Proposal for consulting services: Pheasant Branch Creek Corridor Restoration and Improvements Master Plan City of Middleton, WI | May 31, 2019 with: May 31, 2019 Mark Wegner Assistant Director of Public Lands, Recreation and Forestry – Forestry & Conservancy Lands City of Middleton 7426 Hubbard Avenue Middleton, WI 53562 Dear Mr. Wegner: Thank you for the opportunity to assist the City of Middleton in developing a Master Plan for the Pheasant Branch corridor. I have enjoyed the corridor and Conservancy with my family for many years. The City and its residents clearly see the system as an important asset in the heart of the community, and I am excited by the vision to develop a master plan to manage the corridor in a holistic, sustainable manner. The 2018 flood resulted in substantial damage to Pheasant Branch. Pedestrian bridges washed out, many stream banks and valley walls eroded, and sediment covered paths and filled portions of the floodplain with multiple feet of sand. The City exerted significant effort to make the corridor usable again for residents, but the geomorphic impacts of the flood event are still evident today. Developing a Master Plan for Pheasant Branch will require a geomorphic approach and the perspective of experienced practitioners. By understanding how the valley has evolved and sediment is distributed, it is possible to plan projects that lead to a resilient, sustainable corridor. Practitioners with experience in stream restoration, bank stabilization, pedestrian path design, and landscape ecology can plan effective solutions. We can help the City meet management goals by creating a plan for the stream corridor. We can deliver a high-quality Master Plan efficiently due to our small size, open schedule, and both project management and technical skills. We have specific expertise in studying, designing and monitoring stream restoration projects in urban environments with strong interests from various user groups. For this project, I will provide geomorphic assessment and engineering design services. I have focused my career on stream restoration and management and have been involved in numerous projects similar to this one. Ben Yahr of Resolution Studio will provide landscape architecture services to assist with design plans. We recently worked closely together on a similar river corridor planning project in Milwaukee. Following the study, we developed final designs that integrated a dynamic river corridor with numerous infrastructure components in a well-used park. Our collaboration experience will result in streamlined project delivery. The attached document describes our project understanding and approach. Our proposed scope of work, budget, references, and résumés are also attached. Please feel free to contact me with any questions or for clarifications. Best regards, Ben Lee Fish Creek Restoration LLC 4321 Upland Drive Madison, Wisconsin 53705 608-977-1856 www.healthystreams.com Proposal for: Pheasant Branch Creek Corridor Restoration and Improvement Master Plan Submitted to: Submitted by: City of Middleton Fish Creek Restoration LLC Mark Wegner Ben Lee, PE Assistant Director of Public Lands, Recreation and Manager/Senior Water Resources Engineer Forestry [email protected] 7426 Hubbard Avenue (608) 977-1856 Middleton, WI 53562 Table of Contents About Us ................................... 1 Project Understanding .................. 2 Project Approach ........................ 4 References ................................ 5 Scope of Work ............................ 6 Schedule & Budget ...................... 9 Itemized Deliverable List ............ 10 Relevant Experience .................. 11 Resumes ................................. 14 Proposal – Pheasant Branch Master Planning 1 About Us Fish Creek Restoration LLC Fish Creek Restoration LLC (FCR) grew out of a passion to restore river ecosystems. Ben Lee, the manager of Fish Creek Restoration LLC, first developed an interest in river restoration during college. His first hands-on experience with stream FCR Areas of Expertise restoration was in North Fish Creek, a tributary to Lake Superior in Wisconsin. Due to changing land • Stream restoration design use and modification of the river, the system • Stream bank and bluff stabilization experienced significant degradation. The legacy of • Geomorphic assessments & project these impacts remains profound today, as does Ben’s prioritization desire to improve the health of our rivers and • 1D & 2D Hydraulic modeling streams. It was in Fish Creek that Ben’s interest in • Aquatic habitat enhancement stream restoration was rooted. That interest became a passion, and it is why Ben founded Fish Creek Restoration LLC - to maximize stream ecosystem functions through sound river engineering design. We are experts in stream restoration projects, including planning and prioritizing stream projects. Our work is founded on an understanding of the physical processes that shape rivers, and an understanding of how river ecosystems have evolved to deal with the dynamics of moving water and sediment. Creating healthy aquatic ecosystems begins with emulating natural stream forms and processes. Resolution Studio For this project, we have teamed with Resolution Studio, LLC (RS). RS is a small business providing landscape architecture, remote sensing, visual RS Areas of Expertise communication, and restoration ecology services to public and private clients throughout the Great Lakes • Design of public and private sites region. RS is based in Madison, Wisconsin; and was • Site investigation, inventory & analysis founded in 2016. They combine aerial data collected • Ecological vegetation planning, O&M with small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS drones) • Green infrastructure, sustainable/LID with spatial design process to communicate ideas • Public outreach about how to bring people to nature, and nature to • CAD, GIS, 3d rendering & visualization people at all phases of site design – from project inception to post-construction monitoring. Fish Creek Restoration LLC 1 Proposal – Pheasant Branch Master Planning 2 Project Understanding The 2018 flood event caused significant damage in the Pheasant Branch corridor. Extensive erosion delivered a large volume of sediment and woody material downstream, resulting in a multitude of issues. The sediment covered the multi-use path and floodplain with several feet of material in many locations. Though the sediment was removed from the paths to make them usable again, it remains in place elsewhere in the floodplain. Invasive species often take over these disturbed areas. Additionally, sedimentation has reduced connectivity between the channel and floodplain resulting in reduced flood storage. The deposits have also resulted in taller streambanks that are susceptible to future erosion due to a lack of vegetation. Trees were undermined during the flood event and were transported downstream where they were caught on bridge crossings. All the pedestrian bridges in the corridor were dislodged and had to be reset. Following the 2018 flood, the City contracted with Cardno to assess the damage in the corridor and prioritize repair work. Cardno was previously contracted by the City to design bank stabilization and restoration projects before the flood. Cardno’s final recommendations included increasing “flood flow capacity,” creating “bankfull benches and floodplain access,” and realigning “the stream channel… away from existing steep slopes.” In addition, Cardno recommended removing “shallow rooted tree species,” increasing the capacity of stream crossings, and using integrated bank treatments for bank stability. Figure 1. Erosion downstream of Park Street. The City also worked with the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Planning and Landscape Architecture program to create a report on resilience and recovery in the stream corridor. The program designed a class around the project with the purpose of creating the final report, “Reimagining the Unimaginable: The August 2018 Pheasant Branch Flooding in Middleton, WI.” The students identified several issues that could help the City recover and build a more resilient stream, including changing ordinances and infrastructure, transforming the vegetation community in the corridor, and slowing runoff elsewhere in the watershed. Using these studies as a foundational guide, the City is looking to develop a Master Planning document to guide restoration work in the Pheasant Branch corridor. The City reached out to the community of Boulder, Colorado to understand how they responded to the 2013 Colorado Front Range Floods. The City was referred to the “Boulder Creek Restoration Master Plan.” The study involved field assessments of the geomorphic and ecological conditions, background information review, and multiple public meetings. Using the data obtained, a set of alternatives were developed Fish Creek Restoration LLC 2 Proposal – Pheasant Branch Master Planning to guide general stream restoration efforts in the hope of improving resilience of the stream. The Boulder Creek document served as a reference as the City developed a request for proposals for Master Planning in the Pheasant Branch Corridor. For the Pheasant Branch, the City has requested a plan that guides restoration efforts that integrate with the multi-use path and other infrastructure. The City would like to consider changing the B A C Figure 2. Damage in the Pheasant Branch corridor. Bluff erosion (A) delivered large volumes of sediment that were deposited throughout the floodplain