Minutes - Public Works Committee - 01/21/2003

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Case #3: Request for Extension of Sewer and Water Principal City Engineer Olson stated on December 18, 2002, the City of Ramsey received a letter requesting that the City of Ramsey prepare a feasibility study for extending urban services to the areas outlined on the attached map. The City's current comprehensive plan indicates that the areas identified are located in the "Rural Developing" and or the "Central Rural Reserve". The "Rural Developing" area is defined as an area that restricts development to 1 unit per 2.5 acres of land and the "Central Rural Reserve" restricts development to 1 unit per 10 acres of land. One of the primary reasons for this designation is stated in the Comprehensive Plan that was approved on December 18, 2001. It states, "Because of the very Iow density pattern of development and the numerous wetlands, the extension of urban services to the rural developing area is not practical or financially feasible." Oakwood Land Development, Ramsey Shooting Center, LLC. and John Rowe are the property owners that have requested the extension of urban services. These property owners would b e responsible for the costs of the feasibility study and have verbally agreed to finance them. Upon receipt of the request from the above mentioned property owners, Staff met with Bolten & Menk, Inc. and asked them to supply a quote for writing a feasibility study for the above mentioned project. The letter with their response was presented to the Committee, which identified a not to exceed amount $8,500. Since the City of Ramsey is not financially liable for the costs to prepare this feasibility study, Staff recommended allowing the study to be prepared to analyze if it is not financially feasible to extend urban services to these properties. Councilmember Cook stated that it sounds like the Met Council is working out a situation where cities would be identified as a MUSA city rather than having a MUSA line, and if at occurs and the project is deemed feasible would the City be required to move the MUSA line. Principal City Engineer Olson noted that the Met Council's blue print 2030 recently passed. He explained that the Met Council has to control what is sewered and what is not for capacity issues. Secondly the City Council still has the authority to decide if the project goes forward because the area is not planned for urban development. Councilmember Cook questioned since the City does not have an up to date comprehensive plan for sewer and water and the developer has the feasibility study completed and it determines the project can be accommodated with a 12-inch pipe but in the future a larger pipe will be required can the City require the larger pipe. He also questioned if the lines are going through other people's property and they choose to connect to the services will they h ave to a p ay a fee to connect. Principal City Engineer Olson replied that one of the objectives of the study is to determine the costs involved and how the project would be funded. The City's sewer and water comprehensive plan from 1991 indicates a trunk extension to that piece and assumes that the pipe would need to be at least 30 inches. He noted that there would have to be an update to the comprehensive sewer plan to put together a feasibility study. Public Works Committee/January 21, 2003 Page 6 of 11