11-04-1999 Council Work Session - Laserfiche WebLink

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This population decline is consistent with the general decline in birth rate and population projections for the region as a whole, as well as a realization that a population shift is occurring which will see renewed growth or stabilization of the central cities and inner-ring suburbs. (?) The projected population is in line with Orono's rural land use preservation policies and with the proposed public facilities plans of Orono, the Hennepin Countv Public Works Department, the State Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Waste Contro l Commission Council Environmental Services. (REDO THE FOLLOWING 2 PARAGRAPHSllUUV.lllllllllU) Regional transportation plans have been changed as commuters move in toward the center city. The State of Minnesota has dropped plans for relocating and expanding Highway 12 through Orono. Environmental and social pressures have permanently eliminated any plans for expansion of County Road IS along the lakeshore, and fiscal pressures including the levy-limitations have prohibited any local assumption of new city street maintenance. The only plans afoot are those to reroute suburban traffic away from the lakeshore. There are no plans to expedite or improve traffic access to or within Orono. Regional sewer service facilities plans have likewise been revised. Original plans called for sewering all of Orono with capacity for 37,000 people. But the final Orono-Long Lake Interceptor was relocated and is in place witli a design capacity for less than 8,400 Orono residents and a service area limited to the existing urban and lakeshore neighborhoods. This reduction is consistent with Orono's environmental concerns for the rural area and with MWCC's regional concerns including the limited design capacity and massive environmental discharge problems associated with the cenu^ sewage collection system. In addition, this serv ice area limitation is supported by the Metropolitan Council's 208 Water Quality Management Plan which concluded that upgrading of Maple Plain's treatment plant would best serve to reduce pollution problems without requiring additional interceptor construction. Therefore, no interceptor capacity was provided in the Orono-Long Lake Interceptor for Maple Plain or for rural Orono. Orono's commercial and economic development has always been centered in the historic town centers. The shopping, employment, education and social needs of Orono residents have been more than amply met by commercial facilities and shopping centers located in Navarre and in surrounding communities. Rural and urban residents alike utilize these facilities and in fact, the commercial vitality of the neighboring cities relies in part upon the regional serv ice area that includes all of Orono. Promotion of duplicate facilities in Orono would tend to be uneconomic and counterproductive. CMP3B- 11