Woodbury preps for development with a major sewer project

Future development begins with the basics, and let's face it, there's nothing more basic than sewers.

That's why a major sewer project poised to begin in Woodbury this spring is about more than just laying the pipe expected to carry away nearly 4 million gallons of sewage a day: It portends the opening up of a new residential area that could grow at a rate of up to 600 housing units per year by 2020.

Despite an ailing housing economy, plans are forging ahead in part because that same downturn is making it a great time for cities to finance construction projects, said Melissa Douglas, Woodbury's senior planner.

"There's really a couple of different philosophies around it, because construction prices are very good right now," she said.

The City Council, led by new Mayor Mary Giuliani Stephens, will discuss the trunk sewer plan in January and February, Douglas said. That will likely lead to two significant decisions: First, whether to proceed with the project, and second, whether it's the right time to open up the area for development.

The housing market will drive the second decision, Douglas said, as the city takes into account things like foreclosures and the availability of other lots.

The City Council could opt to put the sewer in even if it decides it's not the right time to start development. Or it could proceed on both the sewer work and the development.

The Bailey Lake trunk sewer project has been in the works for several years as planners like Douglas have plotted out the most logical and least disruptive route. Throughout the planning process, city officials have been meeting with affected property owners to let them know where and when building will begin.

The project, estimated to cost $3 million, will snake north and east from Woodbury Drive (County Road 19) near the city's southern border to a point just south of the end of Pioneer Drive near East Ridge High School. The sewer pipe will be buried from 13 to 58 feet in the ground, and vary in diameter from 15 to 27 inches. It will travel about 2 1/2 miles before connecting to a 30-inch main sewer line that ultimately leads to the waste treatment plant in Cottage Grove.

The timeline is preliminary, but the contract could be awarded next May, and sewers could be ready to use in the spring of 2012, according to planning documents.

The sewers are designed to serve the future site of a residential area called Phase 2 in the city's comprehensive plan, which is essentially the guidebook for where and how development will unfold.

Phase 2 encompasses a 2,150-acre area of land that is now mostly open fields south of Bailey Road to the city's southern border between west of Radio Drive (County Road 13) to east of Woodbury Drive.

There is enough land to accommodate the addition of 600 housing units a year through 2020, planning documents say.

The sewer project is just one piece of the infrastructure puzzle that must be pieced together before the new houses go in. Wells, storm water management systems and roads will be added as construction plans come to life.

The city has funds set aside for that work, and some costs will be recovered from developers as well as through connection charges for water and sewer service.