Item Coversheet

Board Action Request
22-0296

Item Description:
Set Bassett Creek Watershed Mgmt Commission 2023 max levy at $2,207,000 for projects to improve water quality
Resolution:

BE IT RESOLVED, that the 2023 maximum levy for the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission be set at $2,207,000, and that the levy be certified to the county auditor and be placed on all taxable property under the jurisdiction of the commission.

Background:
History: The Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission (BCWMC) requests a levy of $2,207,000 to fund the commission’s portion of the project costs to complete four water quality projects that are priorities in the commission’s capital improvement program. The projects will achieve the commission’s goals to mitigate flooding risks, improve habitat, and improve water quality. These projects will benefit the water quality of Bassett Creek, Medicine Lake, and downstream water resources like the Mississippi River. In addition, communities and homeowners around two of these projects will benefit from reduced flooding during rain events. Descriptions of the projects to be implemented, in part, by the levy funds are:

 

  1. Dredging Accumulated Sediment in the Main Stem of Bassett Creek (Minneapolis) will remove 40,000 cubic yards of accumulated sediment from three of seven “lagoons” created along the Main Stem of Bassett Creek in Theodore Wirth Park. These lagoons were originally created in the mid-1930s by Civilian Conservation Corps crews. The project will improve flow capacity, floodplain storage, and habitat. It will result in significant water quality improvements by removing contaminated sediment, 600 pounds per year of total phosphorus, and 156,000 pounds per year of total suspended solids that currently flow downstream through the Bassett Creek Valley and into the Mississippi River. Total project costs are estimated at $2,759,000. The commission requests a 2023 maximum levy of $534,000. BCWMC levied $1,700,000 for this project in 2021 and 2022 and estimates levying an additional $200,000 in 2024. This project has also secured nearly $325,000 in grants including Watershed-based Implementation Funds from the Board of Water and Soil Resources and a Hennepin County Opportunity Grant. The commission’s closed project account funds will also be used.

  2. School of Engineering and Arts – Wildwood Park Flood Reduction Project (Golden Valley) is the next in a series of projects identified in the Medicine Lake Road and Winnetka Avenue Area Long Term Flood Mitigation Plan, completed by a partnership of the cities of Golden Valley, New Hope, and Crystal to alleviate flooding at the low point of Medicine Lake Road and adjacent properties just east of Winnetka Avenue, and downstream at DeCola Ponds. The project will reduce flood elevations around DeCola Ponds D, E, and F by creating 8.5 acre-feet of flood storage. This project will remove 13 homes from the projected 100-year flood levels around DeCola Ponds D, E, and F. This project will also create 2.3 acres of wetland and prairie habitat and prevent 4.1 pounds of phosphorus from reaching Bassett Creek every year. Total cost of this project is estimated at $3.1 million. The 2023 levy request for this project is $1,000,000. BCWMC levied $300,000 for this project in 2022. The remainder of the project costs ($1.8 million) will come from a Minnesota Flood Reduction Grant from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, as well as city funds, and other grants.

  3. Medley Park Stormwater Treatment Facility (Golden Valley) will reduce flood risk to homes in the Medley Park area by creating 8.3 acre-feet of additional flood storage, removing three homes from the projected 100-year flood level. This project will also create 1.1 acres of wetland and upland prairie habitat and will prevent 17 pounds of phosphorus from reaching Medicine Lake every year. The total cost of this project is $2.15 million. The 2023 levy request for this project is $150,000. BCWMC levied $400,000 for this project in 2022 and estimates an additional levy request of $800,000 in 2024. Grants and city funds will contribute remaining project costs ($800,000).

  4. Bryn Mawr Meadows Water Quality Improvement Project (Minneapolis) will collect stormwater runoff from 45.1 acres of residential areas into two new stormwater ponds within the park. Signage accompanying the new water features will educate park users. The project will remove an estimated 30 pounds of phosphorus and 10,500 pounds of suspended sediment from Bassett Creek. Estimated project costs are $1,835,000. The commission requests a 2023 maximum levy of $923,000. The commission levied $512,000 for this project in 2020 and 2021. In 2019, this project was awarded a $400,000 Clean Water Fund grant from the State of Minnesota for part of the project costs. This project will be constructed in conjunction with a complete reconstruction of the park by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board in 2022.
 
Total BCWMC costs for these projects is $2,607,000. BCWMC will use $400,000 in closed project funds to reduce the total maximum levy to $2,207,000.

 

Levies authorized pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, section 103B.251, are exempt from any statutory limitation on taxes. A county levying a tax under Minnesota Statutes, section 103B.251, shall not include that tax in the county’s general levy but shall separately certify that amount to the county auditor. The county auditor shall extend that levy as a special taxing district. The commission must certify its final levies to the county auditor prior to October 1, 2022.

 

Current Request: This request is to set the Bassett Creek Watershed Management Commission 2023 maximum levy at $2,207,000 for projects that will improve water quality.

 

Impact/Outcomes: Approval of this request will allow certification of the maximum levy to the county auditor for inclusion in Truth in Taxation statement. Projects in this request will reduce flood risks, improve habitat, and improve water in Bassett Creek, Medicine Lake, and downstream resources. The Dredging Accumulated Sediment in the Main Stem of Bassett Creek (Minneapolis) project will occur in an area of Theodore Wirth Park that is adjacent to an area in North Minneapolis identified by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency as an area of environmental justice concern.

 

These projects will also contribute to make Hennepin County more resilient to climate change by creating streambanks that are better able to withstand high flows associated with increasing precipitation patterns, and by improving water quality in advance of wetter and warmer mid-century conditions.

 

This action supports the county’s disparity reduction efforts by enhancing stormwater management systems and mitigating the flooding risks that climate change poses to our infrastructure and vulnerable populations.