With one sewer expansion under its belt, it makes sense for Koochiching County to consider another.
And while extension of sewer lines to the Island View will take a lot of money and planning, beginning talks about it now is the right thing to do.
Extending sewer should add value to residences, businesses, and vacant lots while at the same time helping to ensure that the quality of Rainy Lake remains high, something all county residents should favor.
In addition, an extension would allow residents with individual septic systems to avoid state and federal regulations, which continue to become more stringent and costly.
County staff, elected officials and residents learned a lot when sewer lines were extended from the Crystal Beach area east of International Falls to the Jackfish Bay area of Rainy Lake. That expertise can help to lead this discussion. We urge this new push to extend sewer lines to the Island View area to include all views of the proposal in the discussion in an effort to avoid the confusion, frustration and anger that occurred in that previous project.
A public informational meeting earlier this month drew about 80 people from the Island View area, with many encouraging county officials to move forward.
But, as county officials know, the true test of residents’ approval will be the costs to individual property owners. Now, the total cost for the project is estimated at $11.2 million.
Clearly, more information about how this would impact — both financially and geographically — area residents is needed before discussions can proceed. At the same time, county officials must begin to search for sources that can aid the project, whether financially or with other resources.
Regardless of the effort ahead, residents and officials are moving in the right direction.