorded only upon request by a member of the Commission. A majority vote of those members present shall be necessary to approve any motion, resolution or recommendation except for the amendment of these Bylaws which shall require a two-thirds majority. Packet Pg. 11  1.8.3.1 5.8 COMMISSION ACTION Action by the Commission on any matter on which a hearing is held shall not be taken until the hearing has been concluded. 5.9 PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE Parliamentary procedure in Commission meetings shall be governed by Robert’s Rules of Order (newly revised), except where state statute, these bylaws or local ordinance directs otherwise. Communication: Bylaws Revisions (Bylaws Changes) ARTICLE 6 – ORDER OF BUSINESS 6.1 AGENDA The Chairperson shall consult with the Department on the preparation of an agenda prior to each meeting. 6.2 ORDER OF BUSINESS The order of business for all regular meetings shall be handled in the following order: 1. Meeting Called to Order. 2. Roll Call. 3. Approval of Agenda. 4. Approval of Minutes. 5. Correspondence. 6. Reports. a. Environmental Services Department 7. Old Business. 8. New Business. 9. Agenda Items for Next Meeting. 10. Date and Time of Next Meeting. Packet Pg. 12  1.8.3.1 11. Public Comment 12. Adjournment. ARTICLE 7 – MISCELLANEOUS 7.1 AMENDING RULES These bylaws may be amended at any regular or special meeting by a two-thirds vote of the members present. Communication: Bylaws Revisions (Bylaws Changes) 7.2 ANNUAL REPORT The Commission shall make an annual written report to the City Commission in December concerning its operations, including recommendations related to Stormwater policies, management, rules and regulations. I hereby certify that the above bylaws were adopted by resolution of the City of Grand Rapids’ Stormwater Oversight Commission on the _____ day of _____________, 2014. ____________________________________________ Name of Chairperson, Chairperson Grand Rapids’ Stormwater Oversight Commission Vote of Oversight Commission: Yeas: _____ Nays: ____ Absent: ____ Packet Pg. 13