Laserfiche WebLink
Orono's 1980 Comprehensive Plan indicated that within the city's rural areas existed a number of <br />neighborhoods developed long before the 1975 city-wide rezoning. These areas included lots ranging <br />from one-fifth acre to just over one acre in size. Five neighborhoods were identified as 'critical' in <br />terms of continued septic system use, and a number of others were identified as 'rural clusters' which <br />should be monitored. <br />During the 1980's and early 1990's, each of the five 'critical' neighborhoods was the subject of an <br />Alternative Waste Management Study conducted by the City. In each case it was concluded that long­ <br />term septic system use was not a viable option, and all five neighborhoods have now been sewered. <br />Minnesota Pollution Control Agency regulations were revised in the late 1980's to define existing septic <br />systems not meeting a three-foot separation from seasonal water tables as 'nonconforming'. DNR <br />Shoreland regulations and Orono ordinances require that nonconfo'ming systems be made contorming. <br />It is estimated that 50% of existing septic systems in Orono be nonconforming under the <br />regulations. <br />In 1993 the City Council placed a moratorium on septic system repairs. During the moratorium a smdy <br />was conducted to determine if certain areas of the City would be best serv ed by installation ot municipal <br />sewers rather than replacement of septic systems. <br />Ten individual neighborhoods were identified for analysis, including six which were originally <br />recognized in the 1980 Comprehensive Plan as requiring close monitoring. Each of the identified <br />neighborhoods exhibits a small number of failing systems and a significant number of non-conforming <br />systems which must be replaced. Factors suggesting municipal sewer may be the most appropriate <br />solution to existing or expected difficulties in replacing non-contorming sewage systems in these areas <br />include lot sizes too small to accommodate replacement systems; steep slopes or other site-specific <br />limiting factors; proximity to lakes, wetlands and tributaries; and the likelyhood of system replacement <br />costs approaching the costs of municipal sewer. <br />Six of the ten identified areas have requested that the City commence sewer construction within the next <br />few years, to avoid the costs of septic system replacement. It is important to note that each of the ten <br />neighborhoods is fully developed. The proposed MUSA additions will provide service only to e.xisting <br />homes and a few interspersed vacant lots, with no intent by the City to provide service to new land for <br />residential development. <br />Finallv, it is the City's intent to e.xpand the MUSA to encompass the entire Orono School District <br />campus, incorporating existing sewered school buildings which were inadvertently omitted from the <br />initial 1980 MUSA boundary descriptions, and incorporating additional school district property on <br />which a proposed hockey arena is proposed to be built in 1996. <br />We request your approval of our application and stand ready to address any questions you may have. <br />Sincerely, <br />(Ron Moorse) <br />(City Administrator)