By Clark Natalie

One of the final stages of compliance with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agencyís requirements was met by the city of Harris on Monday evening when they held the required public hearing on the Waste Water Treatment Plant Facility Plan Report. This is a draft plan, as after the hearing was held, it must be accepted by the City Council and then forwarded on to the MPCA.

In 2003, MPCA checked the present sewer system in Harris. It was found that the ponds used for treatment had excessive leakage and were fast approaching their design capacity. After the study was done in October of 2003, MPCA indicated that before any additional extensions are added to the system, a design plan had to be completed and submitted to them by March 1 of 2005. Some of the design requirements were that the new plant had to be at least 1?2 mile from residential houses and 1?4 mile from large density homes. With the present location, the core of the city of Harris fell into these boundaries. So alternative methods were investigated.
Four options were considered. A new stabilization pond, a new aerated pond, an oxidation ditch facility or connection to the North Branch system. A new stabilization pond could not be added to the present site. It would need 60 acres of land to meet design requirements. After considering the other options, it was decided that the most practical option was connection with North Branch. It would require an addition of two lift stations to the present system. The estimated cost is $2.5 million. It is anticipated that Harris will qualify and obtain a low interest loan through the Water Pollution Control Revolving Loan Fund. The anticipated annual payment for service will be $205,100. The cost per present user, based on 134 users, would be $1,350/year. But over a 20 year projection, this would drop to $285/year, based on 719 users. This also does not factor in income generated by additional developments coming on. The annual costs are based on North Branch fees. They charge $3.63/1000 gallons. Estimate cost to the city of Harris is $35,000 for the first year. This would be $260/year to the present 134 users.

The hearing was then opened to the public for their questions and comments. Doris Gilquist asked about development moving to the wrong part of Harris causing problems. If development went into the northern section, it would be too far from the facility. The response was that the city was controlling this through zoning. That area is presently zoned for agriculture and would require council action to change.

Don Cardinal asked if Harris was to construct its own pond system, would it be able to fund it by picking up some of North Branchís customer base that is near the south Harris border. Chuck Schwartz of Bonestroo, Rosene Anderlik & Associates, the city engineer, said that would probably not happen. North Branchís system is designed for 800,000 gallons/minute. And this is just the first phase. An additional four phases are planned for their present sight, which will continue to increase capacity. At the present time, they are only using 500,000 gallons/minute. At the present rate of use, Harris will add an additional 25,000 gallons. Their system fluctuates that much each day. So North Branch would not be interested in sending systems to Harris.

Jenny Johnson asked about farms. Would they be required to hook up and use the system? A concern about operating costs added to the farm operations was expressed. Sewer availability charges are collected as additional units are hooked up. In the plan, there are also ìTrunk Fees.î which will be paid by developers to cover getting developments to the system. There is no plan to assess any one presently on the system. Existing farms will not be required to connect.

Don Johnson then asked if present areas, such as Pine Tree Estates would be forced to connect. The answer was that anyone who presently has their own system, that is working, will not be required to hook up. When the systems fail, rather than replace them, it would be required that they hook up then. The system is being built for the future, not to assess the present residents.
Also, Butch Johnson asked about present users having to pay an additional hook up fee, since they would be connecting to the North Branch system. Only the city of Harris is hooking up. The individual users will remain as they have been. North Branch will bill Harris, and the city of Harris will then bill their individual users, based on the amount of gallons used.

The public hearing was then closed, a recess was taken, and the meeting reconvened at the regularly scheduled 7 p.m. starting time. The plan was then accepted and approved by the Council, and prepared to send to MPCA. The plan will also be forwarded on to North Branch, to be discussed at their March 14 meeting. Schwartz also asked about the agreement for Harris to fund the costs of investigation for Harris. No one knew if a copy of the agreement had been sent to the Cityís interim attorney for review or not. The mayor was waiting for that review before sending back to North Branch.

Other items discussed by Schwartz were the Park Plan. Schwartz said it was a very important issue, as the funding for park improvements will come from a fee charged to developers for each unit added. Until the plan is completed, no charges can be assessed. Concern was expressed, since the cost of putting the plan together was not in the budget. Schwartz said his firm felt this was so important, they would carry part of the cost until the City received income from the developers. On this basis, the development of the plan was approved.

It was also noted that the contract between Schwartzís firm and the City had been sent to the interim attorney for his review. The mayor had questions about the fee structure that Schwartz was able to answer.

Fire Chief John Pelant told the council the fire department had accepted the bid for a new equipment truck, at $57,000. The department had sent plans and specifications to four different companies that make the trucks. Only General Safety had replied. This was a company that the department had wanted to deal with, because of the location and availability of service. A representative of the company was there and went over the process. The truck and chassis will be ordered first. When it arrives, the City will then be billed for it. General will then construct their portion. It was estimated that it could take from 270 days up to 365 days. But since the truck would be constructed as fill in work, having their interior department work on the truck when no other work was available, he thought the truck would be to the City early, possibly before the end of the year. A discussion on financing ensued. General Safety will supply them funding options with companies they use, based on a three or four year repayment, with semiannual payments. It was suggested they take these options to local lenders to see if they will match the rates and terms.

In other action:

The city also passed a resolution to support Senate bill 572 and House bill 423, which would require retailers to keep drugs used for the preparation of meth, such as pseudoephedrines, behind the counter. Anyone who purchased the drugs would be documented and a record of who is buying would be made. Other states that have used this system have shown an 80 percent decline in meth labs.

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