| The lay of the land |
By: JIM HAMMERAND, Staff Writer
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Posted: Wednesday, July 29, 2009 12:25 am
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Ross Hoffmann describes the delicate nature of Spring Brook to city officials and residents Monday. The stream is one of two on land along Hwy. 19 and Armstrong Road that could some day be annexed and developed.
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BRIDGEWATER TWP. — Cows bellowed at the assembled city officials as Ross Hoffmann stood ankle-deep in a cool, slow-moving brook and explained the possible impacts of development on the county’s only trout stream.
“We want to make sure if it gets developed, it gets developed in the right way” said Hoffmann, Cannon River Watershed Partnership’s water quality project coordinator.
Hoffmann explained stream management 101 to City Council members, city staff and other area residents Monday evening on the pasture land of Kenneth Prawer, one of two property owners requesting a total of 456 acres along Hwy. 19 and Armstrong Road be annexed into city limits.
Two streams — Spring Brook and Heath Creek — meander through the properties, and Hoffmann said they could be changed irreversibly by additional runoff, grade changes or habitat loss.
“All this land around us drains to this creek,” he said while standing in Spring Brook, home to brown, brook and the occasional rainbow trout. “Anything you put in the watershed can have an effect on the watershed.”
The tour of the stream was scheduled by the council to take note of the property’s natural resources. On July 20, it directed city staff to analyze the annexation request.
The city has previously identified the parcels as “land worth bringing into city limits,” City Planner Dan Olson recently told the council, and most recent plans call for the development of an industrial or business park. Protecting the creeks would remain a challenge, he added.
When the cows are gone and no longer clomp down the banks, the grass will grow longer and better resist erosion, strengthening the banks of the shady, spring-fed stream, Hoffmann said.
But paved, impervious surfaces could send high volumes of water — and pollutants —into the stream, carving deeper, fast-flowing channels that would disturb the natural habitat.
“A meandering stream is normally a healthy stream,” Hoffmann said.
Bridgewater Township Supervisor Kathleen Doran-Norton said preserving the natural order has been a concern shared by Bridgewater and Northfield officials for the past decade
“It’s a lot easier to protect now than when you’ve got 45 jobs staring you in the face,” she said.
She added that that taking stock of what’s there in person was another strong step in that direction.
Council member Jim Pokorney said he thought protection of the brook would attract businesses with environmental attitudes similar to those of Northfield residents.
“I’m pretty positive about all this,” he said.
So was Hoffmann, who seemed reassured by the council’s interest in the habitat, where frogs leaped from the bank as the group headed upstream.
“We can keep nice places like this ... (but) we have to find a way to manage them so they don’t get overrun,” Hoffmann said. “We can have good land use, but it need not be at the expense of water quality.”
— Jim Hammerand covers the city. He can be reached at jhammerand@northfieldnews.com or 645-1114. |
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