In a confident move despite a pending trial next month, Clearwater River Watershed District managers have unanimously approved asking for bids for the controversial Clearwater Harbor centralized sewer system. “We should move forward,” said Norm Wenck, the CRWDs engineer, at the watersheds meeting Wednesday, Feb. 18. “It would give us credibility with the court.” The project has slowly gone forward since a lawsuit was filed in 2002 after several homeowners voiced opposition to the sewer. They feared it will drive up their taxes and property values. Some residents, especially retired homeowners, fear the added costs could cause them to lose their homes. A lawsuit is pending and is scheduled to go to trial on Friday, March 5. CRWD administrator Merle Anderson suggested the bids would help the court see that the project would not severely impact homeowners and would provide more accurate information to the court. “It would let the court know what a legitimate bid will cost,” Anderson said. “They would know exactly what our costs would be for doing this.” The watershed managers are poised for court. They have continued to have technical drawings completed and are working on getting the required permits. On Feb. 9, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency started its 30-day public notice and comment period. The sewer system was sought because many homes in the area have failing or non-conforming septic systems. The area is densely populated, and many homes are landlocked and do not have enough property to have their own drain fields. Some of the systems are leeching and polluting Clearwater Lake. New state septic laws make it impossible for the homeowners to update their sewage systems, and a centralized system seemed like the solution to CRWD managers. The sewer project would have 82 hookups, including 60 from Clearwater Harbor homes on the west side of Grass Lake. Another four would be from Bluffview Road homes, and many of the rest would be from Beechwood Road, both west of Highway 144. Each home could be assessed as much as $15,805 to build the system. “If we move forward on this, get the bids, construction could begin this fall and it could be completed by next winter,” Wenck said. However, Wenck added that if the court did not side with the watershed district it would have to cancel the bidding process and would be out about $2,000 in administrative and publishing fees. “We have to move forward on this,” said Roland Froyen, CRWD board president. “It shows our resolve and confidence.”
