The Glencoe City Council voted to withdraw the city’s contested case petition over permitted phosphorous levels with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) and execute a settlement and release with the MPCA at its Tuesday, Sept. 5, meeting.
Attorney Daniel Marx of Flaherty & Hood, P.A., met with the city’s finance committee Aug. 23 to discuss the contested case.
According to Marx, the two options available to the city were either litigation or to withdraw the contested case petition and aggressively pursue state funding for the city’s wastewater treatment facility (WWTF) improvements project.
Marx wrote in his explanation and recommendation to the city that “there is nothing in law that forces MPCA to respond to a contested case petition in a specific timeframe.” The MPCA’s lack of timely response heightens risk for the city, due to concerns with the viability of the city’s present wastewater infrastructure.
Marx stated that the litigation process could take between one to three years and cost the city an estimated $150,000 to $300,000, and there is no guarantee that the lawsuit would be successful.
For more about the issue, see the Sept. 13 print edition of The Chronicle.
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[2] http://www.glencoenews.com/category/byline/katie-ballalatak
[3] http://www.glencoenews.com/category/section/news