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Press Release
Pike Lake Sewer
Project Engineer Darren Amundsen, left,
Carmen Orman, from PLAWCS center, Right click to download award (this is a very large file and poster.) Pike Lake Sewer System Wins Honor
Award The Pike Lake Area
Wastewater Collection System was one of 17 award winners recognized by the
Consulting Engineers Council, Minnesota Section, at the organization’s annual
dinner on Friday, February 15. The state chapter of this national organization
presents annual awards for projects completed by consulting engineering firms
based in Minnesota. Pike Lake’s new wastewater collection system received one of
the twelve Honor Awards bestowed. Seven Grand awards were also presented. Carmen Orman, board member of the Pike Lake Area Wastewater Collection System (PLAWCS, pronounced play-wacs) accepted the award along with Glenn Cook, vice president of Bonestroo, Rosene, Anderlik and Associates, Inc. (Bonestroo), the firm that designed the new system and assisted the board in obtaining the funding for its construction. Mr. Cook was the principal in charge of the award-winning project. Failing on-site septic
systems had plagued this Minnesota lake community for more than forty-years.
Within the last three years though, determined local residents, supportive
public agencies, dedicated elected officials, and creative engineers combined to
create PLAWCS. Completed in the spring
of 2001, the project constructed a collection and conveyance system that carries
Pike Lake area sewage to the Western Lake Superior Sanitary District’s (WLSSD)
treatment plant. The system includes almost 21 miles of sewer pipe, ranging is
size from 1.25-inch pressure sewer to 10-inch gravity mains. The project cleared
several difficult hurdles to become reality. Chief among them was getting area
residents, business owners, and multiple municipalities and agencies to agree on
a solution. Money was also a problem. More than 400
residences, an elementary school and several businesses surround Pike Lake, most
served by failing and non-compliant on-site treatment systems. The failing
systems endangered the quality of the lake’s water, and posed a contamination
danger to local groundwater sources, an important consideration where most homes
get their water from wells. In addition, in 1995 Minnesota’s Rule 7080 put teeth
into the septic system regulations, and homeowners found they could not get home
improvement permits, nor could their homes be certified for sale until their
septic systems complied with state regulations. Small lot sizes, poor soils, and
a high groundwater table combined to make most on-site solutions impossible. Concerned agencies and
municipalities included the Pike Lake Association, Cannosia and Grand Lake
Townships, the nearby town of Hermantown, the Western Lake Superior Sanitary
District (WLSSD), Independent School District 704, and several St. Louis County
entities such as the Health, Planning, Public Works, and Land Departments. The
disparate groups joined together to raise $47,000 to pay for a facility plan (a
study of project options), and hired Bonestroo to complete the study, and
subsequently to design the project. The Arrowhead Regional Development
Corporation (ARDC), the Metropolitan Interstate Committee (part of ARDC), and
the Minnesota Department of Health also participated. The current PLAWCS board
includes representatives from the Canosia and Grand Lake Township boards.
Members are Russ Georgesen, Canosia; Ken Harnell, Grand Lake; Louis Dubla,
Canosia; Carmen Orman, Canosia; John Prouty, Grand Lake; and Larry Stauber, Jr.,
Grand Lake. When it looked like the
proposed $8 million project would not make the MPCA’s list for state Water
Infrastructure Fund (WIF) monies, the local group and their engineering firm
asked their state legislators for help. They got it, and the project made the
list. When the WIF money ran out before it reached their spot on the list, they
went back to the Statehouse, and persuaded the legislature that the project was
critical. More money was voted to the WIF program, enough to fund about half the
projected cost. This meant the individual assessments for homeowners would now
be an affordable $7,280 each. Construction began in
the fall of 1999. Varied soil conditions throughout the project presented
challenges. Crews had to excavate boulders, blast bedrock, deal with high
groundwater tables and work around existing utilities—all while maintaining
reasonable access to homes and businesses. Careful construction observation
helped ensure contractors followed through on restoration work, and that scenic
property was restored to its original condition. The PLAWCS story is a textbook demonstration of how community unity, coupled with legislative support and a good project plan, can result in success. Return to: top of page PLAWCS Town Board Home |
