Extensive Sewer Line Replacement in Downtown Wayzata?

Business owners in downtown Wayzata aren't happy about a proposed sewer project that would shut down the southern portion of Lake Street. Work on the $8 million infrastructure upgrade would stretch through the first half of 2012.

The planned replacement of about 2,400 linear feet of sewer line—from Grove Lane to Broadway Avenue—is the second in a multi-phased initiative by the Metropolitan Council. The first phase was completed in 2010.

Representatives of the Met Council were in town Wednesday morning to speak with more than a dozen local business leaders and Chamber of Commerce members to discuss the second phase, its timelines and the potential impacts on Wayzata’s commercial district. Plans call for construction to begin soon after Christmas, with substantial completion pegged for spring and some restoration work in June.

“We anticipate a bulk of the work being done by Memorial Day, all of the heavy construction,” Scott Dentz, an infrastructure specialist with the Met Council, said.

Dentz called the existing sewer line “old” and said two breaks have occurred in recent years. Replacement is necessary, Dentz said, to facilitate future growth in Wayzata and is a project running parellel to Hennepin County’s anticipated overhaul of Minnesota Highway 101.

Exactly when the extensive Highway 101 project, still only in the beginning planning stages, will break ground remains unclear. The most aggressive forecasts call for a 2013 start date. Funding for the project has not been secured, and residents along Bushaway Road have formed a coalition—supported by Wayzata Mayor Ken Willcox and the rest of Wayzata’s city council—to oppose the county’s plans.

Local business owners say they are just beginning to regain their economic footing and questioned both the MET Council and the city on the importance of laying a new sewer main through the heart of downtown. Krista Fragola owns Maha! Inspired Activewear, one of the businesses in the middle of Lake Street that would be affected by a major construction project. Fragola says April, May and June are her busiest months and that the project could potentially cripple her already struggling business.

“It’s been an excruciating year,” Fragola said. “If our business goes down even 10 percent in sales, that’s enough right now to put us out of business. It’s not a little blow.”

Robin McWethy questioned the rationale behind the push to complete the second phase and wondered aloud about the effects not only on existing businesses, but those eyeing downtown as a potential new home. She and her husband, Jim, opened their new store, Sun & Ski, just a few weeks ago on Lake Street.

“How late can you put this off while still at same time seeing what happens with 101?” she asked. “Why not wait?”

The entire south end of Lake Street—parking, sidewalks and the eastbound traffic lane—will all close during construction. The existing center lane will open for eastbound traffic. Mike Kelly, Wayzata’s city engineer, stressed the sewer line would be laid in segments and that the city would take every measure practical to lessen impacts on Lake Street businesses.

“It’s not like the whole street is going to be torn up all at once,” Kelly said. “It will be a moving transition as the pipe gets laid.”

Denz and other Met Council representatives say there is flexibility and, for the first time, didn't dismiss the possibility of delaying the sewer line’s installation a year or more.

“Our goal is to get a pipe in and have all the segments done when and if Hwy. 101 gets done,” Dentz said. “We’ll have to drive a pipe into 101 if it doesn’t happen. We have flexibility in timing and will present that to the council.”

Proximity of the Met Council’s sewer project to Lake Minnetonka will also trigger oversight by state regulatory agencies, specifically the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency. The forecasted $8 million price tag will be paid for through fees paid to the Met Council by 105 communities and not directly by local property owners.

“No property owners will be assessed for this,” Denz said.

Feedback received by the city and MET Council during Wednesday’s meeting will be presented to the Wayzata City Council in the next few weeks.