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2003-12-09 Wetland Monitoring Report1 1 SVOBODA ECOLOGICAL RESOURCES Providing the ,Sharper Edge in Natural Resources & Environmental Consulting December 9, 200 ' Lisa Goeb City Administrator P.O. Box 9 Albertville, MN 55301 RE: Project Name: Outlets at Albertville - Phase III (a.k.a. Albertville Premium Outlets, Phase III) Project Location: SW 1/4 of Section 36, T. 121 N, R. 24 W, City of Albertville, Wright County, Minnesota SER Project No.: 2003-012-26 Project Description: Replacement Wetland Monitoring Report - Year I Dear Ms. Goeb: Pursuant to Minnesota'Wetland Conservation Act (WCA) §8420.0620 and to the Army Corps of Engineers (Corps) permit issued for this project, Svoboda Ecological Resources (S,ER) staff visited the above -referenced site on June 5 and July 30, 2003, for the -purpose of monitoring the progress of the proposed replacement wetlands and wetland buffer seeding areas. This is the first year of monitoring out of the five years required by the WCA and by the Corps permit to determine if replacement wetlands. satisfy replacement of functions and values lost by permitted wetland fill. The purpose of this year's field visits was to: 1) -Obtain seasonal water level measurements between April and October; 2) Develop a list of dominant vegetation in the wetland; and 3) Take color photographs from the photo reference points to document progress. In addition, �SER staff inspected the sites for existing or potential problems with the progress of the replacement wetland areas. Approximately 13,637 ft2 (0.31 acre) of wetland fill is associated with this project. As a result, '27,274 ft2 (0.63 acre) of New Wetland Creation (NWC) was proposed under -the Wetland Replacement Plan Application submitted by the client. The plans proposed that three new wetland creation areas be constructed in the eastern portion of the site along School Lake. " During our site visits, these three proposed mitigated wetland areas were observed. Planned NWC for this site, exactly meets the 2:1 minimum wetland replacement ratio required for this site. 2477 Shadywood Road • Suite 100 • Excelsior, MN 55331 (952). 471-1100 (952) 471-0007 (Fax) ■ Please note: all wetland impact and till calculations are consistent with the information contained within SER's December 20, 2002, Replacement Plan Application — Addendum letter. Please contact SER if you need a copy of this letter. OBSER VA TIONS Mitigation Area 1 Mitigation Area 1 is the northernmost of the three mitigation areas; located in the northeastern corner of the site. School Lake lies nearby to the east. This area was designed to provide 19,118 ft2 (0.44 acre) of New Wetland Creation (NWC) credit; it is actually 19,276 ft2 (0.44 acre), but 159 ft2 (0.004 acre) had to be subtracted from this area to account for riprap in the.basin. The desired wetland type noted in the Replacement Plan Application (RPA) was Type 2/3 palustrine, emergent, saturated to seasonally flooded and excavated (PEMB/Cx). In 2003, the mitigation basin was too young to definitively categorize, although it showed signs of progressing toward a Type 3 PEMCx basin. Please see Photos 1, 2, and 3 of the Photo Log at , the end of this report. Open water covered approximately 75% of the basin during both site 'visits. SER.approximated that water was ponded in the basin overt foot deep; Adjacent slopes ranged from almost 2:1, by where dirt was piled on the western side of the basin to greater than 10:1 (i.e., a gentle slope)- everywhere else. SER expects that the slope on the western side of the basin will be or has been re -graded to be a 3:1 slope, as was planned in the RPA and the December 20, 2002 letter. Raccoon tracks were found in the area in June and July. A great blue heron, aquatic. insects, and a frog were all found using the basin in June. Frogs, minnows, and aquatic insects were found using the basin in July. Bare soil covered approximately 15% of the area in both June and July. Reed canary grass made up less than 5% of the basin in both months. Other plants found along the edge of the open water included juvenile cattail (Typha sp.), smartweed (Polygonum sp.), barnyard grass (Echinochloa crusgalli), quackgrass (Agropyron repens), blunt spike rush (Eleocharis obtusa), water plantain (Alisma plantago-aquatica), timothy (Phleum pratense), annual ragweed (Ambrosia artemisiifolia), redtop (Agrostis alba), and yarrow (Achillea millefolium). Cover in the adjacent areas included about 60% reed canary grass and 15% narrow -leaf cattail (Typha angustifolia) along the existing wetland, 20% bare soil on the slope on the west side, and annual ragweed, Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis), dandelion (Taraxacum ojcinale), Canada thistle (Cirsium arvense), bedstraw (Galium sp.); and American elm (Ulmus americana), . In June, broken lath were found along the east side -of the basin. Downed silt fencing was found along the northwest corner.. In July, a piece of metal was found near the south side by the culvert and trash was present on the west slope. Chelsea Property Group, Inc. has been made aware that they should remove trash from within this basin and reinstall the downed silt fencing in the northwest corner. If these activities have not been performed -by this date they should be performed in the near future. Please note that much of the wetland and adjacent upslope were bare soil at the time of the site, visits. Planting and seeding of wetland vegetation occurred after SER's second annual, site visit. v i Laura`Eklov from SER met with Neil Parker of Chelsea Property Group, Ross Abel of John Oliver & Associates,. Inc. and others onsite to discuss plantings within the mitigation wetlands and the rainwater garden on, September 22, 2003. At this time, Ms. Eklov 'discovered from Mr. Parker that the developer to the north had recently routed a ditch to Mitigation Area 1, causing this area to be much wetter that it is supposed to be. Mr. Parker was going to contact the developer to the north to make sure that pumping of additional water into this mitigation wetland ceases. Mitigation Area 2 Mitigation Area 2 is the central of the three mitigation areas, located along the eastern edge of the site. School Lake lies nearby to the east. This area was designed to provide 836 ft2 (0.02 acre) of NWC credit. The desired wetland type noted in the Replacement Plan Application (RPA) was Type 2/3 palustrine, emergent, saturated to -seasonally flooded and excavated, (PEMB/Cx). The basin was a Type 2 PEMB wetland at the time of the two site visits. It appeared that this area had not been graded by the time of the second site visit. Please see Photos 4, 5, and 6 ofthe Photo Log at the end of this report. SER believes that this area has been subsequently graded but has'not confirmed this with a field visit. In June, parts of this area were dry while others were saturated at the soil's surface. In July, the area was completely dry. Slopes were generally greater than 10:1 (i.e., a gentle slope). In June, about 80% of this area was covered by pre-existing reed canary grass and 10% was covered by bare soil. By July, reed canary grass decreased to 35% and smartweed made up about 40% of the basin. Bare soil decreased to less than 5% of the basin. Other plants found in the areas included sedges (Carex sp.), cattail, annual ragweed, water plantain, curly dock (Rumex crispus), blunt spike rush, and barnyard grass. Plants in the adjacent areas included approximately 40% narrow -leaf cattail and approximately 30% reed canary grass within the existing wetland, 20% bare cracked soil between Mitigation Area 2 and the pond directly to the south, and dandelion, annual ragweed, clover (Trifolium sp.), Kentucky bluegrass, and wild carrot (Daucus carota). In June, wood planks and a bent fence stake were found in the basin. A small amount of trash was found in the southeast corner of the basin in July. In both June and July, water marks along the outside of the two storm water ponds to the south indicated that they were drier than they had been earlier in the year. The existing wetland to the north also seemed drier than normal. SER found small amounts of sediment in cattails adjacent to. School Lake, We suspect that this is a temporary issue due to relatively dry conditions this year, but we will monitor this area carefully' to make sure a significant amount of sediment is not escaping -into the lake. Chelsea Property Group, Inc. has been ,made aware that they should remove trash from within this basin. If these activities have not been performed by this date they should be performed in the near future. Mitigation Area 3 Mitigation Area 3 is the southernmost of the three mitigation areas, located in the southeast corner of the site. School Lake lies nearby to the east. This area was designed to provide 7,320 ft2: (0.17 acre) of New Wetland Creation (NWC) credit. The desired wetland type noted in the Replacement Plan Application (RPA) was Type 2/3 palustrine, emergent, saturated to seasonally flooded and excavated (PEMB/Cx). In 2003, the mitigation basin was too young to definitively categorize, although it 'showed signs of progressing toward a Type 3 PEMCx basin. Please see Photos 7, 8, and 9 of the Photo Log at the end of this report. Open water was ponded'over approximately 80% of this basin in June and July. SER estimated that the open water was ponded 6 inches or deeper during both site visits: However, from water marks found around the edge of the basin in June, it seemed,that the area was probably 6 to 12 inches deeper earlier in the season. Water in the basin was a little cloudy in June, but this was likely due to the fact that the adjacent upland areas had not been planted yet. Adjacent slopes were generally greater than 5:1 (i.e., -a gentle slope). Raccoon tracks and bird tracks were found along the edge of this basin in June. Frogs were found using the basin in June. The basin was covered by about 15% bare soil'in both June and July. Remnants of reed canary grass were found along the side of the existing basin in both months; reed canary grass made up less than 5% of the basin. Other plants found in the basin included annual ragweed, Kentucky bluegrass, dandelion, curly dock, yarrow, clover, and wood sorrel (Oxalis su-icta). The adjacent areas consisted of about 45% reed canary grass on the side of the pre-existing wetland and about 45% bare soil on the adjacent upland slopes. Other plants present included dandelion, curly dock, annual ragweed, Kentucky bluegrass, yellow foxtail (Setaria glauca), ,and butter -and -eggs (Linaria vulgaris). In June and July, minor trash was found within the basin. Chelsea Property Group, Inc. has been made aware,that they should remove trash from within thisybasin. If these activities have not been performed by this date they should be Performed in the near future. . Please note that much of the -wetland and adjacent upslope were bare soil at the time of the site visits. Planting and seeding of wetland vegetation occurred after SER's second annual site visit. CONCL USIONS There are -a couple of management concerns that SER deemed necessary to address this year: ➢ The two existing ponds on the site and part of the pre-existing wetland between Mitigation Areas 1 and 2 seemed drier than what would be normal. SER suspects that these conditions reflect normal variation in hydrologic conditions due to variation in precipitation, in this case a lack of adequate spring recharge from snowfall melt. In 2003, precipitation during the early part of the growing season was normal to above -normal, although precipitation from the preceding winter was generally below -normal. The dry ` conditions seen on Outlets at Albertville - Phase III are consistent with dry conditions ; seen on Outlets at Albertville — Phases.I and II across Highway 19. SER will continue to keep an eye on these two ponds and the existing wetland in the future and will contact the LGU and Chelsea Property Group if remedial actions seem necessary. Figure 1 depicts. precipitation by month for July 2002 through July 2003, including the normal range for each month. ➢ For Mitigation Areas 1 and 3, the wetlands and their adjacent upslopes were bare soil at the time of the site visits. Planting and seeding of wetland vegetation occurred after SER's second annual site visit. Also, it appeared that Mitigation Area 2-had not been graded by the time of the second site visit -in July. SER believes that this area has been subsequently graded buthas not confirmed this with a field visit: If SER discovers during the 2004'site visits that any of these actions have not occurred, SER will contact both Chelsea Property Group and the City of Albertville to discuss what additional actions should be performed. ➢ Downed silt fencing was found along the northwest corner of Mitigation Area 1 in June. Chelsea Property Group, Inc. has been made aware that they should reinstall the downed silt fencing. SER staff cannot recall whether this action had been performed between the first and second site visit. SER will.contact Chelsea Property Group if any further actions are necessary ➢ As was mentioned earlier, in September Ms. Eklov learned from Mr. Parker of Chelsea Property Group that the developer to the north had recently 'routed a ditch to Mitigation Area 1, causing this area to be much wetter that it is supposed to be. ' Mr. Parker was going to contact the developer to the north to make sure that pumping of additional water into this mitigation wetland ceases. SER will investigate the situation during our 2004 site visits since this unplanned addition of water could affect the development and quality of Mitigation Area 1'. ➢ Very small amounts of reed canary grass (less than 5% of each basin) were found in Mitigation Areas 1 and 3. Mitigation Area 2 contained a significant amount of reed canary grass (80% in June, 35% in.July), but it had not yet been graded. -SER does not currently see, the need to prescribe any corrective measures but will carefully monitor the growth of reed canary grass over the next four years and will contact Chelsea Property Group if necessary. ➢ SER noted small amounts of sediment in the cattails adjacent to School Lake by the northernmost storm water pond. We suspect that this is a temporary issue due to the recent dry conditions, but we will monitor this area carefully to make sure silt is not escaping into the lake. SER is not currently'recommending any corrective actions -for this issue. ➢ Small amounts of trash were found in all three basins. This is technically wetland fill and should be removed. Chelsea Property Group, Inc. has been made aware that they should remove trash from within this basin. If these activities have not been, performed by this date they should be performed in the near future SER recommends measuring the size of these three mitigation areas in the near future. Since vegetation did not get much of a chance to establish in 2003, SER recommends that measuring these basins using a sub -meter accurate GPS unit be performed in 2005. To, summarize, although we have listed a number of areas of concern, the only remedial action that seems, necessary at this time is the removal of any trash that may have been overlooked within the three mitigation areas. Silt fencing along the northwest corner of Mitigation Area 1 should be re -installed if it hasn't been already. SER suspects that most of these potential areas of concern will disappear after the 2004 growing season but will report anything that has not been resolved in our 2004 mitigation monitoring report. Based on our observations, it was quite apparent that all replacement wetlands did exist at the time of the site visits. No significant differences between as -built specifications and design V specifications were noted at this time. The mitigated wetlands will continue to be monitored . according to the monitoring plan outlined in the Wetland Replacement Plan Application. . If you have any questions or need additional information regarding this site, please feel free to contact us at (952) 471-1100. Thank you.. Sincerely, Svoboda Ecological Resources Franklin J. Svoboda, CWB,,PWS Laura E. Eklov Vice -President Ecologist/Project Manager cc: Eric Helstrom, Chelsea Property Group, Inc. Bob Ufland, Chelsea Property Group, Inc. - Attachments; Photo Log Figure 1 Elk River Weather Station Precipitation and WETS Data Photo Log PHOTO 8: Mitigation Area 3, facing south from the north end. Photo taken in October. This photo is similar to Photo 8 of the 2003 report and to Photo 7 above. Note the decrease in open water and the increase in vegetation since June. PHOTO 7: Mitigation Area 3, facing south from the north end. Photo taken in June. This photo is similar to Photo 8 of the 2003 report. PHOTO 9: Raingarden, facing west from the east end. Photo taken in June. PHOTO LOG OF SITE Outlets at Albertville - Phases III SV O B O DA Mitigation Monitoring - Year II a ;Fr Ecological Resources Page 3 of 3 PHOTO 2: Mitigation Area 1, facing north from the south end. Photo taken in October. This photo is similar to Photo 1 of the 2003 report and Photo 1 above. Note the decrease in water since June. PHOTO 1: Mitigation Area 1, facing north from the south end. Photo taken in June. This photo is similar to Photo 1 of the 2003 report. PHOTO 3: Mitigation Area 1, facing south from the north end. Photo taken in June. This photo is similar to Photo 2 of the 2003 report. PHOTO LOG OF SITE A Outlets at Albertville - Phases III , , SV O B O DA Mitigation Monitoring - Year II ;r Ecological Resources 11 Pagel of 3 PHOTO 4: Mitigation Area 2, facing northeast from the southwest end. Photo taken in June. This photo is similar to Photo 4 of the 2003 report. PHOTO 5: Mitigation Area 2, facing northeast from the southwest end. Photo taken in October. This photo is similar to Photo 4 of the 2003 report and Photo 4 above. Note the increase in vegetation since June. PHOTO 6: Mitigation Area 3, facing north from the south end. Photo taken in June. This photo is similar to Photo 7 of the 2003 report. PHOTO LOG OF SITE X14SVOBODA Ecological Resources Outlets at Albertville - Phases III Mitigation Monitoring - Year II Page 2 of 3 PHOTO 2: Mitigation Area 1, facing south from the north end. Photo taken in June. PHOTO I: Mitigation Area 1, facing north from the south end. Photo taken in June. Note the dirt pile on the left hand side of this photo. PHOTO 3: Mitigation Area 1, silt fencing by the northwest, comer, north of the dirt pile. Photo taken in June. PHOTO LOG OF SITE Outlets at Albertville - Phases Ill SV U U U A Mitigation Monitoring - Year I Ecological Resources Page 1 of 3 PHOTO 5: Facing northwest from the northwest edge of Mitigation Area 2 toward the existing wetland directly to the north. Photo taken in July. It appears that this area had been ponded in the past but is currently dry, probably due to seasonal variation in precipitation. PHOTO 4: Mitigation Area 2, facing northeast from the southwest end. Photo taken in June. This area had not been graded yet. PHOTO 6: Mitigation Area 2, metal fencepost and wood planks in the wetland by the south side near the storm water pond. Photo taken in June. PHOTO LOG OF SITE Outlets at Albertville - Phases III )4� Mitigation Monitoring - Year I Ecological Resources Page 2 of 3 PHOTO 8: Mitigation Area 3, facing south from the north end. Photo taken in June. PHOTO 7: Mitigation Area 3, facing north from the south end. Photo taken in June. PHOTO 9: Mitigation Area 3, east edge by the existing wetland. Photo taken in June. Note the mi- nor trash In the basin and the presence of water marks along the edge of the open water. PHOTO LOG OF SITE Outlets at Albertville - Phases III Mitigation Monitoring - Year I Ecological Resources Page 3 of 3 Figures Gti GA of ol el ol e'. C> 0 C) C> C> C) 000 00C) Co C) 0 o CT 06 sapul