Dakota County proposes to construct the North Creek Greenway Trail.  The project would further develop the North Creek Regional Greenway from 173rd Street West in Lakeville to 189th Street West in Farmington. The project would involve reconstructing some existing paved trails and constructing new paved trail alignments along North Creek where none currently exist. The project would construct/reconstruct about 2.2 miles of 10-foot multi-use trail; and includes about 460 linear feet of bridges.  A map is attached showing the project area.

A portion of the trail construction will result in permanent impacts to 0.20 acres of wetland in the City of Lakeville and 0.04 acres in the City of Farmington.  Dakota County prepared a Wetland Replacement Plan to address the impact to these wetlands.  The Wetland Replacement plan runs to 172 pages, so it has not been attached.

The Minnesota Wetland Conservation Act of 1991 (WCA) requires local government units (LGUs) to implement the rules and regulations promulgated by the Board of Water and Soil Resources (BWSR) pertaining to wetland draining, filling and excavation.  As of March 1, 2020, the City of Farmington through City Council action delegated the authority and administrative responsibility to implement WCA as the LGU within the legal boundaries of City of Farmington to the Dakota County Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD). 

The SWCD has reviewed the proposed wetland impacts and recommends approval of the Wetland Replacement Plan application for 0.24 acre of permanent wetland impact; per the attached memo.   This would include 0.20 acre of fill in the City of Lakeville and 0.04 acre of fill in the City of Farmington.  A copy of the SWCD recommendation is attached.  The SWCD also recommends that a condition of the approval include using 0.48 acre of wetland bank credits from Dakota County Wetland Bank account #1740 located in Castle Rock Township. 

Approve the Wetland Replacement Plan application for 0.24 acre of permanent wetland impact.   This would include 0.20 acre of fill in the City of Lakeville and 0.04 acre of fill in the City of Farmington for the North Creek Greenway Trail project.  A condition of the approval includes using 0.48 acre of wetland bank credits from Dakota County Wetland Bank account #1740 located in Castle Rock Township.