02/09/1998 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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11/17/87 15: Uti 1•AA 01.4+464+4101 L.RL'IC."tLU nuan MONDAY. NOVEMBER 10, 1947 SAINT PAUL P1 Lake .Elmo city officials bristle at plan to bring sewer to airport • Some say pubic sewer will rob town of rural character NA ROE STAFF MUER • To some in Lake Elmo, it's a dirty word, spelled se-w-e-r. Metropolitan Airports Com- bas unveiled a 64.5 million to bring public sewer and yll ter to the Lake Elmo Airport some day, and that's causing more Consternation than any noise from the 66511 takeoffs and landings $ "W.'vta made a conscious -deci- sion in Lake Elmo to develop our . w a way that doesn't ieq • sewers," City Coan- +=Member Lee Hunt got :A y o contend that sew- eat will bring ®wanted urban - type development and rob their community of 6,200 residents of iti.rural dmraeter. "• Gary Schmidt, manager of the sir "reliever" airports in the Twin Cities area, said the airport com- mission's goal is to see to it that public utilities come to all of the airports sooner or later. Schmidt, however, said the com- mission won't rim roughshod over L' 1 . community wishes. "We'll work cooperatively with Lake Elmo, he said. "But it should be clear that we want the sewers because they are good for the environment. They reduce the risk of contamination of private wells from individual on -site sep- tic tank sewage treatment sys- tems." ' : : Lake Elmo is expected to be the last of the airports to get sewers because the closest metro sewer trunk line is more than two miles away. "It might take 10 or 20 years before the trunk line comes close enough to make hookup to the air- -port th �ra:4 it best to pput t people on notice 0. - t we want the sewers some day." The airport at St. Paul Down- town Airport (Holman Field) al- ready has sewers. The Crystal Air- port also is partly served by sewers, with more to come next year. Also targeted for sewers in the next three or four years are Anoka County - Blaine Airport, Flying Cloud Airport in Eden Prairie and Air Lake Airport in Lakeville. Council Member Hunt, mean- while, said he will try to organize opposition to sewers in Lake Elmo and surrounding West Lakeland and Baytown townships. "The airports commission hasn't been paying attention to communi- ty sentiment," he said. "Lake El- mo won't ever elect a city council that supports sewering of the com- munity because it's bound to lead to urban- density development. We want to preserve the rural charac- ter." To that end, Lake Elmo now requires cluster housing in almost one -third of the community. That means homes in new subdivisions mast be clustered on half or less of the tract, so the remainder of The land can be left as permanent 'open ""Thoseecclustered homes," Hunt said, "can still be served by indi • vidual on -cite septic tanks sewage treatment systems and private wells or communal disposal sys- • tams that don't require chemical treatment." But that Isn't stopping some in Lake Elmo from fearing that pub - lie sewers might be foisted on the community some day. "Unfortunately." Hunt said, "the Metro Council has proposed weav- ing some urban reserves from the Stillwater area all the way to Woodbury - That means bringing In sewer some day, to allow for ur- ban densities. Rest assured, most Lake Elmo residents world say, 'We don't ever want sewers. " 1