Preserving Ham Lake's character while addressing challenges

Feb 11, 2010

I have often talked about Ham Lake’s future as it relates to the changes in the region.  I have repeatedly made the argument that as our region of the metropolitan area changes the impacts on our city will be great.

The primary goal of the Ham Lake city council has always been to protect the rural character of our city. However, I have advocated a different approach than the rest of the council that has not been previously presented to the public for discussion. I have suggested that we should take advantage of and collaborate with the Met Council and utilize the wastewater treatment plant soon to be built in East Bethel.

I continue to suggest we allow the market forces to create a sewer district in about 7% of the northern part of the city. I believe this is a viable option and the collective wastewater will spur economic development and provide a tax base for future needs, allow seniors and first time home owners options to stay in the city, provide shopping amenities to our residents and solve the long-term problems with out-of-compliance septic systems around the southern portion of Coon Lake.

One of the main objections I heard from people is that once we work with the Met Council they will dictate the future of our city. Despite the absence of the Met Council’s legal authority to do so, the apprehension still exists. Every year the chair of the Met Council delivers the State of the Region address. Recently I attended and learned quite a bit about its history and its current role.

The fear of the Met Council among some is apparent. About two years ago a resident called me and said, “The Met Council is nothing more than a bunch of Liberals in St. Paul trying to control everything.” This just seemed so inaccurate that I did some checking and found out that the Met Council was signed into law in 1967 by Republican Governor Harold LeVander.

Not only was it a Republican governor, the Republicans also had a majority in both the house (93-42) and the senate (45-22) when the Met Council was formed. In fact, Governor LeVander did not run for a second term and opted to be the director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association instead. I guess that dispels that rumor. But it does speak to the state of our broken politics we have today. If you don’t like something, just blame the other party.

Governor Lavander said the Met Council “was concerned with the idea that we will be faced with more and more problems that will pay no heed to the boundary lines which mark the end of one community and the beginning of another.”  When you consider the situations Ham Lake now faces – he was right. The creation of the Met Council was by forward thinking people who understood the bigger issues and knew that good planning was essential.  His thoughts then could easily have been about Ham Lake today.

When the Met Council was created, communities around the metro had their own municipal septic systems and many were discharging inadequately treated water into rivers, lakes and streams. The Met Council inherited 33 municipal systems and all but four were inadequate. Within ten years, 21 of these plants were closed and four new ones were built. The conservation of our natural resources is essential to our collective health and anyone who enjoys the great Minnesota tradition of hunting or fishing. Remember when government took on big projects because there was a need?

Today, the metro system is served by eight regional plants and treats 30 million gallons of water each day. The water that is discharged into the river is cleaner than the water that is already there. The Met Council regularly wins national awards from environmental groups for its ability to effectively treat wastewater while maintaining costs that are 25% lower than similar sized systems.

A recent survey polled elected officials around the metropolitan area. 75% of respondents stated that the Met Council was responsive to their needs and 96% stated they were satisfied with their wastewater services. And to no one’s surprise, nearly 60% wanted more transit for their communities.

The Met Council oversees and implements mass transit for the region and the ridership continues to grow at a rapid rate. The Park and Ride on Interstate 35W and 95th Avenue was full very shortly after it opened. They recently added a ramp and that is filling up quickly too. If all goes well, with the assistance of the Met Council, we too may soon have express bus service to Downtown Minneapolis on Highway 65.

There is no doubt that the Met Council has done things over the years to raise legitimate concerns. However, what elective body hasn’t?  That is how government works:  not everyone will agree. The current leadership of the Met Council understands fully that each community has their individual goals and desires and does not want that to change. But, it’s imperative to understand that if all communities act as though they are an island, the Twin Cities would be a terrible place to do business. No wonder we have 18 Fortune 500 companies in the seven county metro area.

One last thing about the Met Council:  in 1970 the Met Council vetoed the Metropolitan Airports Commission’s desire to build a second major airport right here in Ham Lake. They feared environmental damage to Carlos Avery, the largest wildlife refuge in the state. Talk about a loss of rural character!  In a roundabout sort of way, we can partially thank them for our rural character. No one would be hunting or riding snowmobiles in Ham Lake today if that had been the case.

To protect our rural character we cannot live in the past. We need to understand the present and look into the future and anticipate challenges. In my opinion, it’s easy to be an elected official and resist change. Change is one of the hardest things for people to accept in general. The difficult part of leadership is to challenge status quo in ways that will improve our long-term goals; to swim up-stream and not give into the fears of tomorrow.

Paul Meunier

Anoka County Union