Minor Amendment-MUSA Expansion Requests

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, Land supply and demand As part of the 1989 plan amendment requesting a 405-acre MUSA expansion, the city was able to demonstrate regional need for the urban land. Natural Resources (Jack Frost) Sanitary sewer The proposed MUSA expansion would increase sanitary sewer flow by approximately 40,000 gallons per day assuming three (3) households per acre for residential land uses and 1,500 gallons per acre for commercial and industrial land uses. This is a relatively small increase in sanitary sewer flow. Some problems may exist with future sanitary sewer capacity in the Ramsey area. The MWCC currently has a project under construction to phase-out the Anoka Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) and divert all flows to the Metropolitan WWTP in St. Paul. The Anoka WWTP is currently at its design capacity and the planned phase-out will not be complete until mid-1993. Any additional flows beyond the 44-acre MUSA expansion prior to the phase-out could potentially cause the plant to exceed its National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit limits. The proposed MUSA expansion should not have a negative impact on the metropolitan sanitary sewer system. The proposed expansion will generate little additional flow and the Anoka WWTP appears to be operating at a higher design capacity than its rated capacity. The city of Ramsey is advised, however, that little additional discharge to the Anoka WWTP can be allowed until the this facility is phased-out in mid-1993. Surface water management The Council recently adopted an interim strategy to reduce nonpoint source pollution to all water bodies in the metropolitan area. This strategy is to be used by local governments for addressing surface water management and runoff issues. The strategy is a short-term response to the nonpoint source pollution problem. All local governments in the metropolitan area are required to incorporate this strategy in their comprehensive plans by January 1, 1993. To implement this strategy the Council is recommending that each local government adopt the following items as part of its comprehensive plan : * the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency's manual on Best Mana~ement Practices for Urban Areas; * the National Urban Runoff Program (NURP) design criteria for the construction of stormwater detention ponds; * the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) shoreland regulations as prescribed by the DNR. 6