Sewer main from Princeton Township to Milaca?

By Joel Stottrup
Posted 4/10/02

Imagine a sewer processing facility being built between Princeton and Milaca that would handle sewage for the city of Milaca and Princeton Township, part of Baldwin Township and perhaps even more.

But that would be getting ahead of the story that has been unfolding in Princeton Township lately.

While Princeton Township and some in Milaca have talked about the concept of a sewage plant between Milaca and Princeton to serve at least two large areas, Princeton Township Board Chairman Greg Anderson and Milaca City Administrator Greg Lerud are saying it is still only an idea.

But to show how real the thought is of Princeton Township wanting to do a joint sewer venture with Milaca, consider this: Princeton Township and the city of Milaca have agreed to split the cost of an approximately $4,000 engineering study to determine the feasibility of running a force main to carry sewage from the southern edge of Princeton Township north to the edge of Milaca. The purpose, at least in the next five to six years, would be to run the sewage from the south into Milacaís sewage lagoon.

Princeton Township would be responsible for the cost of the main. Anderson said the township would apply for government loans and grants and use revenue from hookup charges and usage fees to pay toward the cost.

Anderson and Lerud explained last week why Milaca officials are entertaining the idea.

The state told Milaca at the end of last year that it has to come up with a new sewage processing facility within six years to replace the lagoon system installed about 50 years ago, Lerud said.

Lerud asked Princeton City Administrator David Minke a year ago about the idea of a joint sewage processing project between the two cities since Princeton is in the process of seeking the stateís approval of a plan for expanding Princeton cityís mechanical sewage plant. But, as Lerud put it, the idea of a joint project never got off the ground.

Lerud noted that the rate of ammonia on one side of Milacaís sewage lagoon is higher than the state wants. But the lagoon still has the capacity to accept Princeton Township sewage for five to six years, Lerud added.

What Anderson and Princeton Township planning commission member Randy Hatch and Lerud talked enthusiastically about last week is a sewer district that would serve multiple areas.

"I think itís the way to go," Lerud said. "Princeton Township is looking at offering sewer service relatively quickly and if we could help we would be glad to. We need to look at our options and maybe have Princeton Township hook up."

Lerud figures it will take about a month before the force main feasibility study is done.

While the feasibility of running such a main that distance (14 miles from the townshipís south end to Milaca), there are various forces pushing the idea.

One is developer Gerald Smith, as Anderson explained last week. He said Smith would like to build hundreds of homes in cluster developments on the northwest part of Baldwin on what was the Gertrude Jackson farm and other farm land beyond. But to do that would require a sewage processing system other than septic systems, Anderson noted.

So what Princeton Township has been talking about with Baldwin supervisors, Anderson said, is for a sewer main to Milaca beginning at a point where 136th Street in Baldwin connects with Sherburne County 3 just west of the Princeton municipal airport. Then Smith would run his own sewer line from his developments to the main, said Anderson.

The whole idea of a 14-mile sewer main and possibly building a sewage processing facility between Princeton and Milaca drew not only the full Princeton Township board to discuss such topics with Lerud Tuesday, April 2, but also attracted a board supervisor from each of Bogus Brook and Milaca townships to the meeting. Princeton city development planner John Tofte was also there.

The motivation

Itís no secret Princeton Township officials were bothered when the city of Princeton annexed part of the townshipís east edge where it lies next to the city. The big reason is a loss of tax base for the township.

With its own means of giving sewer service to commercial places and anyone else that is feasibly possible in the township, it would mean those places could be kept in the township, said Anderson.

As Anderson and Hatch talked about the idea last Friday, they said they would like to see a sewer main, if possible, run as follows: North from the townshipís southern edge to Highway 95 and then somehow go north and east to Highway 169 at Long Siding and then follow up the highway north to Milaca.

Princeton Township recently zoned a strip along Highway 169 through the township as commercial. A sewer main along there would service whoever is there now, and also attract more commercial development in that strip, Anderson and Hatch reasoned.

But if there were also a sewage processing facility between Princeton and Milaca it could handle the sewage for the city of Milaca and Princeton Township and part of Baldwin, and if the city would go along with it, part of the city, Anderson and Hatch added.

The whole thing would be run by a sewer district board consisting of representatives from involved jurisdictions, Anderson said. Not only could it help cluster-type housing development in Baldwin, but also in Princeton Township, Anderson added. "We want to keep the township independent from the city," he said.

"We want to maintain the flavor of rural residential in the township but we still want commercial development, industrial development and cluster development," Hatch said. "We want it controlled and we want it organized."

Hatch, whose job at Princeton city public works has included operating the cityís mechanical sewage treatment plant, also looks at a joint sewage facility serving Milaca and a western part of the city of Princeton as a means to avoid having to add to the cityís plant as the city is considering.

Hatch said it would be environmentally and financially better with a joint sewage plant than adding on to the cityís plant capacity, citing the city of Princetonís plan that calls for beefing up the processing and then sending the processed water into the Rum River.

A site away from the river, as the one between Princeton and Milaca might offer, would be a plus compared to the cityís present plant location, Hatch added.

Anderson noted that when he and fellow Princeton Township officers first looked at a sewer main going to Milaca, it was just with the idea of serving the township but then someone from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency suggested the township look at an even bigger concept.

If the feasibility study shows the sewer main would be feasible to put in between Princeton Township and Milaca, then Princeton Township is going to do it, Anderson said.

And if there is a proposal for a joint project that could involve the city of Princeton, they can join in, but if city officials "donít want to play, they donít want to play," Anderson said. "But it would be nicer for everybody if they did."

Asked last week if he had any response to the ideas that Anderson and Hatch talked about, City Administrator David Minke answered that he didnít think it would stop Princeton from going forward in getting its plans approved to expand the cityís sewage treatment plant. He also said he "couldnít fathom how it would be cheaper" to run a force main up to Milaca than hooking into a main in the city of Princeton, he said.