"We have somewhat committed to developers that we'll have the water treat-ment plant," he continued.  "Chanhassen and Chaska have had a steady 300 new homes a year for the last 15 years.  Chas-ka is now cranking it up to 600.  There's a history of growth in this area."
Jylan Johnson, the city's Finance Director pointed out, "There's an econo-mic risk to not plan for growth too.  You could build a $4.5 million plant, but if you get the growth, you'd have to do this again, faster and more expensive, later."
OCT. 28.  Mayor Jerry Bohn reported on October 28th that he and Mark Kaltsas had now met with top officials of the Metropolitan Council.  According to Steve Sarvi, "Jerry and Mark were not dealing with underlings, but top people appointed by the Governor."  Their names were Peter Bell, Bill Moore, and Tom Weaver.
Said Mayor Bohn, "They feel we will be able to get some more sewer capacity.  They feel they can upgrade the lift station and add 800 more units, and in 2010 build the gravity system.  If Victoria wants to build more than 800 homes, they'd prob-ably put in a holding tank and we'd pay for it.  It appears we have options here."
Continued the mayor, "It seems we can grow by 150 homes per year for the next five years, and in 2010 it'll be more.  I was encouraged by the meeting.  The option of not growing is not one that any-one wants.  It was a very cordial meeting.  I'm confident they are not going to stop our growth."
The mayor added that if a holding tank became necessary, developers would probably end up paying for it.
Planner Mark Kaltsas also gave his assessment on the meeting with the Met Council Top Dogs.  "They will commit to generate sewer capacity that allows us to continue growth," said Mark.  "It may not allow the 300 to 400 units per year that's shown on our Master Plan."
Continued Mark, "The Met Council has no interest in cutting us off.  We'll be able to continue at a pace we have for the last five to six years.  The exact number could be higher than 150, maybe 225.  Lundgren is expecting 375 to 400 units.  Actually, it's very likely they can do that, if they want to build the infrastructure.  The cost of a holding tank is not so expensive if you divide it up by the number of units.  It would probably be an above ground storage tank.  It's a difficult piece of infrastructure to site, but it's only a temporary two to three-year option."

According to City Engineer Jack Griffin, "We need to get contracts signed  now, and then meet with Borson to work out a construction schedule.  The contract requires the plant to be producing water by March, 2006, with final cleanup items by June 1st, 2006."
Added Jack, "The project begins with the contractor preparing, coordinating, and submitting shop drawings for all the equipment, pumps, and materials for engineering review, and orders the materi-als when approval is received.  Many of the components have a three to six-month lead time for delivery.  Therefore we do not expect to see excavation work on the site until next spring."

PULLTABS APPROVED FOR FLOYD'S BAR
EXPECTING MORE DOLLARS FOR CITY PROJECTS
The Chaska Lions received permis-sion to operate charitable gambling pull-tabs at Floyd's Bar in Victoria, in addition to its current operation at Schmitty's Tavern in Victoria. 
This will not be a project of the Vic-toria Lions mainly because there is no Victoria Lion who wants the job of Gambling Manager.  Rick Nolan of the Chaska Lions is the Gambling Manager for the Victoria sites.
Mr. Nolan attended the October 14th Victoria City Council meeting to refute information that had been given out at a past council meeting and published in the Gazette.  "We've contributed $14,850 totaled to date to Victoria plus $3,150 within the Victoria trade area -- to CART, the Battered Women group, and the District 112 Foundation.  So we've con-tributed $17,950 to date, and Schmitty's has accumulated an additional $10,000 for distribution in two months."
He continued, "Most of this has accu-mulated since February of 2003, when we were allowed a bar operation rather than a booth operation."  He added, "We have worked very closely with the Victoria Lions as to how they'd like the funds disbursed."
Since the gambling operation was more profitable for Victoria than they pre-viously thought, Victoria councilmembers approved expansion of the gambling oper-ation to Floyd's.
Predicted Mayor Jerry Bohn, "I actually predict that with the addition of Floyd's into the system, the business at Schmitty's will pick up.  People like to visit more than one place."
The Victoria Lions have recommend-ed that 60% of the allowable charitable donations be donated to the City of Vic-toria for use by the Parks and Recreation Department.

GIFT OF DEFIBRILLATOR FOR THE FIELD HOUSE
FROM MRS. BARB HEUTHER
Councilmembers accept-ed a donation from Barb Heuther of Victoria for the purchase of an Automated External Defibrillator for the Victoria Field House.
The gift is a direct result of response by the Victoria Fire Department and the Carver County Sheriff's Office to a medical emergency at the Heuther home at Smithtown Road in Victoria.  Approximate cost of the defibrillator is $2,000. 
According to Victoria Fire Chief Gary Sohns, who presented a plaque of recognition to Mrs. Heuther, Paul Heuther passed away from a brain hemorrhage, and his wife Barb gave the funeral memorials to the Victoria Fire Department and the Carver County Sheriff's Department.  He said the VFD received over $1,900 to use toward some piece of equipment, and the Department chose the A.E.D.

DOWNTOWN IMPROVEMENTS DONE
CITY PICKING UP MOST OF THE COST
The downtown project is completed and now it has to be paid for.  On October 14th, at a regularly scheduled city council meeting, an assessment hearing was held declaring the amount to be assessed against the benefiting properties.  Only two property owners appeared before councilmembers to make statements or ask questions ...

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