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Technical Assistance Building Blocks for Sustainable CommunitiesCity Manager's Office City Hall 50 West 13th Street Dubuque, Iowa 52001 -4864 (563) 589 -4110 office (563) 589 -4149 fax ctymgr ©cityofdubuque.org Masterpiece on the Mississippi Sarah Dale, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Via email: dale.sarah@epa.gov RE: Letter of Interest for Technical Assistance Building Blocks for Sustainable Communities Dear Ms. Dale: Dubuque All-America City 1 a 2012 October 26, 2012 Historically the Bee Branch Creek flowed through the City of Dubuque's North End to the Mississippi River. However, in the early 1900's the creek was buried (in a storm sewer). As Dubuque grew and stormwater increased, the storm sewer was overwhelmed. Flooding has occurred along the buried Bee Branch 6 times in the past 12 years impacting thousands of properties. What was Dubuque to do? Dubuque could have simply constructed a stormwater ditch through its historic neighborhoods. Instead, in 2002 the City began to collect citizen input and build community consensus around a vision for the future of the buried Bee Branch Creek. Dubuque citizens embraced the challenge and decided to create more than just a drainage ditch. They chose instead to "daylight" the Bee Branch Creek; creating an attraction, enhancing neighborhoods, building on our tourism industry and improving our quality of life. The project involves restoring one mile of the Bee Branch Creek, connecting it to the Mississippi River and incorporating amenities and green elements. The project's two primary goals are: • Avoiding future floods and related loss of property and prosperity in the area. All too often heavy rains inundate current drainage systems that have for more than 100 years been forced unsatisfactorily underground. At times, flooding has been exacerbated by the Mississippi River itself, when it is so high that water cannot flow into it. • Adding value to the area by re- creating the natural, open waterway — the Bee Branch Creek — which once existed, furthers the use and enjoyment of Dubuque's river - connected heritage and quality of life for residents and visitors. Dubuque knows we must return value to properties in the impacted low- income neighborhoods (which have seen devaluation), implement our community vision of supporting sustainable redevelopment and new construction in established older neighborhoods, and connect people to water through open space, park and recreation facilities, community attractions, and environmental education. We know we want to use sustainable design and other green practices to reach these goals. But how do we get there? Dubuque has already begun a $57 million dollar project to restore the Bee Branch Creek surrounded by a linear park and to reduce the risk of stormwater flood damage to 1,155 properties in some of our oldest and poorest neighborhoods. It will create a recreational and educational facility to highlight environmental sustainability efforts of creek restoration, providing a natural setting for outdoor learning in dense urban neighborhoods. A multi -use trail along the creek will connect to the neighborhoods, public transit, and school routes as well as to the City, County, and regional trail systems. Wildlife has begun to seek out habitat in the restored Lower Bee Service People Integrity Responsibility innovation Teamwork 2012 Letter of Interest for EPA Technical Assistance Page 2 Branch Creek, which opened in 2012. The project supports the six Livability Principles, especially: "Support existing communities ", "Coordinate and leverage federal policies and investment ", and "Value communities and neighborhoods ". However, this natural setting is at risk of becoming an open sewer throughout its length, negatively impacting our older and historically more diverse neighborhoods. Without neighborhood stewardship and complementary economic development and land use practices, this newly restored creek will deteriorate into a drainage ditch filled with trash, debris, and pollutants, devoid of life. We seek to prevent this degradation by engaging the community and the impacted neighborhoods. What is Dubuque to do, and do well? Tool #9: Land Use Strategies to Protect Water Quality is the EPA technical assistance we need to meet these challenges of creating an urban, grassroots- driven watershed management ethic for land use and water quality. With EPA's help, we will be able to understand and address these challenges by learning from EPA experts and case studies of successful land use and water quality projects. We also are interested in best practices to engage traditionally under - represented groups to take on stewardship. Specifically, we seek expert help to: • Educate landowners, businesses, and residents about smarter, greener practices for watershed stewardship. • Identify land use strategies that complement and protect the Bee Branch Creek. • Examine existing codes, ordinances and other policies that may hinder water quality protection. The Bee Branch Creek Watershed includes four elementary schools and the Washington, Point, and North End Neighborhoods. Most residents in these neighborhoods are low to moderate income, with significant minority populations. We will reach out to the leaders and support systems for these groups and the entire community through word of mouth, invitations, flyers, neighborhood meetings, and task forces to "meet folks where they are" and help convey "what's in it for them ". We envision using the web, written, electronic and verbal invites and neighborhood associations to attract participants to the workshop. Furthermore, the workshop will be hosted at the Comiskey Park Neighborhood Center, which is easily accessible to residents near the future headwaters of the restored Bee Branch Creek. The Bee Branch Creek Restoration Project is currently being funded through a combination of City G.O. bonds and stormwater fees; state revolving loan funds (SRF); state grants; U.S. DOT, and U.S. EPA; and generous contributions from local businesses, organizations, and citizens. The City also is investing local, state and federal funds for housing, health, and job creation in these neighborhoods. The City of Dubuque has been working for many years, seeking funding from a variety of sources to mitigate flooding, improve water quality, and enhance quality of life with the creek project. We are committed to implementing the recommendations of the EPA technical assistance team for Dubuque. The City of Dubuque can provide the information and materials required for Tool #9. The primary contact for this project will be: Laura Carstens, City of Dubuque Planning Dept., address above, 563- 589 -4210, Icarsten@cityofdubuque.org. Other key stakeholders at the City will be: Dean Mattoon, Engineering Dept., address above, 563- 589 -4202, dmattoon@cityofdubuque.org and Jerelyn O'Connor, Neighborhood Development Specialist, address above, 563 - 589 -4110, JoconnorPcitvofdubuque.org. Other key community stakeholders will be: Eric Schmechel, Dubuque Soil & Water Conservation District, 210 Bierman Road, Epworth, IA 52045, 563- 876 -3418, schmechel(a)yousq.net; and Angela Petsche, Washington Neighborhood Development Corporation, 1690 Elm Street, Dubuque IA 52001, 563 - 582 -1111, wndc@gwestoffice.net. We all look forward to working with EPA. Sincerely, Michael C. Van Milligen City Manager F: \USERS \LGARSTEN \WP \GRANTS \EPA Building Blocks TA \2012 EPA Letterof Interest 10 2612.dac Service People Integrity Responsibility Innovation Teamwork