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Treatment plant plans move aheadBy Barbara Brown The city started drawing up specifications on the plants upgrade last year and this year was given new phosphorus limitations by the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The limits set a certain amount of phosphorus that the cityís wastewater plant can discharge. The city agreed to not challenge the limitations set by MPCA and to continue with the project so it can get through the process smoothly. Jay Kennedy, the cityís engineer with WSB & Associates, told the council that challenging the limits may not prove beneficial because it could delay the process and the city may be allowed to challenge them in the future if needed. Kennedy said the city may not need to challenge the limits at all depending upon how much commercial and industrial development occurs in the city. If everything continues on schedule, the expansion and upgrade to the cityís wastewater treatment plant could begin in June with an expected completion of late summer next year. Kennedy also told the council at Mondayís meeting that funding for the proposed expansion of the Hwy. 95 bridge over I-35 looks promising. He said Congressman Jim Oberstarís position on a federal transportation committee could prove beneficial for the project as it has been placed on a list of prospective ěhigh priority fundingî projects that could be chosen for federal money. ěHopefully the advanced status of the project can help us get on that list,î Kennedy told the council. Kennedy did tell the council, however, that nothing is guaranteed. He said WSB and Oberstar are working to complete an application that will be submitted Feb. 21 to the committee and that if the project is selected, money could be available as early as next year to start construction. The council also agreed Monday night to allow WSB to perform an engineering study for a project to replace a drainage structure along I-35 north. Several years ago, when the city was installing the Oakview/Hwy. 95 traffic signal and making road improvements there, the city needed to tap into storm sewer lines in the state right of way. As part of an agreement with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the city agreed to replace an outlet structure that directs flow into the Sunrise River in order to get a permit to discharge at that site. Finally, the council voted to approve a feasibility study to determine the scope of a project planned to install sanitary sewer, water, storm sewer, ponds and urban roads on 399th Street west from the existing Industrial Park and a north/south road that would intersect with 400th Street. The assessments for the improvements would attached to the properties at the Industrial Park that benefited. Moosey told the council that the improvement could help solidify so-so deals in the works with three industrial companies that are looking to build 30,000 square-foot buildings in North Branch. ©ECM Post Review |