Sewer extension granted for some Diamond Lake residents
WILLMAR -- The Kandiyohi County Commissioners are giving second-tier residents on Diamond Lake until July 2 to obtain a permit to install holding tanks or individual septic systems rather than hook up to the Green Lake Sanitary Sewer and Water District. The extension will not apply to the first tier homes around the lake.
During a public hearing May 21 on a project to connect Diamond Lake residents to the sewer and water district, a resident requested the deadline extension.
The resident said homeowners were not formally notified that new licenses would no longer be issued after May 21 if the sewer and water district project was approved.
Public Works Director Gary Danielson said it was the county's policy not to issue permits for holding tanks or septic systems once a municipal system for a region has been approved.
He told the County Board of Commissioners on Tuesday that there had been a "flurry" of permits requested the week before the public hearing as word got out about the pending deadline.
But he said communication about the deadline hadn't been "crystal clear" to residents who lived in the second tier of homes around the lake and recommended that an extension be granted for those homeowners.
Commissioner Harlan Madsen said it "doesn't make sense" to extend the timeline for the tier-one homes located immediately adjacent to the lake, but agreed the provision should apply to second-tier homes as long as they are required to hook up onto the Green Lake Sanitary Sewer and Water District once their septic system fails.
The action was approved on a unanimous vote.
In other business Tuesday, the commissioners approved an amended contract Tuesday with the state establishing new rates for housing state prisoners in county jails.
The state Department of Corrections will be paying counties less. The current rate is $56.10 a day. The new rate of $55 a day goes into effect in July and will be applied to all county jails statewide.
"No one expected the state to raise the rates," said Chairman Richard Falk.
On average the county houses 140 state prisoners a month. From July of 2009 to the end of April, the state has paid the county $572,219 for the service.
Also Tuesday, a bid of $1,498,806 from Duininck Inc. of Prinsburg was awarded for grading and aggregate base projects on County Road 7 from state Highway 7 to Raymond; a bid of $366,662 from Landwehr Construction Inc. of St. Cloud was awarded for bridge replacements on County Roads 4 and 74; and a low bid of $293,731 from Mathiowetz Construction Company of Sleepy Eye was awarded for bridge replacements on County Roads 5 and 7. There were a total of 15 bids for the three projects. All the bids were well below the engineer's estimate.
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