Preserve the Health of Fredrick-Miller Spring, Riley Creek & Our Neighborhoods

April 2, 2021

Water Advocate Vigil at Spring Aims to Delay Noble Hill Development Approval-Eden Prairie, MN

Water advocates organized through the Friends of Fredrick-Miller Springs gather to hold vigil at the Spring in the wake of a threat of development. www.frederickmillerspringfriends.org

The Friends of Fredrick-Miller Springs intend to delay the rezoning initiative by the City of Eden Prairie City Council, which entitles Pulte Homes, a company who has a controversial track record with violations of the Clean Water Act and consumer complaints. The Eden Prairie City Council will vote on the Noble Hill development plans May 4, 2021.

Mayor Ron Case, and the city's position, is that the “... Fredrick-Miller Spring will not be impacted.” Yet, the Mayor sourced outdated material in reference to this claim. In addition, several city planning commissioners, voted nay to the development; due to an incomplete environmental impact study. A proper updated ecological, hydrological, geological, and watershed evaluation needs to be conducted. to truly ass,ss the specific impact of the Noble Hill Development.

The F-M Spring is located in the biodiverse and ecologically sensitive Riley Purgatory Bluff Creek Watershed District. The Friend’s and fellow water advocates are concerned about groundwater contamination of which the Spring is safe to drink, but has been exposed to nitrates from a nearby land-fill. The Riley Creek is susceptible to poor stormwater management, and Pulte has had to pay settlements due to sloppy stormwater management design and installment. Wild-life and biodiversity are also at risk: as up to 5 endangered have been identified as possibly living within the habitat; and upwards of 500 trees are destined to be cut down out of the fragile ecosystem along Spring Road.

Fredrick-Miller Springs is recognized as a landmark, and thousands of MN citizens, collect the untreated water as a preferred water source. The Friend’s recognize the relevance of the historical landmark of the Spring, as well historical trauma as detailed in the Land Acknowledgement of Eden-Prairie: that there is “... a painful history of unfair treaties, genocidal policies and forced removal of Indigenous people from their homeland.”