For Immediate Release – 6/5/21 Friends of Fredrick-Miller Spring Incorporates as Spring Valley Friends + Lower Riley Creek Watershed District Vote Delay Issuing Permit to Pulte

The Friends of Fredrick-Miller Spring & Riley Creek (“Friends”) are excited to announce some recent developments in the effort to ensure the quality and safety of the drinking water from Fredrick-Miller Spring and to protect the culturally important, biodiverse and ecologically sensitive area known as the Lower Riley Creek Watershed District from urban development by Pulte Homes. Friends is now registered in the State of Minnesota as Spring Valley Friends, LLC. And have appointed their initial board members.

Join us! Spring Valley Friends will be hosting a Live Q&A on Saturday 6/12/21 at 3 PM via Fredrick Miller Spring Friends on Facebook to discuss what’s happened, where we are going, what we need for volunteers and donations, and answer any questions from the public.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/fredrickmillerspringfriends

Spring Valley Friends filed an appeal for the May 4^th, 2021 decision to deny the citizens petition for an EAW with the city as of 6/2/21. More details about the appeal coming soon!

Watershed Win – This week the Lower Riley Creek Watershed District board voted to delay issuing the Pulte building permit for 60 days. The Watershed District is requesting more information and possibly a slope stability analysis for the proposed development area due to soil erosion and grading concerns. This 60-day delay will prevent Pulte from beginning construction which is helpful while we move forward with our EAW appeal.

We thank the Watershed District board members and staff for their due diligence and shared concern for this unique area. We would also like to extend a special thank you to the experts who came forward to speak. We also thank the Watershed Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) for their recommendation to delay the permit to the board.

Spring Valley Friends Contacts:

For more info on the Watershed District decision: Eden Prairie Resident & Spring Valley Friend Member: Sue Bennett, scbennett1957@gmail.com,952-334-5617

For more info on the EAW Legal Appeal process: Eden Prairie Resident & Spring Valley Friend Member: Rebecca Prochaska, rlprochaska@gmail.com, 612-396-3019

For more info on Spring Valley Friends, LLC.: Spring Valley Friend Treasure: Briana Crusan, crusan.consulting@gmail.com, 651-239-6007

Hello Supporters:

We hope you are enjoying the weekend. Since there was no consideration of the environmental impact data or proposal to acquire the land, our only path forward is to appeal the City’s decision to deny the environment assessment. This is done by filing a declaratory judgment action in district court. The estimated cost for this process is $15k. Please consider donating to our Go Fund Me campaign (if you haven’t already): https://www.gofundme.com/f/fredrickmiller-spring-friends-lawyer-fund Any amount helps!

In the meantime, please feel free to provide the City Council with comments. Here are a few ways to share your feedback:

• Send a message to City Council members to voice discontent for the process and outcome: allcouncil@edenprairie.org

• Post comments on the Eden Prairie Website: https://www.facebook.com/67533112767/posts/10159129350832768/?substory_index=0

• Write a short editorial to the EP Newspaper: editor@eplocalnews.org/

• Send an email to Senator Cwodzinski regarding outcome: https://www.senate.mn/members/email-form/1234

• Share on social networks: Nextdoor, Facebook, etc.

A few take-aways from the city council meeting:

• The Mayor allowed Pulte 40 minutes to present information and only 2 minutes for everyone else

• There was no consideration or review given to the information provided by experts, like Professor Alexander

• No consideration given to the multiple alternatives presented to acquire the land. For example, a legacy fund bill

• The Mayor completely missed the point of the petition for a study. The environmental review is about the Biodiversity and understanding the long-term cumulative effects

• In the April 29th Sun Sailor, the Mayor publicly announced that he planned to vote no on the study. This was prior to the 5/4 meeting and distribution of the 1600 page staff report containing all the updated information and study details. How do you make a sound decision without all of the data?

-Spring Friends, Organizers

City of Eden Prairie, Facebook

The Noble Hill development is proposed for 28 acres near Fredrick-Miller Spring in

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.”

Amy Anderson, of Victoria, stopped Tuesday at Fredrick-Miller Spring, which is drawing attention because of development proposed nearby.

Pulte Homes is proposing to build 50 single-family homes on a roughly 28-acre property along Spring Road in Eden Prairie. The development, called Noble Hill, would be located across the road from the Fredrick-Miller Spring and near the Riley Creek, which runs through the west side of the property.

Courtesy image