Agenda - Council - 01/14/1997 - Laserfiche WebLink

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! ! property. There are other ways to grow that are affordable to the developer. He may have to be creative or do more research. He stated that his well cost about $4,300 and with the septic it came to about $8,000 for a three-bedroom home, however, the cost is not the important thing. The important thing is we do not have to do this. People are hollering no more government and you are increasing the size of our government. The only place you may have to extend sewer and water to is the industrial area. The day he was present to have approval on moving his home in, some guy was talking about his water. He had a sample of it and it looked awful. Mr. Mertens talked about water softeners and osmosis systems. That's how it ought to be. None of you people should pay to get rid of my sewer. If my sewer is causing a problem, I need to take care of it. We should be more independent and less dependent on the government. What needs to be done before passing more laws? Use the Ramsey Resident to ask people to come up with ways, means and ideas. Ask for ways to accomplish growth in the residential and commercial areas. We need to think of new methods - the old ones are too expensive. If you are already talcing one-half of my pay check, what can I live on? Also a problem we need to address about growth - we have to realize that the more we extend sewer and water, the more population density we have. We will get to a point where crime will be increased. More people cause more problems. Also another debate about how much population density do we want is it affects services offered by the City. Vic Hagenah, 15230 Jackel Street NW, Ramsey, stated that the way he found out about this meeting was through the Anoka Union. He complained that items such as this are not in the Ramsey Resident.. He questioned how many people are on a private system. Mr. Schroeder replied about 4,000. Mr. Hagenah noted that there are only about 40 people present at the meeting and wondered how many people knew about this meeting. He commented that if you make the buyer pay for this assessment, the seller will not be able to sell the property. The State has a law that every property sold has to have a disclosure statement and inspections. If a system has to be upgraded - it can be done for about $5,000. He figured his system will last about 25 years. A person should not get into a situation where you have a bad septic system. This will slow down development. He added that he is not anti-growth but he does not want to pay for other people's utilities. He felt that the current residents of Ramsey should not "get stuck with" paying these ridiculous assessments. His equity in his home should not have to be stuck in the ground. He reiterated there are State laws to protect you. He added that he is vehemently opposed to this amendment. Bob Schmitz, 5601 - 142nd Avenue NW, Ramsey, stated he does not understand the difference between when the septic system fails and when it just needs repair. If his failed, he asked if he would be forced to hook up to City sewer and water. City Attomey Goodrich responded that, first of all, City utilities have to be available to your property before it has anything to do with you. Mr. Schmitz suggested that each home owner involved in this should get a copy of this ordinance. Councilmember Peterson stated there are presently only three people affected by this. Mr. Goodrich stated that the Charter is available for anyone to review. He added that, at sometime, properties will have to hook up. That time is when those systems fail. We are talcing input on what's fair for when the systems do fail. We are anticipating coming up with common language. Mr. Hendriksen stated that the Charter does not address that. The City may not compel any person with a functioning system to hook up. It should be the owner's option to repair that. City Council/December 10, 1996 Page 11 of 25