01-12-1991 CC MIN - SPECIAL-JOINT

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. JOINT MEETING OF THE ELK RIVER CITY COUNCIL AND THE OTSEGO CITY COUNCIL HELD AT THE OTSEGO CITY HALL SATURDAY, JANUARY 12, 1991 1. Call Meetin~ To Order At 9:00 a.m., Otsego Mayor, Norm Freske, opened the joint meeting between the Ci ty Counci I' s of Otsego and Elk River. Mayor Freske welcomed everyone to the joint meeting and introductions were made. The entire City Council from Otsego and Elk River plus some Consultants from each City were in attendance. 2. Sanitary Sewer The major discussion item for this joint meeting was the possibility of the City of Otsego receiving sanitary sewer capacity from the City of Elk River. Representatives of Otsego indicated their need to plan the community and the affect of having sanitary sewer capacity available on this planning process. The Otsego City Engineer reviewed components of the Otsego Comprehensive Sewer Study. e It was noted that Otsego is planning sewer capacity for new development in the early phases of having sewer capacity available and that the sewer would, over time, be placed into existing developments as environmental concerns are evaluated. It was stated that Otsego had not totally evaluated all financial ramifications of having sewer installed/assessed to property owners and how the City could finance the project. It was also indicated that it is possible that Otsego would not request capacity, even if Elk River indicated its willingness to share available capacity, for 7-8 years into the future. It was additionally noted that sewer capacity from Elk River is not required in order for a school to develop in Otsego. The issue raised to the Elk River City Council was if Otsego needed sewer capaci ty for its long range plans, can Otsego get such sewer capacity from Elk River? It was stated that the Elk River study was based on sharing available capaci ty for up to ten years and in about 2000 it is anticipated that the City of Elk River would need the "excess capaci ty" that it would be sharing with Otsego. The concept of a sewer district versus a sanitary sewer contract was discussed. It ~vas noted that a water system is an independent issue. It was also stated that Elk River was expected to pay expenses related to the Elk River Engineer and Attorney to evaluate the sanitary sewer issue. e It was noted that sewer capacity currently exists which could be shared wi th Otsego but that if a request for capacity did not take place for 8-10 years, then such capacity may not be available. This possibility should be taken into consideration when Otsego' s long range land use plans are developed. This relates to the future need of an Otsego Sanitary Sewer Treatment Plant.