Woodbury Council Roundup: Plaques, Pond, Perfunctory Business

During a brief Woodbury City Council meeting on Wednesday, the city moved ahead with .

But before that the council honored city commission and board members, heard from a resident concerned about a road project’s impact on a nearby pond, and adopted a few other measures.

Woodbury Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens presented plaques to two outgoing members of advisory groups and recognized those who couldn’t attend the meeting by asking the crowd for a round of applause.

She said it’s important to honor those who serve on Woodbury’s boards and commissions; they do so on a volunteer basis.

Aileen Lyle, a member of the Economic Development Commission from 2008-11, and Tracy Petersen, a Parks and Recreation Commission member from 2006-11, were both on hand for Wednesday night’s meeting.

Those recognized by the city include:

Economic Development Commission

• Mike Kazmerski (2009-11)
• Aileen Lyle (2008-11)

Environmental Advisory Commission

• Aida Mendez (2006-11)
• Judd Moorhouse (2009-11)

Parks and Recreation Commission

• Tracy Petersen (2006-11)
• Lynne Markus (2006-11, chair in 2011)

Planning Commission

• Kim Snyder (2007-10)
• Craig Wasko (2010)

The city recently .

Woodbury resident Bob Callery spoke during the open forum portion of Wednesday’s meeting to express his concerns over plans to turn a dry pond into a wet one as part of the Colby Lake neighborhood roadwork scheduled for this summer.

The dry pond, near Leyland Trail and Queensport Road, would become a wet pond as part of an effort to reduce phosphorous in Colby Lake, Callery said, relaying information he’s received from city staff and the company that will complete the work.

Part of that work would include the removal of several trees, some of which are 50 feet tall, said Callery, who also listed several benefits of trees.

By removing the trees, the city would “sacrifice a known value A with an uncertain value B,” he said.

A local watershed district is conducting a study of Colby Lake that isn’t complete, Callery said, and the city should look at other alternatives for the pond.

Under the consent agenda, the council approved preliminary reports, authorized the preparation of project plans and specifications, and set a Feb. 22 public hearing date for the roadwork. The project includes the Colby Lake area and Windwood area of Woodbury. (See the map with this story.)

• renewed 20 interim conditional-use permits.
• approved funding priorities for Woodbury’s 2012 Action Plan.
• approved the action plan for the expansion’s task force. (Check out a .)
• approved sending a letter of support for Washington County’s request for $1 million in state bond funds for preliminary engineering activities for Gateway Corridor transit facilities.
• heard an update about upcoming meetings from City Administrator Clint Gridley. Check out his full administrator’s report.