3.6 West Sewer District
Request for
City Council Action
DEPARTMENT INFORMATION
ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT REQUESTOR: MEETING DATE:
Planning City Planner Licht 13 December 2021
PRESENTER(s) REVIEWED BY: ITEM #:
Consent City Administrator/Finance Director Flaherty
3.6 – West Sewer District
STRATEGIC VISION
MEETS: THE CITY OF OTSEGO:
X Is a strong organization that is committed to leading the community through innovative
communication.
Has proactively expanded infrastructure to responsibly provide core services.
Is committed to delivery of quality emergency service responsive to community needs and
expectations in a cost-effective manner.
X Is a social community with diverse housing, service options, and employment opportunities.
Is a distinctive, connected community known for its beauty and natural surroundings.
AGENDA ITEM DETAILS
RECOMMENDATION:
City staff recommends adoption of an interim policy regarding allocation of sewer capacity within the West
Sewer District.
ARE YOU SEEKING APPROVAL OF A CONTRACT? IS A PUBLIC HEARING REQUIRED?
No
Yes, held by Planning Commission on 15 November 2021
BACKGROUND/JUSTIFICATION:
The City has initiated the process to expand treatment capacity at the West Wastewater Treatment Facility
(W-WWTF). City staff has established that there are 550 Residential Equivalent Connections (RECs)
remaining to be allocated from the existing capacity of the W-WWTF and is monitoring potential
developments that may absorb the remaining available capacity.
The following is a list of current preliminary platted developments within the West Sewer District that are
expected to utilize a portion of the remaining capacity prior to completion of the expansion in 2024:
Development RECs
Hunter Hills Phase 3 130
Northwater 97
Prairie Pointe 176
Total 403
All of these developments are residential land uses. The approved and pending residential subdivisions
known to City staff would reduce the available capacity within the W-WWTF to 147 RECs. There are
additional areas within the West Sewer District guided for residential land uses, primarily in the form of
single family dwellings. City staff is concerned that the current rate of residential development may absorb
all of the remaining capacity within the W-WWTF before the capacity expansion is complete, which is
expected to be substantially complete in late 2023 or early 2024.
The City also has areas within the West Sewer District guided for commercial and industrial uses consistent
with its economic development goals to expand employment opportunities and increase tax base. Trunk
sewer utilities are available near Kadler Avenue to provide service to potential industrial development and
at CSAH 19 to provide service to potential commercial development. Industrial and commercial
development is more site selective than residential development. Allocation of all of the remaining
capacity of the W-WWTF for residential subdivisions would limit the City’s ability to accommodate
potential development of industrial or commercial uses.
The Comprehensive Plan establishes policies that the City is to balance land use development between
residential and commercial/industrial uses. The Comprehensive Plan and Subdivision Ordinance also
include policies and criteria that require that the City has adequate service capacity to accommodate a
proposed development as a condition of approval. To this end, City staff is recommending that the City
Council establish an interim policy that 100 RECs within the remaining capacity of the W-WWTF be
reserved for industrial and commercial land uses.
This policy would remain in effect at least until the City has certainty for the timing of additional capacity at
the W-WWTF being online. Depending on the timing of construction of the W-WWTF expansion, the City
could begin to consider residential plats within the West Sewer District during 2023 in the expectation that
a final plat would not be approved until 2024 and construction of streets and utilities within the subdivision
would ensure the need for sewer service coincides with availability of additional W-WWTF capacity.
The proposed interim policy would not allow for preliminary plat applications within the West Sewer
District at the point when the available capacity within the W-WWTF has been reduced by preliminary plats
to 100 RECs, allowing City staff to communicate to developers that future subdivision requests would not
be approved. Approved preliminary plats within the West Sewer District would be allowed to continue to
final plat. There remains with the East Sewer District available land and sewer treatment capacity for
residential uses to allow for continued residential development that would not be subject to the proposed
interim policy.
The Administrative Subcommittee discussed the issue related to capacity of the W-WWTF at their meeting
on 14 July 2021 and directed City staff to prepare a resolution for consideration by the full City Council,
which was discussed as part of the 2022 budget process. The Planning Commission held a public hearing
on the proposed interim policy at their meeting on 15 November 2021. There were no public comments.
The Planning Commission closed the public hearing and voted 7-0 to recommend the City Council adopt
the proposed interim policy.
SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
▪ Resolution 2021-90
POSSIBLE MOTION
PLEASE WORD MOTION AS YOU WOULD LIKE IT TO APPEAR IN THE MINUTES:
Motion to adopt Resolution 2021-90 implementing an interim policy allocating capacity from the West
Wastewater Treatment Facility.
BUDGET INFORMATION
FUNDING: BUDGETED:
N/A
N/A
1
CITY OF OTSEGO
COUNTY OF WRIGHT
STATE OF MINNESOTA
RESOLUTION NO: 2021-90
INTERIM POLICY ALLOCATING CAPACITY FROM THE WEST WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY
WHEREAS, the 2012 Otsego Comprehensive Plan establishes a West Sewer District where urban land uses
are planned to develop serviced by municipal sewer utilities;
WHEREAS, the City operates the West Wastewater Treatment Facility (W-WWTF) to provide sanitary sewer
treatment for the land uses developed within the West Sewer District; and
WHEREAS, the City Council on 22 January 2018 adopted Resolution 2018-06 approving a Wastewater Master
Plan to guide the operation, maintenance, and future expansion of the W-WWTF; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has initiated an expansion of capacity for the W-WWTF to provide sanitary
sewer utilities to meet projected demand in accordance with the Wastewater Master Plan; and
WHEREAS, City staff has determined that the current remaining capacity of the W-WWTF not allocated to
approved final plats is less than 500 Residential Equivalent Connections (RECs) and that the remaining
capacity considering the number of RECs required to serve approved preliminary plat is 147 RECs; and
WHEREAS, the City is experiencing a period of high demand for sewer utility capacity to serve proposed
residential, commercial, and industrial development within the West Sewer District; and,
WHEREAS, the 2012 Otsego Comprehensive Plan establishes the following policies to guide land use decision
making within Otsego:
▪ Promote commercial and industrial development in order to create more employment
opportunities and strengthen the tax base within Otsego.
▪ Encourage provision of a balanced variety of development types to satisfy the needs, desires and
income levels of all people while preventing an oversupply of any one type of development.
▪ Establish growth control mechanisms that allow specific annual levels of residential development
that can be accommodated in a fiscally responsible manner based on existing service capacities.
WHEREAS, based on the current capacity of the W-WWTF to provide sewer utilities to new development
within the West Sewer District, the City Council finds it is necessary to establish a reserve of remaining RECs
for commercial or industrial land uses in accordance with the policies of the 2021 Otsego Comprehensive Plan
cited herein.
2
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF OTSEGO, MINNESOTA THAT:
1. A minimum of one hundred (100) RECs of the capacity of the W-WWTF shall be reserved to be
allocated for commercial or industrial land uses.
2. Development applications for a Zoning Map amendment to allow a residential land use guided by
the Future Land Use plan of the 2012 Comprehensive Plan requiring connection to municipal sewer
utilities may be denied on the basis of not being consistent with the policies of the Comprehensive
Plan and cannot be accommodated by the City’s existing service capacity, thus not satisfying the
criteria established by Section 11-3-2.F of the Zoning Ordinance.
3. Applications for preliminary plat approval for a residential land use requiring municipal sewer utilities
may be denied by the City Council as being deemed premature due to lack of capacity of the W-
WWTF in accordance with Section10-6-1.B.4.a of the Subdivision Ordinance.
4. The reservation of capacity for commercial or industrial uses or preliminary plated commercial and
industrial lots shall remain in effect until such time as the current expansion of the W-WWTF is
deemed to be substantially complete by the City Council or until the City Council takes such action to
amend this policy.
ADOPTED by the Otsego City Council this 13th day of December, 2021.
MOTION BY:
SECONDED BY:
IN FAVOR:
OPPOSED:
CITY OF OTSEGO
__________________________________
Jessica L. Stockamp, Mayor
ATTEST:
__________________________________
Audra Etzel, City Clerk