By Clark Natalie

Fred DeWall came before the Harris City Council Feb. 12 with a proposal for a non-profit drug and alcohol treatment facility which would be located on the old Mold farm property.

DeWall said that it is presently just in the planning stages, but wanted to get a conscience from both the Planning Commission and the City Council before moving too far along with his plans.

The facility would use volunteer labor to help cut the cost. While some facilities charge almost $21,000 per month per patient, the estimated cost at this facility would be around $5,000 per month, DeWall said.

Patients admitted to the facility would be on a voluntary basis. This means they would be there because they want to be, not because they were court ordered, he went on.

For the facility to be able to access city sewer and water, the property would have to be annexed from Sunrise Township. This could be done either by petition, where the landowner would ask to come in, or by ordinance. If done by ordinance, it would allow the city to hold public hearings on the issue.

This would allow the residents to voice their opinion on the plan, and also see how Sunrise Township residents felt.

No decision was made, but council members assured DeWall that they felt there was a need for this facility. The size of the facility would depend upon what the city would allow and what the facility can afford.

It would start small and expand over time. DeWall expects to have to come back before the council to get any expansion approved.

In other business,

• City Engineer Charles Schwartz provided a breakdown of comparable costs between the construction of the new wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) and the hook-up to the North Branch system. Schwartz pointed out that the cost for the WWTF is with present day dollars and the cost for the hook-up with North Branch is based on the amounts presented in September 2005 when the proposal was first considered.

The breakdown shows that the initial cost to hook up was considerably less than building the WWTF. But when administrative fees, future trunk fees, future sewer availability charges which would be paid to North Branch, the cost of the WWTF is approximately a million dollars less.

Also, the WWTF qualified for low interest PFA funding, where the hook-up to North Branch did not.

• City Clerk Jennifer Wothe provided a copy of the Compliance Agreement that Harris has with the Minnesota Department of Health concerning the quality of water in Harris. With the construction of the water treatment plant, the city agrees to be in compliance by July of 2007.

• Because the mayor will be in attendance at a conference, the Feb. 26 regularly scheduled council meeting will be canceled. It was not rescheduled.