Residents of Bergman Drive attending the January 25, 2010, Mantorville City Council meeting heard council members’ repeated assurances that this year’s projected sewer line expansion to the Mantor Drive subdivision would not include extending it to Bergman Drive properties. Resident David Dripps said the lots on Bergman Drive were large enough to accommodate new septic systems if the ones in place currently failed and residents there did not need to have city sewer available.
The new line will be large enough to accommodate more users in the future but for now, Mayor Luke Nash said, “Bergman Drive isn’t even on the radar for this project.”
Tim Hruska, city engineer from WHKS, Inc., reminded the council of some of the issues that need to be decided soon, before the project proceeds much further.
- Who will own the grinder pumps for individual homes?
- Who will pay the electricity to run these pumps?
- Will the split for the funding remain at 60 per cent city paid and 40 per cent owner paid?
Hruska also said the new sewer line will probably be located on the south side of Fifth St because the city water line is on the north side and the two must be separated by at least 11 feet. After soil borings are taken along the route, the firm will be able to determine if using directional drilling to install the line is feasible. This type of installation does not destroy the road like trenching would, he said.
After the sewer line is installed and residences are connected, Hruska said the landowners would need to decommission their current septic systems. He said the tanks may be removed or the bottoms broken out and the tanks and leach fields filled with dirt. He said these options cost about $1,500.
The city will apply for PFA (Minnesota Public Facilities Authority) funds in February for the estimated $580,000 project.
In other business, the council discussed:
- The city’s burn ordinance revision.
- Placing an advertisement to sell the land near the water tower.
- The status of the rebate from the roof shingle company for the shingles that had to be replaced on city hall.
- Placing garbage containers along the dump road in conjunction with the city of Kasson perhaps through the recreation joint venture.
- The expansion of Casey’s convenience store.
The next meeting of the council will be at 6:30 p.m. Monday Feb 8 at city hall.
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