Shorewood’s Tight Deadline: Mill Street Water Main Decision

Hennepin County has scheduled a trail project from Chanhassen to Excelsior along Mill Street in 2026. An area of Shorewood lies within this section. Shorewood city council is challenged to determine whether to include a water main in its portion of the project, how to charge property owners and to create a city-wide municipal water policy: All of this in a two-month time period.

Background:

• Hennepin County has designed 60% of the project which will be bid in the fall.
• The county will cover the impact to pavement, turf repair, sediment/erosion control, temporary easements and utility coordination. Normally, these would be 100% city paid.
• By laying the pipe as part of this project, engineers anticipate a $200-300,000 savings.
• Shorewood’s engineer worked up two scenarios: (1) the cost of laying the pipe with stubs to each property line, and (2) an estimated cost for running pipe from the stub up to the house (paid by the property owner).
• The estimates for pipe from the stub to the house were done to give residents more information on the actual costs to add to discussions.

The city council discussed the complexity of the decision on Apr. 14, (start at p.70) in light of no formal city-wide policy on municipal water. Without a consistent policy, pipes have recently been installed as roads were reconstructed, leading to a somewhat piecemeal system. Three recent projects, Woodside Road, Strawberry Lane and Birch Bluff were completed with only tepid resident support for water and even fewer who connected. Property owners were not assessed for these projects as required by city ordinance resulting in a deficit in the water fund.

Council member Gorham said in this instance without a discussion that included residents, he felt the cart was before the horse. He prefers that the council reach consensus on policy before approaching residents. He wants to use the two-month window to develop an overall city water strategy so the council’s decision fits with the policy.

Sanschagrin was firm in saying that without knowing more about the residents’ willingness to connect, he is reluctant to move forward. He felt the affected residents should pay the full cost. He struggles with the cost benefit analysis, which continues to show few hook-ups. Shorewood residents are not convinced to hook up, even those who have access to water now. Sanschagrin said he is a hard “no” on proceeding without relevant data.

Maddy reminded the council that the entire city benefits from the completion of the Mill Street segment of water main. He stated any time a road is dug up a water pipe should be put in. Labadie, however, said the council was not prepared to make that decision at this meeting.

Other considerations:

• Inclusion of the long-term financial plan being developed, which should be tied in with this discussion of water policy
• Cost for staff-time, to develop a mailed piece to the affected residents, and to talk with them individually, $5,000 over the next six weeks.
• Results of discussion with property owners, and research results for data on municipal water on insurance rates and property values.

The council will schedule a series of work sessions to begin work on the overall municipal water policy.

More reading:

Drilling Down on City Water
Shorewood Violated its own Water Ordinance
Is Your Water Safe for Drinking?
Get Smarter: Shorewood Enterprise Funds Analysis