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Tuesday, May 17, 2005
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Public gets chance to have say, ask questions on water quality issues
Senior Reporter Wastewater may be the third item, besides death and taxes, that affects everyone.
Crow Wing County is proposing a countywide sanitary district to protect water quality and the public will have two major opportunities on Thursday and Friday to ask questions and express opinions.
The proposed sanitary district is aimed at inadequately managed on-site or cluster wastewater treatment systems -- namely septic systems. The county's plan is to protect the county's water resources by establishing pilot districts that will look at on-site system's and how they are performing.
"The issue is a lot of people aren't doing anything not because they are bad people, they just don't know better," said Crow Wing County Commissioner Gary Walters.
What's next?
The public is invited to attend two meetings to discuss the creation and operation of a Crow Wing County Sanitary District.
Meetings are 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday at the Paul Bunyan Nature Learning Center on Wise Road, also known as Crow Wing County State Aid Highway 49.
For more information, contact Craig Gilbertson, Ayres Associates, at (218) 547-0660 or Michelle Anderson, Thirty Lakes Watershed District, at 828-0243.
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As the county continues to grow, Walters said the issue is not just more people creating more waste it's less available land to dispose of it. Walters said municipal systems, commonly referred to as "big pipe" solutions, may be too expensive for outlying areas.
Walters said there is no real management plan currently in existence for septic systems. Treatment of waste in a water-rich environment poses environmental and health concerns for failing treatment systems. As they have worked on the issue, Crow Wing County commissioners expressed concern about the lack of information they have on how well on-site systems are maintained.
Work in pilot districts will inventory and identify all on-site and cluster systems in a specific area and assess and record each system's performance. Schedules will set up routine maintenance requirements for each system. Once a specific pilot district is completed, new pilot areas will be created based on priorities. Previous recommendations included the lakes region of Pelican, Mission, Lake Edward and Center townships and Unorganized Territory as pilot areas within a sewer district.
The county has been working in a jointly with the Thirty Lakes Watershed District on this issue. Special legislation is being sought for the countywide district, which would allow pilot programs in various sections of the county.
"Some people think of this as government intrusion," Walters said. "It is."
But he said if government does not do it, who will? The public meetings will include presentations on the history and need behind the project, what the proposed district will look like and why organizers think it's important.
"If people think there is a cheaper way of doing it, they should come to the meeting," Walters said.
RENEE RICHARDSON can be reached at renee.richardson@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5852.
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