Despite the efforts of some, the $1.15 million Clearwater Harbor centralized sewer system churned to life Friday, May 13, as lift station pumps were started and sewage was carried to the septic tanks. “It’s a great milestone,” said Clearwater River Watershed District chairman Marv Brunsell at the watershed’s regular meeting Wednesday, May 11. “We’ve waited a long time for this.” The watershed district managers battled since the fall of 2002 after a lawsuit was filed by 20 homeowners in the project area who said they did not want to be included in the project. The watershed won its case in Stearns County Court on July 14, 2004, and quickly awarded the bids a week later so construction could begin despite opponents having filed an appeal. In March, with construction of the project already underway, the Minnesota Court of Appeals refused to hear the case, virtually ending the ongoing saga the CRWD has had with homeowners who opposed the project as too costly. Many homes in the area had failing or non-conforming septic systems, which prompted CRWD managers to look for a solution. The area is densely populated and the many homes are landlocked and do not have enough property to have their own septic drainfields. Some of the systems were leeching and polluting Clearwater Lake, Grass Lake and the Clearwater River. Newer 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 has 87 hookups, including 60 from Clearwater Harbor homes on the west side of Grass Lake. Another four are from Bluffview Road homes, and many of the rest would be from Beechwood Road, both west of Highway 144. Conversations at the regular meeting have moved from lawsuit discussion to how homes are going to be modified to hook up to the new system. “The project is getting to an end,” said Norm Wenck, the watershed’s engineer. “Many homes are already hooked up and sewage has been pumped from the lift stations (in trucks) and taken to the septic tanks at the top of the hill. The force lines will automatically do it tomorrow.” Wenck reported that 21 septic tanks have been collapsed and filled in the project so far and the homes have been hooked up to the centralized system. “I think it is great that we are getting these things a little more manageable,” Brunsell said. “(Watershed administrator Merle Anderson) has spent a lot of time out there getting these things ironed out. It’s paid off.”
