HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-11-08 EEC Meeting PacketAgenda
Energy and Environment Commission
City Of Edina, Minnesota
City Hall Community Room
Thursday, November 8, 2018
7:00 PM
I.Call To Order
II.Roll Call
III.Approval Of Meeting Agenda
IV.Approval Of Meeting Minutes
A.Minutes: Energy and Environment Commission October 11,
2018
V.Special Recognitions And Presentations
A.Water Report
VI.Community Comment
During "Community Comment," the Board/Commission will invite residents to share relevant issues
or concerns. Individuals must limit their comments to three minutes. The Chair may limit the
number of speakers on the same issue in the interest of time and topic. Generally speaking, items
that are elsewhere on tonight's agenda may not be addressed during Community Comment.
Individuals should not expect the Chair or Board/Commission Members to respond to their
comments tonight. Instead, the Board/Commission might refer the matter to sta% for
consideration at a future meeting.
VII.Reports/Recommendations
A.Comp Plan Chapter 8 Water Draft
B.Comp Plan Chapter 10 Energy and Environment
VIII.Correspondence And Petitions
A.Working Group Minutes
IX.Chair And Member Comments
X.Sta/ Comments
A.Solar Program and Zoning Update
XI.Calendar Of Events
A.2019 Council and Commission Meeting Calendar
B.2018 EEC Schedule and Roster List
XII.Adjournment
The City of Edina wants all residents to be comfortable being part of the public
process. If you need assistance in the way of hearing ampli6cation, an
interpreter, large-print documents or something else, please call 952-927-8861
72 hours in advance of the meeting.
Date: November 8, 2018 Agenda Item #: IV.A.
To:Energy and Environment Commission Item Type:
Minutes
From:Casey Casella, City Management Fellow
Item Activity:
Subject:Minutes: Energy and Environment Commission
October 11, 2018
Information
CITY OF EDINA
4801 West 50th Street
Edina, MN 55424
www.edinamn.gov
ACTION REQUESTED:
Motion to approve the October 11, 2018 Minutes for the Energy and Environment Commission.
INTRODUCTION:
Receive the Energy and Environment Commission Minutes of October 11, 2018.
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
Minutes: Oct. 11, 2018
Draft Minutes☒
Approved Minutes☐
Approved Date:
Minutes
City Of Edina, Minnesota
Energy and Environment Commission
Edina City Hall Community Room
Thursday, October 11 2018, 7:00 PM
I. Call To Order
Chair Jackson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.
II. Roll Call
Answering Roll Call were Chair Jackson, Commissioners Horan, Hussain, Kostuch, Manser, Satterlee
Lanzas, Hoffman, Glahn and Fernands, Maynor
Absent: Seeley
Staff Present: Liaison Brown, Casey Casella
III. Approval Of Meeting Agenda
Manser made a motion to approve the October 11, 2018 meeting agenda. Kostuch seconded. All
voted aye. Motion carried.
IV. Approval Of Meeting Minutes
Motion made by Hoffman to approve the September 13, 2018 minutes. Motion seconded by Horan. Motion
carried.
VI. Community Comment
A. Zoe, a student at Edina High School, introduced herself to the Commission.
VII. Reports/Recommendation
A. Comprehensive Plan
Haila Maze, a consultant working on the Edina Comprehensive Plan, was in attendance to answer
questions on the Chapter 10 Comprehensive Plan draft.
The Commission reviewed the Comprehensive Plan chapter and provided comments and edits. The
Commission decided to table the discussion on the “highlights” section of the Comprehensive Plan until
the November 8, 2018 meeting.
VIII. Correspondence And Petitions
A. Food Waste Policy Proposal
Commission received a letter from previous resident regarding Food Waste Policy.
Draft Minutes☒
Approved Minutes☐
Approved Date:
IX. Chair And Member Comments
A. 2019 Work Plan Update
Chair Jackson provided an update on the discussion of the EEC Work Plan with the City Council on
October 2, 2018 at the City Council Work Session.
Key themes chair Jackson identified from the City Council discussion were:
• Agreement on the City leading by example.
• Sustainability as a key theme across other commissions.
B. Removal of Working Group Members
Commissioner Glahn made a motion to remove Mike Woolsey and David Goldstein from the Business
Environmental Working Group (BEWG). Hoffman seconded. All voted aye. Motion carries.
X. Staff Comments
A. SolSmart Update and Proposed Zoning Amendments
Due to time constraints, the solar discussion was rescheduled to the December 13, 2018 EEC meeting.
B. Comp Plan Chapter 8 Water Draft
The Commission received a draft of the Chapter 8 Comprehensive Plan.
XII. Adjournment
Motion made by Glahn to adjourn the October 11, 2018 meeting at 9:25 p.m. Motion seconded by Hoffman.
Motion carried.
Respectfully submitted,
Casey Casella
City Management Fellow
Draft Minutes☒
Approved Minutes☐
Approved Date:
Date: November 8, 2018 Agenda Item #: V.A.
To:Energy and Environment Commission Item Type:
Other
From:Tara Brown
Item Activity:
Subject:Water Report Information
CITY OF EDINA
4801 West 50th Street
Edina, MN 55424
www.edinamn.gov
ACTION REQUESTED:
None.
INTRODUCTION:
Staff will share a presentation about a recent review of water conservation policy, programs, and trends. The
review was in response to the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District Water Management Plan which asked member
cities to commit to ‘adopt and implement a groundwater conservation policy’. The purpose of the presentation is
to inform the group and build consensus around initiatives that matter.
Date: November 8, 2018 Agenda Item #: VII.A.
To:Energy and Environment Commission Item Type:
Other
From:Tara Brown
Item Activity:
Subject:Comp Plan Chapter 8 Water Draft Information
CITY OF EDINA
4801 West 50th Street
Edina, MN 55424
www.edinamn.gov
ACTION REQUESTED:
None.
INTRODUCTION:
Attached is the initial draft for the Comprehensive Plan Chapter 8 Water Resources. Staff will be present to
answer questions and receive feedback.
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
Comp Plan Chapter 8 Water Draft
-Page 1-
I. Chapter 8 - Water Resources
Introduction
Since its founding, the City of Edina has been in the business of creating, owning, operating, and
maintaining infrastructure systems. These systems of public works ensure the health, safety and welfare
of the community and are central to modern life. The water resources chapter of the comprehensive
plan describes the provision of core municipal services of clean water, sanitation, and drainage and flood
protection provided by the Water Utility, Sanitary Utility, and Stormwater Utility.
Stewards of public works face key business trends of aging infrastructure and preparing for growth. As
infrastructure systems age, the owner’s commitment to reinvest, reimagine and renew is tested. Edina’s
position as a first ring suburb means being on the leading edge of this trend. Rapid historic development
led to city infrastructure grouped into a tight age cohort, and repair is coming due. At the same time,
redevelopment and infill of aging buildings and localized growth in water service demand in multiuse
business nodes is planned and requires new or upsized pipes and service connections.
Central to Modern Life
Before noon every day, you have likely engaged in many activities that rely on city infrastructure.
Running the water to brush your teeth, taking a shower, preparing food and washing dishes, flushing the
toilet, walking to school, or driving a car; each of these activities utilizes public works. The roads, water,
sanitary and stormwater infrastructure help provide mission-critical transportation and mobility, public
health, sanitation and public safety services in the City of Edina.
Our mission is to provide effective and valued public services, maintain a sound public
infrastructure, offer premier public facilities and guide the development and
redevelopment of lands, all in a manner that sustains and improves the uncommonly high
quality of life enjoyed by our residents and businesses
Viewed from a historical perspective, public works are a hidden wonder, enabling local and regional
travel, and the movement of goods in times and amounts unimaginable in the past. Similarly, the
availability and abundance of clean water and near elimination of diseases related to poor sanitation and
foul water has saved countless time, expense and life.
Making the Invisible, Visible
Public works operate over generations, continuously providing reliable service to residents and
businesses. Given their high reliability, physical infrastructure can fade into the background of life, or be
completely out of sight and out of mind. The mission to “maintain a sound public infrastructure,” must
be generational as well, as the life of public works can span hundreds of years.
Every home and business in Edina are served by all or a majority of the city infrastructure. Roads,
sidewalks and trails are the most visible of the infrastructure. While a resident or traveler can see and
feel the bumps in the road, even roads have a hidden depth. Underlain by aggregate base material,
structural soils, and drainage networks, the road is made of a system of intentionally designed parts.
Bridges are another visible, but mostly forgotten infrastructure. While the decorative outer finishes
occupy the imagination, concrete, beams, reinforcing bars, structural soils, and piles carry the load.
Utility infrastructure is even more hidden; seen only by the occasional fire hydrant, manhole, catch basin
or valve casting, the entire body of the urban landscape pulses with a pumped network of clean water,
oozes with gravity drained sewers, and stands ready with empty storm sewers waiting for the next rain.
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter 8 – Water Resources
Page 2
Asset Management
While hidden from the untrained eye, public works are operated by trained professionals whose duty is
the safety and well-being of the customer. Day to day activities the public may perceive include paving,
concrete repairs, street sweeping, pothole filling, catch basin or manhole repair, vacuum truck sewer
cleaning, camera truck CCTV inspection, light or electrical repair, and hydrant inspection and flushing.
Visible or not, these ongoing maintenance interventions, applied by Public Works professionals allow the
City of Edina to operate and maintain infrastructure systems with a very high reliability, meaning that
over the course of a year, average per capita unplanned outages are minimal, estimated in seconds of
time. Failures, when they happen often relate to flooding, clogs, and cycles of freeze and thaw. When
service is interrupted, the effect on user quality of life is immediate, and so is the emergency response.
In addition to emergency repair and normal maintenance and operations, staff assesses the condition of
infrastructure systems. Collecting, understanding and reacting to the changing condition of infrastructure
is becoming more important, because as systems of ages, its condition slowly decays. Managing aging
infrastructure assets is a growing challenge that Edina has been addressing as it reimagines and renews
its public works.
(revise in formatting: this text is for a “more info” callout box, Ross Bintner can also provide images)
Asset Management is defined in ISO55000 as “the coordinated activity of an organization to realize value
from assets” and an asset as “any item, thing or entity that has potential or actual value to an
organization.” Asset management is further described by best practice frameworks from organizations
such as IAM, IPWEA, APWA, and AWWA.
Reimagine and Renew
The link between physical infrastructure and the core services of transportation and mobility, public
health, sanitation and public safety often comes into the most focus when a project is defined, and
decision makers, users and technical professionals engage in conversations and draw up plans that
reimagine, renew and improve upon the systems that support the services we all enjoy.
Integrating the maintenance of the old with vision for the new, Edina practices an integrated project
scope decision-making process that partners with customers and other stakeholders. These
conversations are guided in this comprehensive plan with an eye toward the future, building the
community’s vision:
Edina holds a well-earned reputation as a city of choice. It is the model of a successful,
mature, and progressive urban community, that strives to lead in a modern and evolving
world. We maintain our heritage and attractiveness, and afford our residents the highest
quality of life, while actively embracing our future.
Whether considering a small area with planned growth, or customer expectation for reliability, it is clear
the expectations for infrastructure-derived service continue to grow. Reacting to this change in
expectations, project teams engage project and policy stakeholders to provide specific input, resulting in
finished works that more closely match the vision. Examples of project-specific input include stakeholder
engagement around reconstruction of municipal state-aid roadways or neighborhood streets. Examples
of policy input include testing ideas about bike and pedestrian facilities, sustainable infrastructure, climate
change and adaptation and living streets at the energy or transportation advisory boards.
-Page 3-
Unified trends section: Describe cross cutters
(equity, health, risk, conservation and
sustainability) and one water (open loop,
systems with closed loop, circular economy
opportunities)
Conclusion
Public works directly affect the quality of life, health and safety of the public, are central to modern life,
but are sometimes hidden from view. The water resources chapter of the Comprehensive Plan goes
into detail about the purpose, current and future condition and demand, goals, policies, and
implementation framework for each water-related utility and invites the public to take part in the
renewal and reimagination of public works.
II. Sanitary Sewer
Introduction
This section of the water resources chapter focuses on the Sanitary Utility. The introduction discusses
the purpose of the utility, describes technical service levels and related customer service expectations.
A high-level overview describes the people, equipment and infrastructure used to provide the service,
and the asset management statement puts programs and infrastructure into a generational context of
lifecycle service delivery. The current and future conditions section provides an overview of existing
conditions, demand and more detail on the parts that make up the public utility and how it relates
private systems, organizations and partners and the overall water industry. The goals and policies
section describes the governance structure, policies and relationships and sets goals to guide the utility
in the next 10 years. The implementation section describes the framework for implementation using
principles of lifecycle management of assets and management of capacity and risk. The reference section
links to plans and studies that provide the body of understanding at the foundation of the utility and
useful tools from the water industry.
Purpose of Plan:
The purpose of this section is to guide the Sanitary Utility by defining the service, detailing goals and
policies and framing the resources and methods of implementation used to provide for the citywide
removal of waste water. The plan;
Defines service levels and relation to citywide policy goals such conservation, resilience,
procurement, and others.
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter 8 – Water Resources
Page 4
Provides a framework for the procurement and maintenance of services while managing
risk, and supporting growth.
Summarizes demand and demand growth with ongoing development and potential
redevelopment within the City and describes how land use impacts the sanitary sewer
infrastructure in the City.
Describes how the provision of service is provided and how it relates and coordinates
with regional services such as the trunk sewer system operated by Metropolitan Council
Environmental Services (MCES).
The scope of this plan is the local collection system. The regional collection and
treatment system is owned by the MCES and funded by fees based on percent of system
flow. Because of the interrelation of local and regional systems, the Comprehensive Plan
is a tool to make sure local and regional systems are aligned. This plan has been prepared
in accordance with the current requirements of the Metropolitan Land Planning Act and
the content of the sewer element included in the Local Planning Handbook including data
and descriptions specifically required in the City’s system statement.
Service Levels
The core service of the Sanitary Utility is the removal of domestic, commercial and industrial waste
waters to promote sanitary conditions and public health. The service is provided citywide with minimal
risk of interruption.
Customer service
In the 2017 Quality of Life Survey Edina residents rated sewer service as 31% Excellent, 57% Good, 11%
Fair and 14% Poor. The percent positive ranked as 37th among 298 comparable communities by survey
firm Decision Resources.
Key customer interactions include billing, hook up and shut off, clogs and failures, flooding or other
backflow events, utility improvement projects, neighborhood street reconstruction projects, and
education and engagement events.
The utility serves residential and businesses customers based on metered domestic flow with rates
described and updated annually in City Code 2-724, with specialized strength requirements on some
industrial users billed by MCES. The service is reliable with service interruption or risk of backflow
typically experienced only sporadically based on clogs, damaged lines, construction activity or significant
flooding events. Staff manages the utility to reduce risk.
The provision of this service uses natural resources such as materials, energy, and water. Conservation
is promoted in combination with the drinking Water Utility and through the repair of leaks and points of
inflow and sustainability is promoted through compliance with citywide procurement policy and the
inclining block rate fee structure.
Technical service requirements
The sanitary sewer system is managed to provide reliable removal of sanitary waste water with minimal
risk to residents and businesses. The sanitary sewer treatment practice is highly regulated on the
treatment side, and governed by standards of practice and plumbing code on the collection side. Several
technical studies have reviewed demand and capacity for specific areas of development and summarized
capacity utilization and capacity needs based on planned growth. Utilization and needs are discussed in
more detail in demand section below.
The collection system is managed to improve resilience and reduce or prevent waste and risk caused by
leaks, backflow, inflow and infiltration.
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter 8 – Water Resources
Page 5
Means of provision of service
Sanitary sewer service is provided primarily using a local system of conveyance pipes, lift stations, and
control infrastructure managed by the City of Edina Engineering and Public Works departments and a
regional conveyance and treatment system managed by public partners at MCES. The system of
infrastructure is described in greater detail in the public utility section below. Programmatic activities
undertaken by supporting staff are described in the implementation section below.
Local sanitary sewer system
The local system is owned and operated by the City of Edina and consists of trunk and lateral sewer
lines that collect and carry sewage from private service lines to the City’s sanitary network, and
eventually to MCES interceptors. Private service lines are owned by households, business and industry.
Generally, the City’s sanitary sewer system flows in an east to southeasterly direction out of the City via
three metered connections to MCES interceptors. Additional flow leaves the City via six other
unmetered minor trunk lines and five small laterals. These pipes flow to surrounding cities and
eventually to other MCES interceptors. There are no MCES interceptors flowing through the City.
Edina’s sewer system is fully developed. The infrastructure that makes up the local sanitary system is
described in more detail in public system section below.
Regional sewers
Regional sewers are owned and operated by MCES. These local and regional systems must interact
smoothly to ensure safe and reliable service now and throughout the planning period.
Asset Management Statement
Sanitary sewer utility infrastructure assets and relating programs are managed to; anticipate and react to
the impact of growth, identify and manage risk, assess condition and take a lifecycle approach to the
operation, maintenance and replacement of system components, and monitor system performance.
These management activities are conducted to provide a valuable public service by continually improving
our operation and infrastructure to meet the level of service expected by the public and defined by
technical service requirements, while minimizing cost and risk.
Current and Future Conditions
This section of the plan will describe system conditions, system demand, support systems and resources,
and relations to private customers and public partners.
Public Utility
The public sanitary sewer system collects waste water citywide from private service pipes and conveys
them to MCES sewer interceptors using a system of pipes and pumps with regular manhole access
locations.
Assets
The local sanitary sewer system is owned and operated by the City of Edina. Regional sewers are
owned and operated by the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES). The local system is
made up of 194.2 miles of gravity main, 5014 manholes, 4.5 miles of pressure main and 23 lift stations.
The majority of the sewage flows easterly and leaves the City along its eastern border via interceptors
that are shown on Figure S-1. A small amount of sewage flows to the north into St. Louis Park through
four smaller pipes that carry no more than one block each. Finally, there is a small section of
commercial and industrial land along the southern border of the City that flows south into Bloomington
via interceptor 3-BN-499.
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter 8 – Water Resources
Page 6
The majority of the system was constructed in the 1940’s and 50’s, with some development occurring in
the west half of the City during the 1960’s and 70’s. In the 1990’s one of the last large tracts of land was
developed creating the Centennial Lakes neighborhood. The Edina sanitary sewer system currently
serves almost all properties within the City. The only exceptions to this are areas served by nearby
communities and several remaining locations that are served by Individual Sewage Treatment Systems
and regulated by Hennepin County.
The City’s sewer system has been divided into five main sewer districts which are shown on Figure X.
Four of the districts are associated with MCES interceptors based on the meter and interceptor to
which they flow. The fifth is a catch-all group in the northern part of the City that includes all of the
small areas that do not flow to one of the other four interceptors. The system is further divided into
sub-districts based on lift station service. Each area that is tributary to a given lift station has been
color-coded. Lift station sub-districts are depicted on Figure X by a system of colors.
Organization and partners:
Internal departments tasked with management of the Sanitary Utility are the Engineering and Public
Works Departments. These two functional departments employ engineers, operators, technicians, and
administrative staff to run the utility. These functional departments are supported by the Finance
Department, Utility Billing division, Administration and Human Resource Departments. Utility
connections and acquisition of developer installed new infrastructure are supported by the Planning and
Building divisions of the Community Development and Fire departments.
Organization Chart
Key external partners in the provision of sewer services include the electric power utility, MCES,
engineering professional service providers, utility general contractors, state regulators, and
nongovernmental water industry associations.
MCES provides regional conveyance and treatment for all city wastewater and their pass though costs
make up a majority of a customer’s sanitary sewer bill. All effluents exiting the City are carried through
MCES interceptors to the Metro Waste Water Treatment Plant, except those from south-central Edina
that flow via an MCES interceptor through the City of Bloomington to the Seneca Wastewater
Treatment Plant. The MCES interceptors that carry Edina wastewater are identified as Interceptor Nos.
1MN-343, 1-MN-344, 1MN-345, 1RF-490, 1RF-491, and are depicted on Figure X, Sanitary Sewer Map.
The MCES monitors flow rates at the border of the City in three of the main interceptors in special
meter stations that it uses to determine the City’s wastewater fees. The majority of Edina’s sewage
flows through metered connections to these interceptors. The metered interceptors include 1-RF-491,
which is served by MCES meter M129; 1-RF-490, which is served by meter M128; and 1-MN-345, which
is served by meter M127. The remainder of the City’s sewage flows through interceptors 1-MN-344, 1-
MN-343, 1-MN-342.
Tools, Equipment, Facilities
The Engineering and Public Works Departments rely on tools, equipment, and facilities procured and
maintained by the Facilities and Fleet support divisions of Public Works and the Communications and
Technical Services Department. System models are maintained by partner engineering professional
service providers.
Demand:
Waste water is created through a variety of water uses, from flushing, cleaning, cooking, washing, the
creation of industrial products and other business practices. Sewer demand is related to water use and
constituents of the waste water. Demand varies with the intensity and type of land use and how the
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter 8 – Water Resources
Page 7
water is used. For the local conveyance system, volume and rate flow are primary concerns, and for the
regional conveyance and treatment system both volume and strength, or difficulty to treat to clean
water standards are notable concerns.
Existing Demand
Annual historic sanitary flows decreased by X% between 1980 and 2015, as can be seen in table/chart
name. The decrease is a result of a number of factors, including the City’s efforts to reduce inflow and
infiltration and increased water conservation efforts as low-flow plumbing fixtures become more
prevalent. Table/chart name represents the sanitary flow metered by MCES for the majority of the City
as metered by MCES meters M127, M128 and M129.
<ADD INFLOW AND INFILTRATION CALLOUT BOX or image>
Future Demand
Future demand growth focuses around areas of potential growth. Current system evaluation conducted
by Barr Engineering include; Southeast Edina Sanitary Sewer Preliminary Engineering (April 2017),
Grandview Analysis (January 2018), and the Edina South Sanitary Sewer Capacity Evaluation (August
2018). Evaluation conducted as part of an AUAR process for Pentagon Park by WSB and Associated
(2008, updates in 2013, 2018) Links to each document are available in the appendix to this chapter.
Private System
Every home and business service connection to the Sanitary Utility is owned by the private property
owner. While widely disbursed, the system of service connections and the internal private plumbing of
customers affects the outcomes of the Sanitary Utility. Private system connection and good working
order are regulated, permitted and enforced directly through the Building Department and state and
local partners.
<ADD SERVICE LINE WARRENTY PROGRAM CALLOUT BOX>
State and Local Partners
Regulation of connections, operator certification and training, planning for growth, plumbing code and
plumbing licensing, and environmental standards and regulation all affect the outcomes of the Sanitary
Utility and involve the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency,
Department of Labor and Industry, MCES, and others. The City of Edina takes an active role in policy
and regulation advocacy directly and through partner professional associations.
Goals and Policies
This chapter describes; How the Sanitary Utility supports the Mission and Vision of the City of Edina,
the governance of the utility, key local policy and regulation, and ten-year strategic goals.
Service Level Statement
The Sanitary Sewer Utility will provide safe, reliable, and efficient removal of wastewater for residents
and customers in the City of Edina, while eliminating risk of inflow, infiltration and backflow to protect
the health, safety and welfare of our citizens now and into the future.
Role and responsibility of Council and Management
The City Council is the policy body for the utility and is responsible to set the strategic and policy
direction of the utility. The City Council is responsible and accountable to the customers of the utility
and appoints and evaluates the chief executive. The City Council sets the budget and capital
improvement direction of the utility, defines policy and code that define service and risk, levies fees,
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter 8 – Water Resources
Page 8
issues bonds, accepts or disposes of real estate, approves contracts with service providers, and hears
appeals on enforcement matters.
The City Manager is the chief executive of the three water utilities. The chief executive is ultimately
responsible for the function of the utility and delegates areas of responsibility to various City
Departments. Divisions of responsibility are shared and split among City Departments.
Utility management for the Sanitary Utility is jointly practiced with the Water and Stormwater Utilities
with close coordination of local transportation system management.
Policy and Regulation
A variety of policies and ordinance apply to the sanitary utility.
Policies:
The following policies support the function of the utility. (Edit after commission and council input, these
examples seem too detailed for this level)
Monitor sewage flow at principal metering points to insure capacity of the system.
Monitor function and condition of the local system through both televising lines and
electronic utility data collection.
Eliminate points of inflow and infiltration to the system on public property, and require
elimination of inflow and infiltration on private property.
Maintain operating efficiency and minimize sewage blockages through routing
maintenance.
Reduce potential for inflow and infiltration in private systems during plan and permit
review.
Review all sanitary sewer mains and services prior to reconstructing any roadway.
Enforce standards and inspections for private sewer line connections to the public
sanitary sewer system.
Repair pipes immediately upon detection of a failure or critical defect.
Continue to eliminate private on-site sewage systems (only several remaining).
Identify all future sanitary sewer facility improvements in the Capital Improvement Plan.
Maintain and enforce the following ordinances and new ones adopted that deal with the
sanitary system.
To the extent possible Engineers should differentiate between renewal/replacement and
new/upgrade in project reports.
Ordinances:
The following ordinances govern public and private utility service, connections and related
infrastructure, land use and other topics related to the utility.
Chapter 10: Building and Building Regulation
o Article 9: Regulating plumbing and installation of water conditioning equipment
o Article 10 Requiring connection to sanitary and water systems and regulating
discharge into the sanitary sewer system
Chapter 24: Public right of way and easement
Chapter 28: Utilities
Chapter 36: Zoning
o Article 3 Site Plan Review
o Article 12, Supplementary District Regulations
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter 8 – Water Resources
Page 9
10 Year Stategic Goals
The following goals areas represent areas of strategic importance to the utility. (Finalize after
commission and council input)
Goal Area 1: Aging infrastructure and management of assets over generations
Goal Area 2: Conservation and sustainability, one water
Goal Area 3: Preparing for areas of growth
Goal Area 4: Risk, health, equity and engagement
Implementation
This section addresses specific projects and day-to-day tasks that City staff undertake to implement the
business of the utility and serve the customer. Some tasks have been ongoing for many years and simply
represent the high quality of service that the City has always provided to its population, while others are
new initiatives that are the City’s response to recent development.
Lifecycle Asset Management
Sanitary sewer service is provided primarily with infrastructure. The following section describes the
coordinated activities that the City of Edina undertakes to provide value to the customer. These
coordinated activities seek to balance service, cost and risk over the generational lifecycle of
infrastructure.
Operations
Operations are actions that sustain, modify, alter or regain system function and provide service or
manage risk. System operation is conducted primarily by the trained and certified utility operators from
the Public Works Department.
Typical operations consist of a variety of activities such as flow monitoring, pumping, routine inspection,
routine care of high touch system components, CCTV inspection of pipes, root cutting, jetting and
vactoring of debris, backup failure analysis, and other activities.
Much of the system operation is automated by a system of computerized controls, sensors, level
monitors, flow monitors, and other devices.
Emergency operations: The three highest risk Lift Stations (in terms of potential back up flooding) are
equipped with onsite generators that automatically engage upon Xcel failure. All other Lift Stations are
equipped with quick connect plugins for portable generators that can be rotated between sites as
necessary. Two combination Jet/Vac trucks can also be utilized to empty wet wells and reestablish
detention time if needed. Two large capacity portable pumps could also be utilized for bypass pumping
as well.
The following programs support operation and maintenance decisions:
Jet-cleaning program for all lateral collection piping. Each pipe is cleaned on a four-to-five
year revolving schedule. The main trunk sewers are not included in the cleaning program
since they receive regular scouring velocities from normally occurring peak flows and the
flushing from cleaning in the laterals.
Televises trunk lines and laterals for operation and condition assessment. Each pipe is
televised on a 12-year revolving schedule to help determine areas in need of cleaning and
improvements.
<ADD FLUSHABLE WIPES CALLOUT BOX>
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter 8 – Water Resources
Page 10
Maintenance
Maintenance is any action that repairs or retains the physical infrastructure assets to meet projected
service levels. System maintenance is conducted primarily by the trained and certified utility operators
from the Public Works Department.
Typical maintenance consists of replacement of worn manhole lids, grouting of manhole rings, spot
repair of leaks, spot repair of pipe, refurbishment or replacement of pumps, and refurbishment or
replacement of electrical control components, replacement of other worn or damaged system
components, and other minor maintenance.
Renewal and Replacement
Renewal and replacement are major repair or replacement of assets at or near the end of their service
life. This activity is conducted by the engineers, technicians and inspectors in the Engineering
Department or by consulting engineers, and typically occurs in parallel with the City’s neighborhood
street reconstruction program and municipal state aid reconstruction program, or are completed as
standalone utility project.
Replacement and renewal projects are bundled by age cohort of road and utility infrastructure. System
components are inspected and conditions assessed to inform project replacement and repair
interventions. Engineers produce project reports and recommend project scope to the City Council.
Projects are bundled and bid for reconstruction and contracts are considered by the City Council.
Bundling of projects is favorable to goals of efficiency and customer service by generating efficiency of
scale and timing needed renewal around the disruptions caused by a single project.
Renewal and replacement decisions assume the infrastructure service remains the same or is replaced
with current industry standard materials and components. Typically, projects mix scope between
renewal and replacement, and new and upgraded service.
New and upgraded assets
New and upgraded assets are either entirely new areas or levels of service, or major improvements to
the marginal level of service provided by infrastructure. This activity is generally conducted by engineers,
technicians and inspectors in the Engineering Department, or by engineers employed by private
developers as part of land use, community development, or economic development projects.
Other Programs
Programs and activities managed in partner organizations, and various city departments affect outcomes
of the utility. The following is a noncomprehensive summary of related programs and activities.
Demand Management / Source Control
The conservation rate tier in City ordinance are key conservation and demand
management practices for the utility.
State and national plumbing code is a key conservation and demand management tool that
is reducing per capita flow.
The MPCA dental amalgam separator program is a key source control for mercury
City efforts to reduce infiltration and inflow is a demand control, and is described in
greater detail in the risk management section below.
Assurance, Condition Assessment, System Monitoring, Modeling
Many business practices and their associated systems that are otherwise classified as operations also
provide assurance of system function;
SCADA controls and monitoring
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Periodic inspection and operation
System planning and design
The sanitary sewer system is modeled on an occasional basis and that model is occasionally recalibrated
with flow monitoring data. The model is used to review flow trends and test scenarios of system
changes due to growth and other notable modifications to system function.
Risk Management, Resilience
The following programs or business practices manage risk associated with the utility:
City emergency response command,
Gopher State One Call Utility / locates,
Right of Way management,
Connection permits,
Fats/Oils/Grease (FOG) source controls,
Private connection program as part of reconstruction,
Parking garage inspections,
City risk management, and League of Minnesota Cities insurance trust
City conservation and sustainability programs
The system of backup power for key pump stations, and mobile power reserve
Flood control works and activities in the city Stormwater Utility
Two additional programs are described in greater detail due to their significance;
infiltration and inflow program, sump disconnection inspections,
Infiltration and Inflow (I&I) Program
A key risk management approach for the sanitary utility is the identification, reduction or elimination of
infiltration and inflow. The following is a summary of past infiltration and inflow reduction efforts:
Donohue 1983, CH2M 1992, TKDA Sewer Evaluation 1997, Barr Engineering flow
modeling and metering 2006, 2012, Bolton and Menk Trunk Sewer Infiltration Study 2013
Post 1997 study I&I projects;
o All buildings within the City were inspected for potential clear water connection.
Buildings with sump pump systems were inspected for clear water connections,
o A 325,000 gallon peak flow storage tank was installed in the sewer shed tributary
to interceptor 1-MN-345.
2012, 14, 17 MCES I&I reduction grant projects
The following strategies are used to reduce I&I risk:
Replacement of vented manhole covers with solid water tight covers.
Removal of surface drainage cross connections.
Repair of manhole frames that have separated from rings in concrete street sections.
Replacement or lining of dilapidated brick manholes with new precast manholes.
Installation of chimney seal systems on manholes that have evidence of inflow characteristics.
Complete relining or replacement of sewers constructed in low areas subject to frequent
inundation, such as along creeks and wetlands.
Private Connections and Sump Cross Connection
One of the main sources of inflow continues to come from private connections. One of those sources is
the connection of lower levels of parking ramps to the sanitary sewer. Though upper levels of ramps
are connected to the storm sewer, lower levels are connected to the sanitary sewer. When runoff
events exceed the capacity of the upper level collection systems, it often simply flows to the next level
down where it runs directly into the sanitary sewer. Similarly, if flood water enter lower levels of the
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ramp, they can inflow directly into the sanitary system. Edina is working with private developers to
prevent this from occurring on future proposed ramps and, in some cases, to correct existing ramps
where this is known to be a problem.
Another key component to inflow and infiltration is related to private services. Metropolitan Council
Environmental Services estimates that as much as 70% of all I&I comes from private sources. As already
noted, the City has completed a successful sump pump program. However, in addition to the sump
pumps, many of the private sanitary sewer service laterals are old and susceptible to I&I.
Education, Outreach and Engagement
The understanding, support, consent, and participation of customers and stakeholders is key to building
the brand of the utility and city, and affects customer good will and outcomes. The following programs
and activities support the education, outreach and engagement goals of the City and the operation of
the utility.
Customer service interactions
Utility billing
Communications and Technology Service Department maintained tools and platforms
City outreach and engagement practices
Public Works Week proclamation and biennial public works open house
Occasional infrastructure tours
Organizational Improvement
The following review includes potential actions for each strategic goal area identified in the goal and
policy section above. (Edit after commission and council input)
Goal Area 1: Aging infrastructure and management of assets over generations:
o Review and implement best practices to promote financial awareness across
departments.
o Improve financial asset register and physical asset register so they are complete
and consistent with each other and useful for uncovering trends and for strategic
planning.
o Improve information management systems and staff procedures to build
awareness of customer and technical service issues.
o Track and classify key customer service requests and complaints.
o Track number and duration of planned and unplanned service interruptions and
reliability trend.
o Build organization tools to identify and track age, condition, and function of
system.
o Use results of condition assessments to inform replacement and renewal
decisions.
o Improve organizational line-of-sight by developing processes that build consensus
on service and risk that are informed by data from all levels of the organization.
o Improve project selection procedures that involve staff from diverse functions
between departments.
Goal Area 2: Conservation and sustainability, one water
o Identify demonstration project that utilizes thermal resource in trunk sanitary
sewer main and develop design and business case.
o Quantify utility energy use and associated environmental impact and consider
renewable energy or credit purchase to offset.
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o Review metering, SCADA and billing system requirements jointly with water
utility for opportunities relating to asset management and conservation business
goals when major system replacements are considered.
Goal Area 3: Preparing for areas of growth
o Complete York trunk extension.
o Complete Fairview trunk extension and LS4 flow bypass.
o Plan for Parklawn area lift and force extension coordinate easement acquisition
when development opportunities allow.
o Plan for Grandview area sanitary extension as development requires capacity.
o Consider Pentagon Park utility transition from Bloomington to Edina sewer
operations to align with ownership in coordination with water system review.
Goal Area 4: Risk, Health, Equity and Engagement
o Comprehensively assess risk jointly with storm water utility using an international
risk framework.
o Consider range of options for enforcing or promoting private sewer inspection
and repair.
o Review and modify after-action and failure reporting processes to promote cross
functional organization learning.
o Support citywide framework and criteria for purchasing, health, and race and
equity in all business practices.
o Support citywide framework for engagement and public participation
References and Appendices
Grandview System Analysis (2018 Barr)
Southeast Edina Capacity and Preliminary Engineering (2017 Barr)
Edina South Sanitary Sewer Capacity Evaluation (2018 Barr)
Pentagon AUAR (2018 Update)
III. Stormwater Utility
Introduction
This section of the water resources chapter focuses on the Stormwater Utility. The introduction
discusses the purpose of the utility, describes technical service levels and related customer service
expectations. A high-level overview of means describes the people, equipment and infrastructure used
to provide the service, and the asset management statement puts programs and infrastructure into a
generational context of lifecycle service delivery. The current and future conditions section provides an
overview of existing conditions, demand and more detail on the parts that make up the public utility and
how it relates private systems, organizations and partners and the overall water industry. The goals and
policies section describes the governance structure, policies and relationships and sets goals to guide the
utility in the next 10 years. The implementation section describes the framework for implementation
using principles of lifecycle management of assets and management of capacity and risk. The reference
section links to plans and studies that provide the body of understanding at the foundation of the utility
and useful tools from the water industry.
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Purpose of Plan
The purpose of this section is to guide the Stormwater Utility by defining the service, detailing goals and
policies and framing the resources and methods of implementation used to provide for the citywide
management of stormwater. The plan;
Defines service levels and relation to citywide policy goals such conservation, resilience,
protection, procurement, and others.
Provides a framework for the procurement and maintenance of services while managing risk,
and supporting development .
Summarizes demand and demand shifts with ongoing development and potential redevelopment
within the City and describes how land use impacts the stormsewer infrastructure in the City.
Recognizes the interconnected nature of surface water and groundwater, promoting
management strategies that protect and improve lakes, ponds, streams, and wetlands, as well as
the City’s drinking water source through the Wellhead Protection Plan (WHPP).
Describes how the provision of service is provided and how it relates and coordinates within
the watershed framework. The relationship of flood and clean water services to the regional
creeks, lakes and rivers, and how programs and services coordinate and overlap with those of
the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District, and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District.
The scope of this plan is the local drainage network, the local conveyance, and treatment system
that makes up the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System (MS4), and the local system of
natural water bodies such as wetlands, streams and lakes that connect to and drain to Nine Mile
Creek, Minnehaha Creek and downstream lakes and ponds like Bde Maka Ska or Adams Hill
Pond.
This plan is informed by the City of Edina Comprehensive Water Resources Management Plan
(CWRMP) and that plan is incorporated by reference.
History of the CWRMP
In 2003-2004, the City developed the Comprehensive Water Resource Management Plan to address current
and future storm water issues, especially those related to future development and redevelopment. The
plan addressed storm water runoff management and flood control, water quality management, and
wetlands protection through establishment of storm water planning policies and recommendations.
This plan was developed to assist the City of Edina in defining and implementing a comprehensive and
environmentally sound system of surface water management. The plan was updated in 2008, as part of
the last comprehensive plan, again in 2011 to conform to changes in the policies of the Minnehaha Creek
Watershed District and the Nine Mile Creek Watershed District plans. To inform this update of the
comprehensive plan, the CWRMP was again reviewed, updated, and adopted in 2018.
Service Levels
The core services of the Stormwater Utility are drainage and management of runoff and flood risk, clean
surface waters, and protection of natural waterbodies and wetlands. The purpose and interactions
among the service levels is described in greater detail in CWRMP section 3.
The services are improving citywide with some risk of disruption, and are increasingly better
understood using hydraulic and hydrologic models and risk management principles.
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Customer
In the 2017 Quality of Life Survey Edina residents rated storm drainage as 27% Excellent, 53% Good,
16% Fair and 4% Poor. The percent positive ranked as 26th among 328 comparable communities by
survey firm Decision Resources. Residents rated street cleaning as 24% Excellent, 56% Good,16% Fair
and 5% Poor. The percent positive ranked as 43rd among 300 comparable communities with a
statistically significant disparity in service geographically where 95% in the southwest quadrant and 71%
in the northwest quadrant rated the service as excellent or good.
Key customer interactions include customer service requests and permit interactions around residential
redevelopment and the lakes and ponds program, flooding and failures, utility improvement projects,
neighborhood street reconstruction projects, and education and engagement events.
The utility serves residential and businesses customers citywide with billing based on customer class /
land use flow equivalences, with the rate of billing updated annually in City Code 2-724. Customers also
pay for services provided by local watershed districts in their property tax.
The provision of this service uses natural resources such as materials and energy. Conservation is
promoted in combination with the educational mission of local watershed districts, through customer
engagement broadly, and in the lakes and ponds program specifically. Sustainability is promoted through;
interrelated planning and project implementation with transportation services as part of the Living
Streets Plan, the creation of green infrastructure directly and through permitting, and in compliance with
citywide procurement policy.
Technical
The stormwater system, natural waterbodies, and land use activities are managed to provide the three
core services while reducing risk to residents and businesses. Portions of the stormwater infrastructure
are regulated through the MS4 and by the watershed districts, while programs and activities are
regulated depending on their impact to specific types of waters at a state and federal level. Because
regulation and expectations have changed in a relatively recent time compared to the age of the
infrastructure there are significant service deficits and some overlapping or conflicting regulation.
The CWRMP has reviewed service demand trends and levels of achievement in greater detail. Typical
redevelopment improves service as areas of land go from minimal infrastructure and treatment to
modern systems.
Means of provision of service
Stormwater services are provided using a combination of infrastructure, programs and land use
regulation directly and in coordination with local and state partners. Local systems are managed by the
City of Edina Engineering and Public Works departments and the two main creeks are managed by
public partners at the watershed districts.
Some services relating to flood risk are managed jointly with the Sanitary Utility and some services
relating to clean water and pollution prevention and managed jointly with the Water Utility through the
Wellhead Protection Plan.
Asset Management Statement
Stormwater Utility infrastructure assets and relating programs are managed to; understand and react to
service level deficits, identify and manage risk, assess condition and take a lifecycle approach to the
operation, maintenance and replacement of system components, and monitor system performance.
These management activities are conducted to provide a valuable public service by continually improving
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our operation and infrastructure to improve the level of service experienced by the public and defined
by technical service requirements, while minimizing cost and risk.
Current and Future Conditions
The City of Edina and its residents value the surface water resources within the city, which include two
creek systems, a number of lakes and ponds, and numerous wetlands (see Figure X). In addition to
being a major component of the City’s flood protection and surface water treatment system, these
resources supply aesthetic and recreational benefits and provide wildlife habitat and refuge. The
northeast corner of the City drains to Minnehaha Creek, which enters the city limits northwest of West
44th Street and T.H.100 and flows in a southeasterly direction through the city, exiting near West 54th
Street and York Avenue. The southwest corner of the city drains to the South Fork of Nine Mile
Creek, which meanders through the Braemar Golf Course and then exits the city limits toward
Bloomington at West 78th Street. The remainder of the city drains to the North Fork of Nine Mile
Creek, which enters the Edina city limits in the northwest corner of the city north of the intersection of
T.H. 169 and Londonderry Road and flows in a southeasterly direction through the city, exiting to
Bloomington near the intersection of T.H. 100 and Interstate 494.
The City of Edina encompasses portions of two watershed districts: the Nine Mile Creek Watershed
District and the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District (see Figure 8.2.1). Watershed districts are local
units of government that specifically address the management and protection of water resources based
on hydrologic boundaries instead of political boundaries. Each District is governed by a Board of
Managers, comprised of citizens appointed by the boards of the counties with land in the watershed
district. The districts are charged by State statute “to conserve the natural resources of the state by
land use planning, flood control, and other conservation practices using sound scientific principles for
the protection of the public health and welfare and provident use of the natural resource.” Because
these watershed districts are granted authority to regulate, conserve, and control the use of water
resources within the district, the City is required to comply with the specific storm water and water
resource related requirements of each District.
The City of Edina places a high importance on providing quality storm water management service to its
residents. Since the City of Edina has been a developing community throughout much of the past
century, the age and condition of the existing storm water infrastructure is quite variable. Additionally,
Public Utility
The stormwater system is public stormwater system collects, treats, drains, retains and/or detains water
from public facilities, public transportation infrastructure, private properties, and outflow from private
stormwater systems citywide. The systems also convey outflows from natural water bodies and routes
them to downstream waterbodies.
Assets
The local stormwater system is owned and operated by the City of Edina, and portions of the system
are interconnected into systems owned by Hennepin County or neighboring cities. The system is made
up of 127 miles of gravity main ranging from 12-84” in diameter, 6800 manholes, 900 outlets, 38 miles of
small diameter sump drain, 11 stormwater lift stations, one half mile of stormwater force main, 150
ponds and wetlands, and numerous sediment traps. The majority of the system was constructed in the
1940’s through 60’s, with significant additions and extensions occurring after that period. Much of the
treatment infrastructure was added later and much is privately owned with maintenance declarations in
favor of local watershed districts. The system is extensively mapped and modeled in the reference
CWRMP.
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Organization and partners
Internal departments tasked with management of the Stormwater Utility are the Engineering and Public
Works Departments. These two functional departments employ engineers, operators, natural resource
and engineering technicians, and administrative staff to run the utility. These functional departments are
supported by the Finance Department, Utility Billing division, Administration and Human Resource
Departments. Land use permitting and acquisition of developer-installed new infrastructure are
supported by the Planning and Building divisions of the Community Development and Fire departments.
<ADD Organization Chart>
Key external partners in the provision of stormwater services include the Nine Mile and Minnehaha
Creek Watershed Districts, engineering and natural resources professional service providers, utility and
natural resources contractors, state regulators, and nongovernmental water industry associations. Lake
association customer groups also make requests for service.
Tools, Equipment, Facilities
The Engineering and Public Works Departments rely on tools, equipment, and facilities procured and
maintained by the Facilities and Fleet support divisions of Public Works and the Communications and
Technical Services Department. System models are maintained by partner engineering professional
service providers.
Demand
The city and watershed districts have implemented conventional storm water quality treatment
requirements since the late-1980s, typically in the form of storm water detention ponds and
underground storage and infiltration chambers. Regional detention ponds, while generally encouraged
by the City for their efficiency of scale, have been hard to organize, due to the developed nature of the
area. Storm water detention ponds are effective for removal of sediment and phosphorus from storm
water runoff.
In recent years, storm water quality treatment trends have shifted to incorporate volume reduction of
storm water runoff, in addition to the removal of sediment and phosphorus. This movement comes in
response to both the desire of citizens and local governments to embrace the challenge of protecting
our urban surface water resources and changes in regulation. Stormwater volume reduction can be
accomplished by reducing the fraction of impervious surface on a site and/or installing infrastructure to
increase rainfall abstraction processes such as infiltration, evaporation, water storage, and vegetation
management.
Future Drivers
Existing demand and trends that drive changes in demand are discussed below for flood and clean water
service areas.
Storm Drainage and Flood Protection: Key drivers adding demand for drainage and flood risk are cyclical
wet periods, increasing rainfall peaks and frequencies due to climate change, and increasing urbanization
leading to changing land uses that add hardscape and change soils and grades.
Clean Surface Waters: Key drivers adding demand for surface water including changing expectation and
regulation. The federal Clean Water Act (CWA) requires states to adopt water quality standards to
protect the nation’s waters. Water quality standards designate beneficial uses for each waterbody and
establish criteria that must be met within the waterbody to maintain the water quality necessary to
support its designated use(s). Section 303(d) of the CWA requires each state to identify and establish
priority rankings for waters that do not meet the existing water quality standards. The list of impaired
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waters is updated by the State every two years. For impaired waterbodies, the CWA requires the
development of a total maximum daily load (TMDL), which establishes the pollutant loading capacity
within a waterbody and develops an allocation scheme amongst the pollutant contributors, which
include point sources, non-point sources and natural background pollutants.
Private Systems
Nearly every home and business drains to Stormwater Utility or has a service connection from a private
system to the utility. While widely disbursed, the system drains, overland flow paths, catch basins, and
service connections connect the land use of the private customers directly to the utility and affects the
outcomes of the Stormwater Utility. The land use of private property, certain high impact or polluting
activities, private system connection and other activities are regulated, permitted and enforced directly
through the Community Development, Building and Engineering Departments and by state and local
partners.
State and Local Partners
Regulation of connections, construction, grading, work within waters, operator certification and training,
planning for growth, plumbing code and plumbing licensing, and environmental standards and regulation
all affect the outcomes of the Stormwater Utility and involve the Minnesota Department of Health,
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Department of Labor and Industry, Department of Natural
Resources, Watershed Districts, and others. The City of Edina takes an active role in policy and
regulation advocacy directly and through partner professional associations and nonprofit groups.
Goals and Policies
The City’s Comprehensive Water Resource Management Plan addresses storm water runoff
management and flood control, water quality management, and wetlands protection through
establishment of water resource management goals, policies, and design standards. The City’s plan is
required to conform with the existing watershed district plans and is modified through major and minor
amendments as needed.
.
Service Level Statement
The Stormwater Utility will provide drainage of surface waters, management of rainfall runoff and flood
risk, reduction of water pollution, treatment of stormwaters, and protection of natural water bodies and
wetlands to provide outcomes supportive of local, state and national surface water goals and policies.
The purpose and interactions among the service levels is described in greater detail in the CWRMP.
Role and responsibility of Council and Management
The City Council is the policy body for the utility and is responsible to set the strategic and policy
direction of the utility. The City Council is responsible and accountable to the residents and customers
of the utility and appoints and evaluates the chief executive. The City Council sets the budget and
capital improvement direction of the utility, defines policy and code that define service and risk, levies
fees, issues bonds, accepts or disposes of real estate, approves contracts with service providers, and
hears appeals on enforcement matters.
The City Manager is the chief executive of the three water utilities. The chief executive is ultimately
responsible for the function of the utility and delegates areas of responsibility to various City
Departments. Divisions of responsibility are shared and split among City Departments.
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Utility management for the Stormwater Utility is jointly practiced with the Water and Stormwater
Utilities with close coordination of local transportation system management.
Policy and Regulation
Policies of the Stormwater Utility are defined in greater detail in the reference CWRMP. <Finalize after
board and CC review. Do we want summarize or define any policies here?>
The following ordinances govern public and private utility service, connections and related
infrastructure, land use and other topics related to the utility.
Chapter 10: Building and Building Regulation
o Article 2: Landscape, Screening and Erosion Control
o Article 4: Demolition
o Article 7: Littering in the Course of Construction Work
o Article 17: Land Disturbing Activities
Chapter 23: Nuisances and Noise
Chapter 24: Public right of way and easement
Chapter 28: Utilities
Chapter 30: Vegetation
Chapter 32: Subdivision
Chapter 36 Zoning
o Article 3, Site Plan Review
o Article 5, Conditional Use Permits
o Article 8, Districts
o Article 10, Floodplain Districts
o Article 12, Supplementary District Regulations
A brief summary of the management goals in the City of Edina Comprehensive Water Resource
Management Plan are summarized below. Additional information on the policies and design standards
can be found in the latest version of the City’s plan.
10 Year Strategic Goals
The following goals areas represent areas of strategic importance to the utility. (Finalize after
commission and council input)
Goal Area 1: Prioritization of service levels and rates of attainment.
Goal Area 2: Conservation and sustainability, one water
Goal Area 3: Aging infrastructure and management of assets over generations:
Goal Area 4: Risk, Health and Equity
Implementation
This section addresses specific projects and day-to-day tasks that City staff undertake to implement the
business of the utility and serve the customer. Some tasks have been ongoing for many years and simply
represent the high quality of service that the City has always provided to its population, while others are
new initiatives that are the City’s response to recent development.
Lifecycle Asset Management
Stormwater service is provided using extensive infrastructure. The following section describes the
coordinated activities that the City of Edina undertakes to provide value to the customer. These
coordinated activities seek to balance service, cost and risk over the generational lifecycle of
infrastructure.
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Call out box: Green and Grey Infrastructure, stormwater is more than just pipes and ponds. It’s also
plants!
Operations
Operations are actions that sustain, modify, alter or regain system function and provide service or
manage risk. System operation is conducted primarily by the trained and certified utility operators from
the Public Works Department and natural resource technicians Parks Maintenance Division.
Typical operations consist of a variety of activities such as routine inspection, routine care of high touch
system components, CCTV inspection of trouble pipes, jetting and vactoring of debris, care of
vegetation, failure analysis, and other activities.
Emergency operations: (Dave to complete)
The 5 year rotating inspection program supports operation and maintenance decisions.
Maintenance
Maintenance is any action that repairs or retains the physical infrastructure assets to meet projected
service levels. System maintenance is conducted primary by the trained and certified utility operators
from the Public Works Department and natural resource technicians in the Parks Maintenance Division.
Typical maintenance consists of replacement of worn manhole lids, grouting of manhole rings, spot
repair of pipe, refurbishment or replacement of pumps, and refurbishment or replacement of electrical
control components, replacement of other worn or damaged system components, replacement of plant
material, and other minor maintenance.
Renewal and Replacement
Renewal and replacement are major repair or replacement of assets at or near the end of their service
life. This activity is conducted by the engineers, technicians and inspectors in the Engineering
Department or by consulting engineers, and typically occurs in parallel with the City’s parks
development projects, neighborhood street reconstruction program, municipal state aid reconstruction
program, or are completed as standalone utility projects.
Replacement and renewal projects are bundled by age cohort of road and utility infrastructure or are
added to the scope of new infrastructure projects. System components are inspected and conditions
assessed to inform project replacement and repair interventions. Engineers produce project reports and
recommend project scope to the City Councils. Projects are bundled and bid for reconstruction and
contracts are considered by the City Council.
Bundling of projects is favorable to goals of efficiency and customer service by generating efficiency of
scale and timing needed renewal around the disruptions caused by a single project.
Renewal and replacement decisions assume the infrastructure service remains the same or is replaced
with current industry standard materials and components. Typically, projects mix scope between
renewal and replacement, and new and upgraded service.
New and upgraded Public or Private assets
New and upgraded assets are either entirely new areas or levels of service, or major improvements to
the marginal level of service provided by infrastructure. This activity is generally conducted by engineer,
technicians and inspectors in the Engineering Department, or by engineers employed by private
developers as part of land use, community development, or economic development projects.
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Other Programs
Programs and activities managed in partner organizations, and various city departments affect outcomes
of the utility. The following is a noncomprehensive summary of related programs and activities.
Pollution Source and Hydrologic Control
Pollution prevention activities associated with the MS4 permit, street sweeping program,
and the Water Utility’s Wellhead Protection Plan.
Land use regulation in the zoning code and limitations on building hard cover.
Land use permitting at the City and Watershed level.
Grading and erosion control requirements at State, Watershed and local levels.
Stormwater requirements at State, Watershed and local levels.
Implementation of the Living Streets Plan
Assurance, Condition Assessment, System Monitoring, Modeling
Many business practices and their associated system that are otherwise classified as operations also
provide assurance of system function;
SCADA controls and monitoring
Periodic inspection and maintenance
System planning and design
The stormwater sewer system is modeled on an occasional basis and that model is occasionally
recalibrated with flow monitoring data. The model is coordinated in the Nine Mile Creek Watershed
with the District overall creek model. The model is used to review flood risk and test scenarios of
system changes due to growth, system retrofit as part of improvement proposals, or other notable
modifications to system function.
Risk Management, Resilience
The following programs or business practices manage risk and liability the storm utility faces.
City emergency response command,
Gopher State One Call Utility / locates,
Right of Way management,
Grading and land use permits
Parking garage inspections,
City risk management, and League of Minnesota Cities insurance trust
City conservation and sustainability programs
Flood control works and activities
FEMA National Flood Insurance Program
Stormwater regulation at State, Watershed and local levels.
Education, Outreach and Engagement
The understanding, support, consent, and participation of customers and stakeholders is key to building
the brand of the utility and city, and affects customer good will and outcomes. The following programs
and activities support the education, outreach and engagement goals of the City and the operation of
the utility.
Civic engagement, pulic participation and communication
Customer service interactions
Utility billing
Communications and Technology Service Department maintained tools and platforms
Community Outreach and Engagement practices
Public Works Week proclamation and biennial public works open house
Occasional infrastructure tours
Edina Comprehensive Plan
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Organizational Improvement
The following review includes potential actions for each strategic goal area identified in the goal and
policy section above. (Edit after commission and council input)
Goal Area 1: Prioritization of service levels and rates of attainment.
o Compete flood protection strategy to demonstrate range of practices and levels
of attainment in focus area of Morningside Neighborhood.
o Complete clean water strategy to demonstrate range of practices and levels of
attainment in focus area of Lake Cornelia watershed.
o Use results of each strategy to inform changes to codes and standards, and
review internal processes for project selection.
Goal Area 2: Conservation and sustainability, one water
o Identify demonstration project that reuses stormwater or surface waters for
irrigation at Braemar Golf Course jointly with Water Utility.
o Quantify utility energy use and associated environmental impact and consider
renewable energy or credit purchase to offset.
o Promote ecosystem services, such as native vegetation, that support clean water.
Goal Area 3: Aging infrastructure and management of assets over generations:
o Review and implement best practices to promote financial awareness across
departments.
o Improve financial asset register and physical asset so they are complete and
consistent with each other and useful for uncovering trends and for strategic
planning.
o Improve information management systems and staff procedures to build
awareness of customer and technical service issues.
o Track and classify key customer service requests and complaints.
o Build organization tools to identify and track age, condition, and function of
system.
o Use results of condition assessments to inform replacement and renewal
decisions.
o Improve organizational line-of-sight by developing processes that build consensus
on service and risk that are informed by data from all levels of the organization.
o Improve project selection procedures that involve staff from diverse functions
between departments.
Goal Area 4: Risk, Health, Equity and Engagement
o Comprehensively assess risk jointly with sanitary utility and water utility using an
international risk framework.
o Review and modify after-action and failure reporting processes to promote cross
functional organization learning
o Support citywide framework and criteria for purchasing, health, and race and
equity in all business practices.
o Support citywide framework for engagement and public participation.
References and Appendices
CWRMP
Nine Mile Plan
Minnehaha Plan
MS4 Permit and Stormwater Pollution Prevention Program
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter 8 – Water Resources
Page 23
Wellhead Protection Plan
IV. Drinking Water Utility
Introduction
This section of the water resources chapter focuses on the water utility. The introduction discusses the
purpose of the utility, describes technical service levels and related customer service expectations. A
high-level overview of means describes the people, equipment and infrastructure used to provide the
service, and the asset management statement puts programs and infrastructure into a generational
context of lifecycle service delivery. The current and future conditions section the water system’s
current operating conditions will be established along with historical water use trends from the last 10
years. Future water use trends will be projected to the year 2040, and potential infrastructure
challenges that may arise will be identified. More detail on the parts that make up the public utility and
how it relates private systems, organizations and partners and the overall water industry are also
included in this section. The goals and policies section describes the governance structure, policies and
relationships and sets goals to guide the utility in the next 10 years. The implementation section
describes the framework for implementation using principles of lifecycle management of assets and
management of capacity and risk. The reference section links to plans and studies that provide the body
of understanding at the foundation of the utility and useful tools from the water industry.
Possible call-out box text for the water utility
The City of Edina’s existing water system consists of 5 storage facilities, 18 active
groundwater wells, 4 water treatment plants, and a pipe distribution system.
Historical data shows that the average day water demand has been decreasing.
Projections indicate additional storage will be required to meet future water use
demands.
The City is considering water system improvements including an additional water
treatment plant, changes to Dublin Street Reservoir operation and storage capacity, and
water main upgrades and replacements.
Any stats about outdoor use? For example, demand increases by xx% during the summer
to accommodate outdoor use. If we don’t have it, perhaps we can use this quote from
Met Council’s ‘Efficient Water Use on Twin Cities Lawns through Assessment, Research,
and Demonstration’ project. “In the TCMA, approximately 20% of all treated drinking
water is used outdoors, with a majority of this being used on lawns and landscapes.”
Purpose of Plan
The purpose of this section is to guide the water utility by defining the service, detailing goals and
policies and framing the resources and methods of implementation used to provide for the citywide
distribution of water. The plan;
Defines service levels and relation to citywide policy goals such conservation, resilience,
procurement, and others.
Provides a framework for the procurement and maintenance of services while managing
risk, and supporting growth.
Summarizes demand and demand growth with ongoing development and potential
redevelopment within the City and describes how land use impacts the sanitary sewer
infrastructure in the City.
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter 8 – Water Resources
Page 24
Service Levels
The core services of the water utility are; The delivery of safe and healthy waters to promote public
health, the delivery of water for commercial and industrial uses, and the availability of water for fire
suppression. These services are provided citywide with minimal risk of interruption. A secondary
service of the water utility is the delivery of water for irrigation and other nonessential uses.
Customer Service
In the 2017 Quality of Life Survey Edina residents rated drinking water as 28% Excellent, 41% Good,
18% Fair and 1% Poor. With lowest marks for hardness and taste, and highest marks for reliability and
appearance. The percent positive ranked as 176th among 300 comparable communities by survey firm
Decision Resources.
Key customer interactions include billing, hook up and shut off, water main breaks or service line
freezing events, utility improvement projects, planned and unplanned outages, neighborhood street
reconstruction projects, and education and engagement events.
The utility serves residential and businesses customers based on metered domestic flow with rates
described and updated annually in City Code 2-724, With specific irrigation meters for residential and
industrial customer classes. The service is highly reliable with service interruption or risk interruption
typically experienced only sporadically based on deep frost, construction activity, main breaks, or
significant power outage or drought. Staff manages the utility to reduce risk.
Technical service requirements
The water utility is managed to provide highly reliable service, and clean and safe water to residents and
businesses. Water treatment and distribution practices are regulated and governed by state law,
standards of practice, and plumbing code. Recent technical studies reviewing demand, capacity, water
source protection, and water quality include:
Wellhead Protection Plan (Sourcewater Solutions 2011 and 2013) This plan focuses on
improving the sustainability of the City’s water supply. It identifies the vulnerability of the
water supply, and potential contaminates that could impact the water quality. The plan
also includes actions to reduce the likelihood of contamination and alternate water
sources in the event of an emergency.
Water System Master Plan (SEH 2018) This plan details the historical water use data,
projects future water use trends, and identifies potential areas for system improvements.
A computer model of the City’s water distribution system was created to aid in
determining existing operating conditions and plan for future developments under
different system conditions.
Water Treatment Plant 5 Preliminary Engineering Report (AE2S 2017)
Means of provision of service
Water service is provided primarily using a system of local wells, treatment plants, pumps, distribution
main, service lines, control and metering infrastructure. The system is managed by the City of Edina
Engineering and Public Works departments. The system of infrastructure is described in greater detail
in the public utility section below. Programmatic activities such as water system monitoring, disinfection,
and wellhead protection are described in the implementation section below.
Asset Management Statement
Water utility infrastructure assets and relating programs are managed to; anticipate and react to the
impact of growth, identify and manage risk, assess condition and take a lifecycle approach to the
operation, maintenance and replacement of system components, and monitor water quality and system
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter 8 – Water Resources
Page 25
performance. These management activities are conducted to provide a valuable public service by
continually improving our operation and infrastructure to meet the level of service expected by the
public and defined by technical service requirements, while minimizing cost and risk.
Current and Future Conditions
The City’s public water system provides water to the majority of Edina’s residential and commercial
areas. Within the City, a few residential and commercial areas are served by other public water supplies
due to their proximity to surrounding cities. The cities that service areas within Edina are Bloomington,
Eden Prairie, Minneapolis and St Louis Park. Surrounding cities also provide Edina with interconnections
that can be utilized in emergency situations where an alternate water supply is needed.
Public Utility
The public water system pumps, treats, filters, stores, meters and delivers waters to private service
connections citywide. Water for fire suppression is stored and made available at public and private fire
hydrant connection located citywide.
The sections below details rates of flow in gallons per minute (GPM), million gallons of storage (MG),
millions of gallons of water per day (MGD), and describes average day (AD) and maximum day (MD)
demands. Some system constraints and improvement options are discussed and more detail can be
found in goals and policies section, and the Water System Master Plan (SEH 2018.)
Assets
Assets are used to supply, treat, store, distribute, connect to and meter water. The existing water
system is made up of 220 miles of pressure main ranging from 4-16” diameter, nearly 5000 service
valves, 2000 hydrants, 13800 metered service connections, 4 tower storage facilities, and 1 ground
reservoir, 18 groundwater wells, and 4 water treatment plants.
Table 1 shows the 4 elevated storage tanks and 1 groundwater storage tank utilized in the City’s
distribution system. The 4 elevated storage tanks have a combined storage capacity and usable storage
capacity of 3.0 MG. The Dublin Reservoir is limited to a 2,000 GPM output by the pumps over a 24 hour
time period. Therefore, the reservoir only has a usable storage of 2.88 MG even though the storage
capacity is 4.0 MG. The City has a total usable storage capacity of 5.88 MG.
Table 1: Storage
Facility Name Location Year
Constructed
Type Storage
Capacity
(MG)
Usable
Storage
Capacity
(MG)
Dublin Reservoir 700 Dublin
Road
1960 Ground 4.0 2.88
Gleason Road
Tank
6001 Gleason
Road
1970 Elevated 1.0 1.0
Community
Center Tank
5901 Ruth
Drive
1955 Elevated 0.5 0.5
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter 8 – Water Resources
Page 26
Van Valkenburg
Tank
4949 Malibu
Drive
1989 Elevated 1.0 1.0
Southdale Tank 6853 France
Avenue S.
1956 Elevated 0.5 0.5
Total 7.0 5.88
eighteen wells are utilized to supply groundwater to the City as shown in Table 2. Water pumped from
each well receives fluoride for public health and wellness purposes, chlorine for disinfection, and
polyphosphates to prevent pipe corrosion. Many of the wells supply water to the water treatment plants
for additional treatment. However, a few wells provide water directly to the distribution system.
Well #14 is no longer used as a water supply, however, it is used as an irrigation well at Braemar golf
course.
Table 2: Existing Supply Wells
Well Name Status Additional
Treatment
Supply Capacity
(GPM)
Supply Capacity (MGD)
Well #1 Offline - - -
Well #2 Active WTP #6 850 1.22
Well #3 Active None 1,000 1.44
Well #4 Active WTP #2 1,000 1.44
Well #5 Active Proposed
WTP #5
1,000 1.44
Well #6 Active WTP #2 1,000 1.44
Well #7 Active WTP #6 1,000 1.44
Well #8 Active None 850 1.22
Well #9 Active WTP #6 1,000 1.44
Well #10 Active WTP #3 1,000 1.44
Well #11 Active WTP #3 1,000 1.44
Well #12 Active WTP #4 1,000 1.44
Well #13 Active WTP #4 1,000 1.44
Well #14 Irrigation
Only
None - -
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter 8 – Water Resources
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Well #15 Active WTP #6 1,000 1.44
Well #16 Active None 1,000 1.44
Well #17 Active WTP #2 1,000 1.44
Well #18 Active Proposed
WTP #5
1,000 1.44
Well #19 Active None 1,000 1.44
Well #20 Active None 1,000 1.44
The City currently has 4 water treatment plants that provide additional treatment before sending the
water into the distribution system as shown in Table 3. All 4 plants utilize a pressure filter for iron and
manganese removal.
The majority of the water distribution and storage systems were constructed in the 1950’s through 70’s,
with treatment system being added and expanded later. Wells were added as supply demand grew,
and all well systems have been through multiple lifecycles as pumps are replaced on a more frequent
basis, and wells are redeveloped as their flow decays.
Table 3: Existing Water Treatment Plants
Water
Treatment
Plant Name
Receives Water
From
Treatment
Method
Treatment Type Treatment
Capacity
(GPM)
WTP #2 Well #4, Well #6, and
Well #17
Pressure Filter Iron and Manganese
Removal
3,000
WTP #3 Well #10, and Well
#11
Pressure Filter Iron and Manganese
Removal
2,000
WTP #4 Well #12, and Well
#13
Pressure Filter Iron and Manganese
Removal
2,000
WTP #6 Well #2, Well # 7,
Well #9 and Well #15
Pressure Filter Iron and Manganese
Removal, Air Stripping
for VOC removal
3,850
`
-Page 28-
Organization and partners
Internal departments tasked with management of the water utility are the Engineering and Public Works
Departments. These two functional departments employ engineers, operators, technicians, and
administrative staff to run the utility. These functional departments are supported by the Finance
Department, Utility Billing division, Administration and Human Resource Departments. Utility
connections and acquisition of developer installed new infrastructure are supported by the Planning and
Building divisions of the Community Development and Fire departments.
Organization Chart
Key external partners in the provision on water services include the electric power utility, local water
utilities for emergency interconnect and for areas of service in the city but not provided by the utility,
engineering professional service providers, utility general contractors, the Met Council, the Minnesota
Department of Health, state regulators, and nongovernmental water industry associations.
Tools, Equipment, Facilities
The Engineering and Public Works Departments rely on tools, equipment, and facilities procured and
maintained by the Facilities and Fleet support divisions of public works and the Communications and
Technical Services Department.
Demand
Water demand is viewed in a variety of time steps and each affect system requirements. For example; In
several seconds a water main may be required to flow to provide water for fire suppression, in several
minutes a tower or well may provide water to match a peak hour’s ramping system demand, for periods
of hours wells may run and storage systems empty or fill to meet demand during a peak summer
drought over the course of days or months an aquifer pressure may lower or rise due to intense
summer demands, low winter demands, rainfall and infiltration, and finally over years or decades an
aquifer may rise and fall based on regional trends in water use and aquifer recharge.
Existing Demand
Table 4: Existing Demands
Year AD Demand (MGD) MD Demand (MGD) MD Peaking Factor
2007 7.37 16.69 2.26
2008 7.36 16.29 2.21
2009 7.60 18.75 2.47
2010 6.79 13.13 1.93
2011 6.91 14.12 2.04
2012 7.59 17.08 2.25
2013 6.65 15.78 2.37
2014 6.49 15.45 2.38
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2015 6.31 12.70 2.01
2016 6.03 12.99 2.15
Average 6.91 15.30 2.21
Table 4 shows historical data from the last 10 years identifying water use trends in the average daily
demand (AD), maximum daily demand (MD) and maximum daily peaking factor.
The AD demand has been exhibiting an overall decreasing trend over the last 10 years, with the
exception of 2012 which was a drought year. The maximum and minimum AD demands were 7.59
MGD (2012) and 6.03 MGD (2016) respectively. The decreasing trend can be attributed to daily
conservation efforts and replacing outdated plumbing fixtures with more conservative fixtures.
The MD demand has widely varied over the last 10 years. The maximum and minimum MD demands
were 18.75 MGD (2009) and 12.70 MGD (2015) respectively. The MD demand can vary depending on
seasonal conditions. Hot and dry summers will often result in larger MD demands.
The MD peaking factor is the MD demand divided by the AD demand. The MD peaking factors have
remained relatively stable over the last 10 years. The maximum and minimum MD peaking factors were
2.47 MGD (2009) and 1.93 MGD (2010) respectively.
More info on shorter term and longer-term demands? Chad SEH? MetCouncil supply planners?
Future Demand
Future population and water use trends were projected through the year 2040 as seen in Table 5. The
City’s population was projected based on data from the Minnesota State Demographic and interpolation.
The AD demand was calculated by multiplying the population by the average per capita demand
determined from the historical data. The AD demand was then multiplied by the average MD Peaking
Factor determined from the historical data.
The projections indicate that the AD demand will increase to approximately 8.58 MGD. It is
recommended that there should be sufficient storage to hold the AD demand volume for 1 day. The
current storage capacity will not adequately meet the projected AD demand; therefore, additional
storage will be needed.
The projected MD demand is expected to reach 19.3 MGD. The City’s treatment capacity should be
larger than the projected MD demand. Under existing conditions, the City is capable of treating 22.6
MGD, therefore, the treatment capacity is sufficient for projected demands.
Table 5: Ultimate Water Demand Projections
Year Population AD Demand
(MGD)
MD Demand
(MGD)
MD Peaking
Factor
2020 51,900 8.09 18.2 2.25
2025 53,250 8.27 18.6 2.25
2030 54,600 8.49 19.1 2.25
Edina Comprehensive Plan
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2035 54,850 8.53 19.2 2.25
2040 55,100 8.58 19.3 2.25
Private Systems
Every home and business service connection to the Water Utility is owned by the private property
owner, the typical connection point has a shut off valve at the point of connection and is metered
internally. While widely disbursed, the system of service connections and the internal plumbing of
customers affects the outcomes of the Water Utility. Private system connection and good working
order are regulated, permitted and enforced directly through the Building Department and state and
local partners.
State and Local Partners
Regulation of connections, operator certification and training, regional planning for growth, plumbing
code and plumbing licensing, and environmental standards and regulation all affect the outcomes of the
Sanitary Utility and involve the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Pollution Control Agency,
Department of Labor and Industry, Met Council, and others. The City of Edina takes an active role in
policy and regulation advocacy directly and through partner professional associations.
Goals and Policies
This chapter describes; How the Water Utility supports the Mission and Vision of the City of Edina, the
governance of the utility, key local policy and regulation, and ten-year strategic goals.
Service Level Statement
The Water Utility will provide safe, reliable, and efficient water for residents and customers in the City
of Edina, reliable and available water for fire suppression, and water for nonessential uses when it
provision would not create undue risk, while treating contaminants, reducing the risk of contamination,
and improving our operations to protect the health, safety and welfare of our citizens now at into the
future.
Role and responsibility of Council and Management
The City Council is the policy body for the utility and is responsible to set the strategic and policy
direction of the utility. The City Council is responsible and accountable to the customers of the utility
and appoints and evaluates the chief executive. The City Council sets the budget and capital
improvement direction of the utility, defines policy and code, levies fees, issues bonds, accepts or
disposes of real estate, approves contracts with service providers, and hears appeals on enforcement
matters.
The City Manager is the chief executive of the utility three water utilities. The chief executive is
ultimately responsible for the function of the utility and delegates areas of responsibility to various City
Departments. Divisions of responsibility are shared and split among City Departments.
Utility management for the Water Utility is jointly practiced with the Sanitary and Stormwater Utilities
with close coordination of local transportation system management.
Policy and Regulation:
A variety of local policies and ordinance apply to the water utility.
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter Number and Title
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Policies
Provide the City’s water customers with safe, high quality potable water.
o Meet or exceed all Federal and State drinking water standards.
o Provide treatment or replace existing wells with contaminants that exceed EPA
Maximum Contaminant Levels.
Provide sustainability of the City’s water system through preservation and conservation.
o Protect the City’s existing sources of supply by implementation of the Wellhead
Protection Plan.
o Continue to implement a conservation-oriented water rate system that charges
increasing fees for increasing use of water.
o Continue to provide education regarding conservation though mailings, website,
newspaper, and public involvement.
Provide a reliable water system that can provide a safe supply of water during
emergencies.
o Continue the relationship with adjacent communities to provide interconnections
for emergency needs.
o Continue to complete water main looping of dead ends to improve available fire
flow to customers.
Continue to improve the quality of water throughout the distribution system by pursuing
solutions to water quality complaints.
o Implement a unidirectional flushing program throughout the system.
o Continue to replace sections of aging water mains in areas with water quality
and/or hydraulic deficiencies.
Implement new technologies including pipe bursting and cleaning and lining to limit full
reconstruction of utilities.
Ordinances
The following ordinances govern public and private utility service, connections and related
infrastructure
Chapter 10: Building and Building Regulation
o Article 9: Regulating plumbing and installation of water conditioning equipment
o Article 10 Requiring connection to sanitary and water systems and regulating
discharge into the sanitary sewer system
Chapter 24: Public right of way and easement
Chapter 28: Utilities
Sec. 36-1273. - Utility buildings and structures.
10 Year Strategic Goals
The following goals areas represent areas of strategic importance to the utility. (Finalize after
commission and council input)
Goal Area 1: Aging infrastructure and management of assets over generations:
Goal Area 2: Conservation and sustainability, one water
Goal Area 3: Preparing for areas of growth
Goal Area 4: Risk, Health and Equity
Implementation
This section addresses specific projects and day-to-day tasks that City staff undertake to implement the
goals and policies laid out in this plan. Some tasks have been ongoing for many years and simply
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter Number and Title
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represent the high quality of service that the City has always provided to its population, while others are
new initiatives that are the City’s response to recent development.
Lifecycle Asset Management
Water service is provided primarily with infrastructure. The following section describes the coordinated
activities that the City of Edina undertakes to provide value to the customer. These coordinated
activities seek to balance service, cost and risk over the generational lifecycle of infrastructure.
Operations
System operation is conducted primarily by the trained and certified utility operators from the Public
Works Department. Typical operations consist of a variety of activities such as flow monitoring,
pumping, routine inspection, routine repair or replacement of high touch system components.
Much of the system operation is automated by a system of computerized controls, sensors, level
monitors, flow monitors, and other devices.
Emergency operations: All four WTPs have onsite generators equipped to automatically transfer power
upon loss of Xcel service. All well sites are equipped with quick connect plugins for use with portable
generators. In case of catastrophic failure or compromised water safety, the City of Edina has
interconnects with municipal supplies from Eden Prairie, Hopkins, St. Louis Park, Minneapolis and
Bloomington. Staff is currently exploring the feasibility of adding an interconnect with Richfield, possibly
to be constructed in 2019-20.
Maintenance
Maintenance is any action that repairs or retains the physical infrastructure assets to meet projected
service levels. System maintenance is conducted primarily by the trained and certified utility operators
from the Public Works Department.
Typical maintenance consists of replacement or refurbishment of values, hydrants, pumps, electrical
components, spot repair of leaks, spot repair of pipe, replacement of other worn or damaged system
components, and other minor maintenance.
Renewal and Replacement
Renewal and replacement are major repair or replacement of assets at or near the end of their service
life. This activity is conducted by the engineers, technicians and inspectors in the Engineering
Department or by consulting engineers, and typically occurs in parallel with the City’s neighborhood
street reconstruction program and municipal state aid reconstruction program, or are completed as
standalone utility project.
Replacement and renewal projects are bundled by age cohort of road and utility infrastructure. System
components are inspected and conditions assessed to inform project replacement and repair
interventions. Engineers produce project reports and recommend project scope to the City Council.
Projects are bundled and bid for reconstruction and contracts are considered by the City Council.
Bundling of projects is favorable to goals of efficiency and customer service by generating efficiency of
scale and timing needed renewal around the disruptions caused by a single project.
Renewal and replacement decisions assume the infrastructure service remains the same or is replaced
with current industry standard materials and components. Typically, projects mix scope between
renewal and replacement, and new and upgraded service.
Edina Comprehensive Plan
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New and upgraded assets
New and upgraded assets are either entirely new areas or levels of service, or major improvements to
the marginal level of service provided by infrastructure. This activity is generally conducted by engineers,
technicians and inspectors in the Engineering Department, or by engineers employed by private
developers as part of land use, community development, or economic development projects.
The City is continuously planning to for future expansions and updates so the water system can grow
and change with the City. A few projects the City has been planning are the addition of Water
Treatment Plant 5, operation and storage improvements at Dublin Street Reservoir, and continue to add
and update the water main throughout the City.
The City plans to add Water Treatment Plant 5 to improve the quality of water coming from wells #5
and #18, and increase the treatment capacity of the system. It will be a pressure filter water treatment
plant for the removal of iron and manganese, and is planned to have a treatment capacity of 2.88 MGD.
Under existing conditions, the Dublin Street Reservoir has 2.88 MG of usable storage capacity, but has a
storage capacity of 4.0 MG. The City is reviewing different options to improve the usable storage
capacity and operation a Dublin Street Reservoir.
As the City plans for road construction and additional development they are reviewing each project to
determine if it is feasible to include water main replacements and upgrades. Including these upgrades and
replacements will aid improving water quality by replacing unlined cast iron pipes, and reduce the
quantity of unaccounted water.
Other Programs
Programs and activities managed in partner organizations, and various city departments affect outcomes
of the utility. The following is a noncomprehensive summary of related programs and activities.
Utility locate, right of way, connection permits,
Demand Management / Source Control
The conservation rate tier and separate commercial irrigation accounts in City ordinance
are key conservation and demand management practices for the utility.
State and national plumbing code is a key conservation and demand management tool that
is reducing per capita water use
Assurance, Condition Assessment, System Monitoring, Modeling
Many business practices and their associated systems that are otherwise classified as operations also
provide assurance of system function;
SCADA controls, flow and storage monitoring,
Metering,
Periodic inspection and maintenance,
Water quality testing program,
Groundwater level and quality monitoring,
System planning and design
Risk Management, Resilience
The following programs or business practices manage risk associated with the utility:
City emergency response command,
Gopher State One Call Utility / locates,
Right of Way management,
Connection permits,
Edina Comprehensive Plan
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Private connection program as part of reconstruction,
City risk management, and League of Minnesota Cities insurance trust
City conservation and sustainability programs,
Odd/even watering ban
Many of the assurance programs above, also provide risk management functions,
Corrosion inhibiting practices prevents decay of pipes,
The disinfection strategy, and monitoring for byproducts,
The system of backup power for key water supply and treatment facilities, and mobile
power reserve
The Wellhead Protection Program address vectors for pollution and potential
contaminate sources to the wellhead and the overlapping surface water pollution
prevention activities of the Storm Utility help protect future water supply quality.
Education, Outreach and Engagement
The understanding, support, consent, and participation of customers and stakeholders is key to building
the brand of the utility and city, and affects customer good will and outcomes. The following programs
and activities support the education, outreach and engagement goals of the City and the operation of
the utility.
Customer service interactions
Utility billing
Communications and Technology Service Department maintained tools and platforms
Community Outreach and Engagement practices
Public Works Week proclamation and biennial public works open house
Occasional infrastructure tours
Organizational Improvement
The following review includes potential actions for each strategic goal area identified in the goal and
policy section above. (Edit after commission and council input)
Goal Area 1: Aging infrastructure and management of assets over generations:
o Review and implement best practices to promote financial awareness across
departments
o Improve financial asset register and physical asset so they are complete and
consistent with each other and useful for uncovering trends and for strategic
planning.
o Improve information management systems and staff procedures to build
awareness of customer and technical service issues.
o Track and classify key customer service requests and complaints.
o Track number and duration of planned and unplanned service interruptions and
trend.
o Build organization tools to identify and track age, condition, and function of
system.
o Use results of condition assessments to inform replacement and renewal
decisions.
o Improve organizational line-of-sight by developing processes that build consensus
on service and risk that are informed by data from all levels of the organization.
o Improve project selection procedures that involve staff from diverse functions
between departments
Goal Area 2: Conservation and sustainability, one water
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter Number and Title
Page 35
o Identify demonstration project for surface water irrigation reuse at Braemar golf
course and develop design and business case for irrigation reuse practice.
o Quantify utility energy use and associated environmental impact and consider
renewable energy or credit purchase to offset.
o Confirm water utility rates structure supports conservation outcomes.
o Review metering, SCADA and billing system requirements jointly with sanitary
utility for opportunities relating to asset management and conservation business
goals when major system replacements are considered.
Goal Area 3: Preparing for areas of growth
o Add filtered treatment capacity for >95% of drought year.
o Complete Grandview trunk facilities as growth opportunities allow.
o Consider Pentagon Park utility transition from Bloomington to Edina water
service in coordination with sanitary system review.
Goal Area 4: Risk, Health, Equity and Engagement
o Improve fire flow capacity in northeast Edina as 50th and Wooddale road project
opportunities allow.
o Comprehensively assess risk using an international risk framework.
o Actively encourage sealing of unused, unmaintained, and abandoned private wells
o Review vulnerabilities related to updated flood model (CWRMP)
o Review and modify after-action and failure reporting processes to promote cross
functional organization learning
o Support citywide framework and criteria for purchasing, health, and race and
equity in all business practices.
V. References
Distribution System Analysis (2002 SEH)
Wellhead Protection Plan (2011 and 2013 Sourcewater Solutions)
Water Supply Plan (2018 SEH)
VI. Appendices
text
-Page 36- 11 x 17, page 1
Edina Comprehensive Plan Chapter Number and Title Page 37 11 x 17, page 2
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter 8 – Water Resources
Page 38
Regular page, after a section break.
Edina Comprehensive Plan
Chapter Number and Title
Page 39
Text
Date: November 8, 2018 Agenda Item #: VII.B.
To:Energy and Environment Commission Item Type:
Report and Recommendation
From:Tara Brown, Liaison to EEC
Item Activity:
Subject:Comp Plan Chapter 10 Energy and Environment Action
CITY OF EDINA
4801 West 50th Street
Edina, MN 55424
www.edinamn.gov
ACTION REQUESTED:
Review and comment on final draft of the Comprehensive Plan's Chapter 10.
INTRODUCTION:
Attached are the final drafts of Chapter 10 and its appendix to send to the Planning Commission. This fulfills
2018 EEC's Work Plan Initiative 1: Assist as requested with the development of the City’s new
Comprehensive Guide P lan.
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
Chapter 10 Draft Appendix
Comp Plan Chapter 10 Draft
1
Appendix: Collection of Sustainability Ideas
City Budget and Leading by Example
• Integrate strategy, planning, and budgetary decisions.
• Encourage city staff to embed sustainability into decision-making, budget process, capital
improvements and build alliances across City Departments.
• Operations – consider development of green building policy, and approach on net new city buildings
o Operational aspects (like irrigation, tree canopy and green space).
o Share resources example (South Metro training center).
• Reporting – set baselines and report out on (e.g. energy utilization, purchasing, new buildings).
Commercial and Industrial Facilities
• Constructions and Design – encourage green buildings, energy guidelines, give to get options, and
deconstruction.
• Operations – encourage energy consumption and efficiency, minimize waste and optimize processing
of waste stream with zero waste being target goal, water quality, and water drainage.
• Capture opportunities to educate (see big ideas section).
• Address drainage, impervious surfaces, and runoff plans.
• Consider energy efficiencies and renewable energy options.
• Support lawn and plant diversity – permeable lawn, grass (weed ordinance), tree policy.
• Explore rebate and financial options.
Single Family Residential
• Utilize policies available to support green buildings (design, materials, etc.), energy efficiency and
residential energy options, responsible demolition, pervious surface use, smart water use (e.g.
irrigation), reduction of waste, and increase in plant biodiversity (including tree canopy and green
space).
• Give to get options was mentioned as a policy form.
• Continue to reassess policies that impact drainage and impervious surfaces (i.e. construction permits
needing runoff plans) and look for ways to stack benefits (i.e. utilizing native plants that can absorb
runoff, support pollinators, and clean water versus use of a buried cistern).
• Support pollinators, tree canopy, biodiversity, and native plants.
• Beyond policy, look for opportunities to educate (see big ideas section).
Solid Waste
• Incorporate consideration of waste into every aspect of plan – think of the waste hierarchy: reduce,
reuse, recycle.
• Any new commercial development should incorporate 3-stream waste collection.
• Consideration for organics both in production and collection – i.e. new food establishments take
packaging and waste collection into consideration.
• Keep all new technologies and innovations in regards to waste on the table.
• Educate citizens on waste at every opportunity.
• Public spaces need to have 3-stream waste receptacles conveniently located for citizens.
2
• Events should consider waste in their planning. Both packaging and waste collection should be part
of permit/expectation.
• Consider opportunities for citizens to dispose of waste materials at centralized location – i.e. a day
where there is an electronics collection at a central drop-off.
• Construction and demolition requirements or options for greener practices. This could include
reusing materials and/or more environmental considerations when building.
• Parks using a percentage of compost in turf management and in planting beds.
Energy
• Consideration of self-generation or self-sourced generation:
o Look into costs for on-site generation or programs to source directly from remote sources.
o Consider long term environmental impact relative to city goals.
o Consider carbon free sources or programs giving Renewable Energy Credits to end users.
• Explore benefits of all electric sites and partnerships with utilities to offset potentially higher bills.
• For larger developments consider on-site generation, district energy systems, or district thermal
options. (Natural gas use on site will always have carbon emissions.)
• Consider the impact of community solar gardens.
• If the new home construction boom continues, consider local rebates/incentives to make homes
more efficient, resilient, and sustainable. Consider incentives for reused materials or products
sourced through in-state companies. (Discount on permit fees? Free LEDs throughout the house is
builder/owner meets a designated energy efficiency level or a percentage of recycled materials.)
Wetland
• Achieve no net loss of wetlands.
• Discourage wetland alteration.
• Administer the Wetland Conservation Act.
• Update the wetland inventory data.
• Restore previously existing wetlands.
• Buffer zones of native vegetation.
• Minimization of water level fluctuations.
• Involve the appropriate regulatory agencies (MPCA, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the MnDNR)
in the planning of any proposed water quality or flood control facilities.
Natural Habitat
• Address invasive species.
• Encourage native plants, especially pollinator-friendly plants.
• Encourage large tree preservation.
• Encourage increasing tree canopy.
• Capture education opportunities for teaching ecosystems.
• Reduce pesticide and fertilizer use.
Water
• Road salt best practices for overall reduction of chlorides to surface water receptors.
• Irrigation system best practices including upgrades and incentives for overall water use reduction.
• Incentives for potable water use reduction (business, residential).
3
• Long term drinking water sustainability, well redundancy, and water quality (including emerging
chemicals of concern).
• Leveraging available new technologies that optimize electricity usage and well maintenance.
• Resilient storm water management.
• Incentives to reduce the proliferation of single use plastic water bottles.
• Building / new structure enhancements that optimize water usage including options for gray water
systems.
• Continued long term water use coordination with watershed agencies, County, and adjacent
communities.
• Innovative use of rainwater run-off for activities such as watering plants (refer to U of M operations
example).
4
Solar Access Protection
One important contribution the City can make in the transition to renewable energy sources is to
protect the access that individual residents, businesses and industry have to renewable sources of
energy. Active solar rooftop collectors and passive solar technologies require maximum exposure to
sunlight, which may be challenging in a developed environment. To help ensure that sufficient exposure
is available for all homeowners and businesses, the City already has ordinances for building setbacks,
building height restrictions, and maximum lot coverage. At present, there are still very few houses with
solar energy systems, likely due to high costs and logistical considerations associated with installation.
The University of Minnesota has developed a high-resolution statewide solar resource map that allows
cities to calculate how much electricity they could potentially receive from locally installed solar energy
systems. These data (see Figure XX) were used to calculate Edina’s solar resource, in terms of
potential for energy generation. The solar map shows the location of the best sites solar installations
and helps identify where there may be potential land use conflicts with solar development. Table XX
shows the amount of solar energy reasonably available for development in Edina. The gross potential
includes the total available resource, regardless of location; rooftop capacity and generation include only
the resource available on the rooftops of commercial buildings located in the city.
Table XX – Hopkins Gross and Rooftop Solar Generation Potential
Total Generation Potential (MWh/year) 16,700,686
Rooftop Potential (MWh/year) 2,739,861
Gross Generation Potential (MWh/year) 1,670,068
Roof Generation Potential (MWh/year) 273,986
These calculations assume a 10% conversion efficiency and current (2016/17) solar technologies. The
average home in Minnesota consumes between 9 and 10 Mwh/year (Solar Energy Industries Association;
US Energy Information Administration). Using only Edina’s rooftop generation potential, 27,000-30,000
homes could be powered by solar energy annually – more than the total number of existing units in
Edina.
Actions by the City of Edina that promote solar access and energy usage – such as facilitating financing
mechanisms like PACE financing and maintaining updated development regulations and incentives – can
result in wider adoption of solar energy in Edina. Another alternative is participation in community solar
gardens, which provide people an opportunity to support renewable energy through membership in a
large solar array located in a sunny open area. The Edina Community Solar Garden, located on the roof
of the Public Works and Park Maintenance Facility, is fully subscribed at the time of this writing with 68
households participating.
1
Comprehensive Plan Discussion
Directions to writers of Comp Plan: When writing the new chapter, keep it concise. Current chapter is
too long with too much backstory. Chapter should be a summary, ideally less than 6 pages, with an
appendix that can provide a history and examples that are more specific. When maps are added (i.e.
gross solar potential map), add that the fact that the map was a point in time. If possible, add real-time
or updated maps over time.
Throughout the plan, EEC wants to see:
• City operations be a leader.
• City staff consider the impact of climate change on making decisions on staffing and services.
• Environmental sustainability and stewardship framed in practical outcomes.
Chapter template – Review layout and the purpose of each section.
1. Chapter highlights Keep section, review content
2. Introduction – This is the manifesto. This is driven by EEC Keep section, review content
3. Background - Includes statutory duties and past actions Keep section, review content
4. Definitions Keep section, keep
recommendation these are
added to the intro chapter
5. Current Conditions – level set of what’s going on at the time of the
chapter draft. Data points. Gives context to recommendations, goals
and policies.
Change content, keep section
brief. May be a potential to
merge the two sections.
6. Trends, Challenges, and Opportunities – Education tool to assist
readers in understanding why recommendations were chosen. Gives
context to recommendations, goals, and policies.
7. Recommendations – Community priorities and avenues for a
sustainable future
Content should reflect EEC’s
recommendations
8. Goals & Policies - Content should reflect EEC’s
recommendations
Chapter Highlights
• The people in the City of Edina strongly value building and maintaining a sustainable
environment, although that has not always been matched by actions.
• The City of Edina will take actions to address climate change, including greenhouse gas
reduction and solid waste reduction.
• Climate change will have an increasing impact on Edina, as evidenced by a recent UN report.
• The City intends to learn from the experience of implementation since the last comprehensive
plan, to build a stronger foundation to implement its values.
• The City will make sustainability a foundational element of its decision-making process.
2
The decision-making process should also take into account the goal of an equitable distribution of
benefits. Introduction
The people in the City of Edina strongly value building and maintaining a sustainable environment. Each
development decision must consider the ‘triple bottom line’ – people, planet and profit – so that the
economic factors are not favored over the health and welfare of the City’s natural environment and/or
its residents in present and future decisions.
The City of Edina supports an environmental policy approach that positively impacts the community. In
a recent citywide visioning process, environmental stewardship was identified as one of seven key
strategic focus areas for the City. Vision Edina stated: “Community residents and stakeholders believe
that Edina can take an active and ambitious internal and regional leadership role in embedding
environmental stewardship principles through actions such as promoting more comprehensive recycling,
smart building and energy efficiency practices.”
• This includes clean energy, reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, clean water,
responsible management of solid waste, clean air, transportation, ecological health, and wise
management of natural resources.
• This means actions throughout the city which includes all parts of the city: city operations,
commercial, industrial, and residential.
• This addresses tradeoffs that occur when working to meet multiple goals, including
environmental, fiscal/economic, and quality of life.
• This proactively pursues resiliency and adaptation in the face of a changing climate.
This chapter outlines existing conditions and progress to date as well as a framework for
recommendations for the future to ensure the economic and environmental health of the community.
Background (Edina’s Commitment to Sustainability)
History
From the early 1970’s, with the establishment of its first Environmental Quality Commission,
Edina has sought to be on the forefront of environmental and natural resource issues. The past
decade has included significant action in that area, particularly around energy and climate change
topics.
The City of Edina established a citizen Energy and Environment Commission (EEC) in 2007 to
promote sustainability initiatives and to advise the City Council. The commission is comprised of
Edina residents focused on specific sustainability topics. The commission creates a work plan
annually, and recent focus has been on carbon emission reduction.
Since its founding, the EEC has overseen several sustainability initiatives, as summarized in the
sidebar to the right. An early focus has been on municipal facilities, looking for opportunities for
the City to lead by example.
In 2007, the City Council set specific goals related to greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction:15%
reduction by 2015, 25% reduction by 2025, and 80% reduction by 2050 (based on the state 2007
Next Generation Energy Act). These goals were incorporated in the city’s 2008 comprehensive
plan. When the 2015 goal was not met, this was a wakeup call to do more. The Conservation and
3
Sustainability Fund was created to fund a dedicated resource to manage and measure carbon
reduction actions.
An important tool in meeting future goals was the development of an energy action plan, to jump-
start a citywide effort towards energy use reduction. In 2016, the City worked with the Partners
in Energy program to complete its Electricity Action Plan, the first element of this plan, to begin
its strategy for energy use reduction. Additional action plans are anticipated to be completed in
the following years, as outlined in this plan.
What We Have Learned
The past decade has shown that the strong values and intentions of Edina to pursue environmental
sustainability have not always been demonstrated in decisions and results. Therefore, the EEC seeks to
learn from past experiences to support a renewed approach moving forward.
This chapter takes from a 2008 experience and builds on it. In 2008, Edina was the first city in the
metropolitan area to include environmental action in its comprehensive plan. This 2017, Chapter 10
seeks to summarize the framework created since 2008 for taking environmental action:
• Sustainability actions will focus on key subject areas. To date, those areas include energy, water,
solid waste, air quality, natural habitat, trees, and environmental contamination.
• Environmental decisions and actions vary across different sectors of the community: City,
residents, other governmental bodies, and commercial and industrial businesses.
• The City of Edina will take actions affecting all of these actors, and, most importantly, lead by
example.
It is our intent that future Energy and Environment Commissions use this chapter to frame their annual
work plans. Building on the past experience of the EEC, we direct future EECs to:
• Meet existing goals of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) and waste reduction.
• Set new goals with community input to address climate change.
• Create action plans that integrate different aspects of the environment to achieve City goals.
• Continually learn about environmental best practices and educate the community about the
environment.
Existing conditions, trends, and challenges
Climate change – The urgency of action on climate change has been emphasized by an October 2018
report by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. This report asserts that
unprecedented changes are needed within the next 12 years to keep rising temperatures in check and
thereby lessen severe climate and weather impacts. While climate change is a global challenge, there are
local implications regarding impacts and policy. Addressing this will require coordinated change on many
fronts – including reduction of emissions, promotion of alternative energy sources, and alterations in
consumption patterns and waste production and management. This action will extend over multiple City
departments and commission.
Climate resilience is defined as the ability to absorb and respond to stresses, and to adapt and evolve
accordingly. The key changes in weather patterns that the MN DNR Climatologist are predicting include
4
warmer winters with more freezes and thaws, more extreme precipitation, strong storms and winds,
and high summer humidity. This will affect the health and safety of people and property in Edina,
including increased risk from ice, flooding, and pests such as mosquitoes. The City will need to mitigate
climate impacts on the community to maintain a safe and desirable community. Developing a resilience
strategy will include identifying and responding to climate vulnerabilities in the community, in terms of
both people and resources.
Leading by Example – The City of Edina can set an example for sustainability best practices through its
own operations and facilities. It will be important to look at the complete lifecycle of purchases and
processes to determine the opportunities to meet sustainability goals and improve the community’s
health and resiliency. This will need to be done through a triple-bottom line lens, which identifies the
true financial, environmental, and societal costs to allow productive discussion and decision making
about the level of commitment needed. While there have been some significant steps in this direction,
including the hiring of a sustainability coordinator and the completion of an electricity action plan, the
data show that there is a still a long way to go to live up to the City’s goals and aspirations.
Energy –Sustainability best practices support continued energy efficiency and expanded use of alternative
energy sources which replace large GHG emissions sources. Costs for renewable energy have reduced
significantly at a commercial level. The cost of wind is on parity with coal generation. However, there
are still issues regarding the availability and affordability of renewable energy generation on small
residential scale (solar photovoltaic systems on a home). Conversion to renewables cannot be done
overnight as there is significant infrastructure investment around current energy generation that will
take time and resources to replace. Additionally, continued focus on efficiency use of energy generated
will be critical to reducing emissions and keeping costs down. Data on Edina’s energy consumption
patterns, included in the following charts, shows that the city consumes energy at a fairly high rate with
significant room for efficiency and reduction.
5
3,500,000
4,000,000
4,500,000
5,000,000
5,500,000
6,000,000
6,500,000
7,000,000
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Total Energy in Btu, 2007-2013
St. Louis Park Edina Minnetonka Eden Prairie
6
7
Solid Waste - Sustainability also leads to an increased focus on a reduce/reuse/recycle approach to
resources – with the goal of reducing overall waste generated. Undifferentiated waste in landfills,
particularly organic waste, creates methane gas which is a primary contributor to climate change.
Additionally, siting new landfills is increasingly costly and undesirable for communities. For these
reasons, it is critical to capture materials from the waste stream that can be reused. The market for
materials continues to change which makes recycling complex. These macro level systems will be
challenging for a small community, like Edina, to change. However, education and behavior changes for
city operations, residents, and businesses to alter their purchasing and disposal practices will be critical
for successful recycling and waste reduction. In particular, education is needed on reducing waste
contamination of the recycling stream, to ensure a higher percentage of recyclables collected can be
processed cost-effectively.
Natural Habitat - Much of the land in Edina has been removed from its original ecological and natural
function to make way for human development. While development impacts will remain, there are
opportunities to retain, restore, and connect natural habitat areas within the city. A fuller picture
emerges when looking at how this developed area fits into the larger ecological context of the region.
Impacts on the city’s tree canopy due to single-family home development, and pests such as the emerald
ash borer, need to be addressed.
Water – Water quantity and quality must be wisely managed to deliver core services of drinking water
distribution and source protection, sanitary sewer service, flood protection, runoff management, and
clean surface water (lakes, creeks, ponds, and wetlands). Climate change and land use decisions have the
biggest impacts on the resilience of our water resources systems. See Chapter 8 for more information
and direction on water resources. The energy-water nexus is an important issue for sustainability as
well: water treatment and transportation takes a considerable amount of energy, so reduction in water
usage can reduce energy usage as well.
Density and Development – On the regional scale, it is generally more sustainable for development to
be located in developed communities that are well-served by infrastructure, rather than on the outskirts
where undeveloped land is being consumed and infrastructure is being created and extended, creating a
larger carbon footprint. However, at the local level, as the City considers development and density
options it must consider local impacts to the environment.. Meeting the carbon reduction goal will
necessitate discussions on tradeoffs in development, density, and their carbon impacts. For example,
density can provide a lower carbon footprint per resident and new development can be more energy
efficient. But increasing the population through density may increase the community’s overall carbon
footprint (though possibly not at a per capita level). Stopping density within the city will not solve
sustainability problems and meet sustainability goals, but accommodating growth does require
investigation of ways to grow more sustainably, and to seek to decouple carbon increases from
economic growth.
Youth Activism – Climate change will impact youth and young adults much more than older generations.
As a result, there is growing concern and activism among young people in Edina around the issue of
climate change. Youth will need to be involved in the discussion and decision-making process to ensure
their views are taken into consideration. The role of student members on the EEC is an example of this.
Attracting New Residents. Many young adults and families are taking green and sustainable values into
account when deciding where they will live. To continue to attract young people and families to the
community, it is important for the City to demonstrate a commitment to address these issues.
8
Financial Stewardship. A comprehensive approach to sustainability also includes a financial element.
Strategic and timely investments in the short term may preclude much larger expenses later. One key
element of this is identifying the lifecycle cost of investments – for example a larger up-front capital cost
may at times be justified by lower operations and maintenance cost of the life of an investment. This
should be taken into account in decision making.
Ongoing Data Needs. Particularly with regards to its commitment to GHG and waste reduction goals,
the City will need to continually monitor data regarding environmental and climate conditions, energy
usage, water usage, waste production, recycling participation, travel behavior, and other factors. The
City of Edina’s participation in the Regional Indicators Initiative https://www.regionalindicatorsmn.com/
provides access to a regularly updated data source that can help inform the City’s decisions. Additional
information sources may be linked on the City’s website as well, as they are identified.
Recommendations and Strategies
The City will lead in sustainability both by example and by taking the lead role where possible.
The City will plan for resilience regarding climate change.
Future EECs will build on past experience.
The City will meet or exceed its GHG reduction goals and solid waste reduction goals.
Future EECs will continue to research and educate the community on environmental best practices.
Strategies
The following section summarizes the strategies used to implement the above goals. More details and
examples of best practices can be found in Appendix XX.
Utilize a myriad of tools available. There are different tools for the City to use and support
the community’s goals. The right tool depends on the need and targeted outcome:
• Policy – The City will focus through staff and commission to amend and approve policies and
its regulatory framework in order to support sustainable actions, meet sustainability goals, and
meet the needs of the community.
• Education – The EEC encourages the City to connect on policies and learn best practices. We
will use opportunities with city staff, EEC, organized neighborhoods, neighbor-to-neighbor, and
business organizations to promote sustainable actions.
• Alliances – Edina is a part of a larger community. It is important to build alliances across City
Commissions, with Edina School District, Chamber of Commerce, Hennepin County, and other
government entities within the region to connect on policies, learn best practices, and share
resources.
• Measurements – Develop and utilize existing tools for benchmarking and metrics to monitor
and reach stated goals.
Understand there are different actors and their roles and impact on sustainability varies:
9
• City operations and budget decisions – City facilities, capital budget, operating budget, and operating
decisions will lead by example and commit resources to achieving our sustainability goals through its
own facilities and operations.
• Commercial and Industrial Facilities – In addition to private businesses, this includes non-city owned
government and nonprofit entities, as well as multifamily and mixed-use development. Work with
these entities to address sustainability through design, construction, and operations.
• Single family Residential – Work with single family residential communities, residents, and
developers to address sustainability.
Incorporate sustainability into land use decisions:
Decisions on land use and development are one of the main ways the City can influence
sustainability in the community. From the beginning of the process, land use and development
review should incorporate sustainability as a primary consideration when making decisions.
There are key areas to focus sustainable action:
• Solid waste – Encourage all to think of their waste footprint, use the waste reduction pyramid
(i.e. rethink, reduce, reuse, recycle), and anti-littering to reduce waste and its impact on the
environment. As we manage waste (i.e. trash, recyclables, and organic recyclables), continue to
find ways for reduction via pick up options, hazardous waste, green demolition, sharing
economy, and the circular economy.
• Energy – The City will consider energy resources and reduction and their impact on our city’s
goals. Continue to look for opportunities for renewable energy sources, including solar.
• Water –Water is governed by the water chapter (see Chapter XX for more information). Here
are the guiding principles:
• Air Quality – Promote clean energy and other actions to improve air quality such as reducing
transportation emissions.
• Trees – Tree canopy has many stacked benefits (carbon sequestering, reduction in heat island
effect, storm water mitigation, supporting wildlife, etc.). Review policy and actions that support
tree canopy and benefits.
• Natural Habitat – Consider other natural resources such as soil, natural habitat, and sunlight.
Environmental Contamination – Monitor sources of contamination of nonpoint source contaminants like
runoff, pet waste, pesticide, and fertilizer use.
Goals and Benchmarks
Goals are our way to prioritize actions, get resources, and measure our actions. Meeting these goals will
require trade-offs between various city priorities, though this chapter asserts that sustainability should
be a major consideration in all decisions.
• GHG reduction: 30% or more reduction in GHG emissions by 2025, 80% emissions reduction
by 2050.
• 75% of solid waste annually diverted from landfills by 2030
• Create an integrated environmental action plan.
• Continually seek best practices, reference appendix for ideas.
• Apply metrics, benchmarks, and reporting to environmental actions.
10
• Lead decision-making policies with sustainable principles.
• Coordinate and communicate with staff regarding technical aspects of addressing resilience.
• Equitable distribution of environmental benefits.
Definitions
Environment includes factors that act upon a community and ultimately determine its form and
survival, including the impact humans have on natural resources.
Sustainability means protecting regional vitality for future generations by preserving our capacity
to maintain and support our region’s well-being and productivity.
Resilience is the ability to recover from a disaster that could have been prevented or mitigated
with sustainable practices.
***END***
Date: November 8, 2018 Agenda Item #: VIII.A.
To:Energy and Environment Commission Item Type:
Minutes
From:Casey Casella, City Management Fellow
Item Activity:
Subject:Working Group Minutes Information
CITY OF EDINA
4801 West 50th Street
Edina, MN 55424
www.edinamn.gov
ACTION REQUESTED:
None.
INTRODUCTION:
Receive minutes from EEC working groups.
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
Minutes: EBWG, Oct 10, 2018
October 10, 2018 BEWG Meeting Minutes
Attendees:
Michelle Horan
Carolyn Jackson
1. Mike Woosley and David Goldstein can no longer continue to be members of the BEWG due to
scheduling.
2. Carolyn has two businesses (Jerry’s and Lunds/Byerly’s) willing to look over BRP application and give
feedback 3. Michelle sent the application to Rachel at the 50th and France Association to send on to a
few businesses. She has also contacted Gateway Bank and Hello Pizza.
4. Carolyn will get Paul the Galleria contact and she will also get in touch with Southdale and try to
coordinate a meeting with Tara and the Fairview contact.
5. The work plan will not be approved until January therefore, outside of the contacts we are curretnly
making with businesses, there is not much further work we can do on BRP. Due to this fact we decided
that the BEWG does not need to meet until January when the work plan has been approved.
6. Michelle will do some initial research on pollinators.
Date: November 8, 2018 Agenda Item #: X.A.
To:Energy and Environment Commission Item Type:
Other
From:Casey Casella, City Management Fellow
Item Activity:
Subject:Solar Program and Zoning Update Information
CITY OF EDINA
4801 West 50th Street
Edina, MN 55424
www.edinamn.gov
ACTION REQUESTED:
None.
INTRODUCTION:
Staff was scheduled to present an update on SolSmart at the Commission's October 11, 2018 meeting. T his
presentation was re-scheduled due to timing. Today, staff will provide an overview of the SolSmart program,
examples of actions completed through the SolSmart application, and details on proposed zoning changes
regarding solar.
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
Draft Ordinance: Solar Changes
Presentation: SolSmart and Zoning Updates
Existing text – XXXX
Stricken text – XXXX
Added text – XXXX
ORDINANCE NO. 2018-
AN ORDINANCE AMENDMENT REGARDING
SOLAR ENERGY REGULATIONS
THE CITY COUNCIL OF EDINA ORDAINS:
Section 1. Chapter 36, Article I., Section 36-10 is amended to add the following:
Sec. 36-10 – Definitions.
Solar Energy System: An energy system that consists of one or more solar collection devices,
solar energy related “balance of system” equipment, and other associated infrastructure with
the primary intention of generating electricity, storing electricity, or otherwise converting solar
energy to a different form of energy. Solar energy systems may generate energy in excess of
the energy requirements of a property if it is to be sold back to a public utility in accordance
with applicable laws.
Section 2. Chapter 36, Article XII., Section 36-1269 (General Requirements Applicable to all
Districts) is amended as follows:
Sec. 36-1269. - Energy collection systems setbacks and as a permitted accessory use.
Facilities and equipment designed for the collection of solar energy or wind energy shall
maintain the same setbacks as are required for principal buildings or structures and shall
not be located within the front yard. Solar Energy Systems are permitted accessory uses
in all zoning districts.
Section 3. Chapter 36, Article XII., Section 36-1457, Subdivision III (Screening) is amended
as follows:
Sec. 36-1457. - Required.
The following uses shall be screened in accordance with the requirements of this subdivision
with the exception of Solar Energy Systems. Solar Energy Systems are exempt from screening
requirements.
(1) Nonresidential principal buildings or structures, and any building or structure
accessory thereto, shall be screened from lots in the R-1 district which are used for
single dwelling unit buildings and which are located within 200 feet of the
nonresidential use. The distance shall be the shortest distance between the
Existing text – XXXX
Stricken text – XXXX
Added text – XXXX
2
nonresidential building or structure to be screened and the nearest lot line of the R-1
district lot, but shall not extend across a street;
(2) Principal buildings or structures, or any building or structure accessory thereto,
located in the Planned Industrial District or Planned Commercial District shall be
screened from lots used for any residential purpose which are located within 200 feet.
The distance shall be the shortest distance between the PID or PCD building or
structure to be screened and the nearest lot line of the residential lot, but shall not
extend across a street;
(3) Off-street parking facilities containing six or more spaces and all loading
facilities shall be screened from streets located within 50 feet, and from lots which are
used for any residential purpose which are located within 50 feet. Said distance shall
be the shortest distance between the parking facility or loading facility and the nearest
part of the street or the nearest lot line of the residential lot;
(4) Trash storage facilities, including recycling storage facilities, shall be screened
from all lot lines and public road rights-of-way; and
(5) All mechanical equipment accessory to any building, except single dwelling unit
and double dwelling unit buildings, shall be screened from all lot lines and streets.
Section 4. This ordinance is effective immediately upon passage and publication.
First Reading:
Second Reading:
Published:
ATTEST:
__________________________ ___________________________
Debra A. Mangen, City Clerk James B. Hovland, Mayor
Please publish in the Edina Sun Current on:
Send two affidavits of publication.
Bill to Edina City Clerk
SolSmart & Solar Zoning Updates
Energy and Environment Commission 11/08/2018
SolSmart Program
EdinaMN.gov 2
•Streamline a city’s zoning and
inspection requirements and remove
barriers to solar development
Application
•Foundational categories:
•Permitting
•Planning, Zoning and Development
•Required Actions:
•SolSmart Statement (done)
•Online permitting checklist with 3 day turn around (done)
•Zoning memo review (done)
•Train inspections and permitting staff in solar PV resources (done)
•Allow accessory use of Solar in zoning code (in progress)
EdinaMN.gov 3
Actions
EdinaMN.gov 4
www.edinamn.gov/solar
Proposed Ordinance Amendments
Goal: To ensure residents and business owners can utilize renewable technologies in
Edina.
Action: Draft proposed language changes to zoning code that intentionally or
unintentionally prohibit solar PV development.
Recommended changes from Staff:
•Definitions (City Code Sec. 36-10)
o Adding definition of “Solar Energy System”
•Accessory Use (City Code Sec. 36-1269)
o Solar energy systems has by-right accessory use in all major zones
•Screening Code (City Code Sec. 36-1457)
o Exempt solar energy systems
EdinaMN.gov 5
Planning Commission 9/26
•Gathered feedback from Planning Commission on Sept. 26
Changes included:
•Removed building coverage exemption
•Clarification of height restrictions (no changes necessary)
EdinaMN.gov 6
Next Steps
•Public Hearing for proposed zoning changes at Planning
Commission
•Proposed date of Wednesday, Nov. 14th
•Public Hearing at City Council for reading of changes
•Proposed date of Tuesday, Dec. 4th
EdinaMN.gov 7
Questions
EdinaMN.gov 8
Date: November 8, 2018 Agenda Item #: XI.A.
To:Energy and Environment Commission Item Type:
Other
From:
Item Activity:
Subject:2019 Council and Commission Meeting Calendar Information
CITY OF EDINA
4801 West 50th Street
Edina, MN 55424
www.edinamn.gov
ACTION REQUESTED:
INTRODUCTION:
Council will review attached calendar on November 7. Note that the EEC 2019 November meeting is the first
Thursday of the month.
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
DRAFT 2019 Council and Commission Meeting Schedule
2019 CITY OF EDINA COUNCIL AND ADVISORY COMMISSIONS
MEETINGS, HOLIDAYS, DAYS OF RELIGOUS OBSERVANCE AND ELECTION DATES
Holidays City Council Nite to Unite Pln Comm Trns Comm Pk & Rec Comm
Indicates a religious holiday's observance Election Day
HP Comm Health Comm Human R/R Comm E& E Comm Arts & Culture Comm
JANUARY FEBRUARY MARCH
S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 1 2
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
27 28 29 30 31 24 25 26 27 28 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 1
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
28 29 30 26 27 28 29 30 31 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30
S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
28 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30
DECEMBER
S M T W T F S S M T W T F S S M T W T F S
1 2 3 4 5 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
27 28 29 30 31 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 29 30 31
OCTOBER NOVEMBER
APRIL MAY JUNE
JULY AUGUST SEPTEMBER
Proposed Meeting Schedule for 2019 Revised 10/5/2018DRAFT
Meetings and Events
Day Date Event Time Location
Thurs Jan 11 Regular Meeting 7:00 pm Community Room
Thurs Feb 8 Regular Meeting 7:00 pm Community Room
Thurs Mar 8 Regular Meeting 7:00 pm Community Room
Wed Mar 28 Commission Comp Plan Presentations 5:30 pm Council Chambers
Thurs April 12 Regular Meeting 7:00 pm Community Room
Mon April 16 BC Member Annual Reception 5:30 pm Braemar Golf Course
Mon April 23 Volunteer Recognition 5:30 pm Braemar Golf Course
Thurs May 3 Comprehensive Plan Mid-Term Check in 6:00 pm Public Works
Thurs May 11 Regular Meeting 7:00 pm Community Room
Tues May 15 Work Session w/ City Council 5:30 pm Community Room
Thurs June 14 Regular Meeting 7:00 pm Community Room
Thurs July 12 Regular Meeting 7:00 pm Community Room
Thurs August 9 Regular Meeting 7:00 pm Community Room
Thurs Sept 13 Regular Meeting 7:00 pm Community Room
Thurs Oct 11 Regular Meeting 7:00 pm Community Room
Thurs Nov 8 Regular Meeting 7:00 pm Community Room
Thurs Dec 13 Regular Meeting 7:00 pm Community Room
Attendance at Regular Meetings and Rescheduled Regular Meetings are counted towards attendance policy.
Chair and Vice Chair specific meetings
Mon March 21 Chair and Vice Chair Annual Meeting 6:00 pm Public Works
Tues Oct 2 Chair Only - 2018 Work Plan Review w/ Council 5:30 pm Community Room
Roster
Name Email
Glahn, Bill billglahn@aol.com
Fernands, Maddy maddyfernands@gmail.com
Hoffman, Howard howard.hoffman@gmail.com
Horan, Michelle mhoran00@gmail.com
Hussian, Paul pahussian@hotmail.com
Jackson, Carolyn
(Chair) bjandcj@aol.com
Kostuch, Keith kostuch.eec@gmail.com
Lanzas, Bayardo blanzas@artaxstudios.com
Manser, Richard
(Vice Chair) richardmanser@icloud.com
Maynor, Chloe chloem20475@isd273.org
Satterlee, Lauren lauren.mpls.mn@gmail.com
Seeley, Melissa msee10@me.com
Brown, Tara (Liaison) tbrown@edinamn.gov
Casella, Casey (City Fellow) ccasella@edinamn.gov