Agenda - Council - 01/18/1994 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Ryan Schro~ler March 30, I993 Page 2 Development in the rural area can have adverse impacts on the quality of the natural environment. Protecting and maintaining the quality of surface water and groundwater is a key concern of the Council. While technological advances have improved on.site sewage disposal and private waste treatment systems, their proper installation and maintenance is still a critical concern. Regarding on-site sewage systems, Mr. Dorn states in his letter of February 2, 1993 to The Honorable James Gilbertson, Mayor of the city of Ramsey that: some time ago the Met Council indicated to us that it was reconsidering its position on the use of 'package treatment plants' for sewer service outside the MUSA line. This was in recognition of the fact that there are certain free-standing developments that merit current usage, and that forcing cities with areas outside the MUSA line to landbank 100% of their unsewered areas could, in some situations, unfairly cause such cities to lose opportunities to acquire valuable tax base or amenities. The city. of Ramsey is advised that it assumes full responsibility for the operation and function of any private waste treatment systems located in the city. The city is to ensure that all on-site sewage and private waste treatment s~tems fully comply with state and federal standards. Council wastewater treatment polic-3' t-10B states that metropolitan services will not be emended to the rural service area, and any pollution problems resulting from development activity or inadequate management of existing private sewer facilities must be resolved and financed by the responsible local government. In regard to on-site systems, the site plan submitted as part of your letter does not specifically identibd the location of seconda~, drainfield sites as required by the Council's current rural area policy, does not identify the location of drinking water wells on the site, and does not appear to be in conformance with ail of the city's on-site ordinance setback rexluirements. Because of this it may b¢ difficult to adequately separate on-site drainfields and drinking water wells. Soils mapped in the vicinity of the proposed site are the Dalbo silt loan and Dickman sandy loam. The Dalbo soft is charamerized as having severe limitations in terms of its suitability for use in the siting of on-site system drainfielcts due to its moderately slow permeability. The Dickman soil is characterized as having only slight limitations in terms of its lack of permeability, but in fact is rapidly permeable and is known to be susceptible to possible contamination of underground supplies of water when allowed to develop through the utilization of on-site septic systems. The material enclosed in this letter simply reflects comments made by the Council on land use issues facing other cities in the metropolitan area. Feel free to contact me at 291-6594 if I may be of further assistance regarding this matter, Sincerely, Steven Schwanke Comprehensive Planning Roger Scherer, Metropolitan Council District 9 Barb Senness, Metropolitan Council Staff