11-20-1991 Stubbs Bay Sewer Hearing Minutes

Home Browse Search

MINUTES OF THE STUBBS BAY SEWER HEARING - NOVEMBER 20. 1991 ROLL The Council met on the above date witn tho following members present: Mayor Barbara Peterson, Counc. i 1 members J. Diann Goetten, Gabriel Jabbour, Edward Callahan and Mary Butler. The following "epresented the City staff: City Administrator Ron Moorse, Public Works Director John Gerhardson, Finance Director Tom Kuehn, Assistant Planning & Zoning Administrator Michael Gaffron, City Engineer Glenn Cook. Septic Manager Stephen Weckman, and City Recorder Teri Naab. Mayor Pete''son called the hearing to order at 7:00 P.M. The Affidavit of Publication and Certificate of Mailing was noted. Mayor Peterson explained that this is an informational meeting on the proposed Stubbs Bay Sewer Project with concurrent meetings to be •‘cheduled to determine areas of the project and assessments and finances. She introduced Michael Gaffron. Assistant Planning & Zoning Administrator, to give a history and needs assessment of the project. Gaffron explained that the septic system issues were first studied in 1975 when the City rezoned many of its zones from 1/2 acre to 2 acre zones. The Council's intent at the time was to create an area that surrounds Lake Minnetonka with low density to limit the amount of urban runoff. They felt that by keeping the low djnsity in rural areas of Orono, Lake Minnetonka would be kept as clean oS it possibly could. The Council felt that by forcing properties around the lake to connect to municipal sewer, It forced higher density development to pay for the sewer which would result in more runoff and more pollutants to the lake. The Council agreed that 2 acres would give property owners generally enough acreage to allow a functioning septic system and still allow for the residential structure and outbuildings needed. The 1980 Comprehensive Plan addressed five developed areas with higher density that did not fit that mold: Stubbs Bay, North Shore Drive, Crystal Bay area, Minnetonka Bluffs, West Ferndale/Windward Marine area. He noted that during the 1980s four of those five areas went through a review process and it was determined that municipal sewer was the most appropriate way to solve existing septic system problems. Gaffron noted that in 1975 the City started looking at the Stubbs Bay area and found that it is a small, shallow bay sensitive to nutrient inputs. In 1975, the City went through a study on how to ser^■e the area with a collector system, which was never realized and by today's standards probably would not be approved by the DNR or the PCA. Another option was to supply a forcemain to the "Orono/Long Lake interceptor" which was never built. In 1985 the City commenced an alternative waste management study for the Stubbs Bay area which was completed in 1986. He noted that the study looked at each characteristic of the properties involved in the study. The area was then expanded further which