Some Lake Elmo residents call new sewer plan bull...poo
A plan to build a $6 million sewer line in Lake Elmo is creating a divide among its residents and public officials.
Many residents have been protesting the plan over the past month that would call for a near 3 mile sewer line to be built between I-94 and 30 st.
The reason why some residents are so upset is the possibility of the downtown area called "old village" being changed during this suburbanizing process. The members of PeoPLE (People for Preserving Lake Elmo) don't want Lake Elmo to lose its small town charm.
City council members are saying two things 1) That downtown won't change, they are just wanting to add 600-1,600 homes, a YMCA and other developments in the surrounding area; so that the city, with current population of 7,000, can accomodate 24,000 by the year 2030. 2) The city council approved the plan proposal way back in April, so they are wondering why protesters waited so long.
The thing that has made this so ugly is the interesting fact that protesting residents have had signs expressing their contempt of the plan in their lawns for months, and now all of the sudden, the county highway department has taken out the signs calling them a, "public safety concern." Protesting residents cannot prove it, but are skeptical that the mayor and city council are behind it to shut them up.
The ugliness continues on Thursday, the city council will review an engineer's report on the sewer line.
SOURCE: http://www.twincities.com/ci_7168231?IADID=Search-www.twincities.com-www.twincities.com&nclick_check=1