The issue has taken up much  councilmembers' time over the last 25 years and especially during the month of October, 2005.  It's on the burner again today because the Metropolitan Council is in the process of upgrading its regional sewer system, which runs under the cul-vert connecting Lake Virginia and Lake Minnetonka. 
The Met Council will pay to put it all back together once they take it apart, but if a box culvert big enough for a pontoon is the city's request, the city would be charged for the oversizing, which could mean a half million dollar charge to Vic-toria taxpayers. 
The City of Victoria is involved be-cause the culvert is, reportedly, the city's culvert, one they inherited from the state or the county or the township when the area was annexed to Victoria.  And yet Victoria is being asked to apply for a permit to the Met Council for this project.

October 13^th, 2005
Residents at Lake Virginia Shores attended the October 13 city council meet-ing to give their viewpoint on what should be done about the channel between Lake Minnetonka and Lake Virginia.  Their representative Greg Lang passed to coun-cilmembers a list of signatures represent-ing 40 households at Lake Virginia, some beyond the city limits of Victoria.
"The residents would like the city to take advantage of the work being done by the Metropolitan Waste Control Comis-sion," he said.  "We'd like a navigable channel.  Lake Virginia does have a pub-lic boat launch.  Other residents could take advantage of getting from one lake to the other."
"The city's website talks grandly of its lakes," continued Mr. Lang.  "Lake Virginia is one of them, as is part of Lake Minnetonka.  It seems this is an opportune time to take this step.  I believe the sewer board would pay for most if not all of the project.  I'd guess over 90% of our home-owners signed the petition, including some Shorewood residents."
He added, "This issue was old when I got there.  It resurfaces frequently.  I understand there has never been an oppor-tunity like there is now - where somebody else would pay for it besides the city and the residents."
Councilmember Kim Roden asked, "What about residents on the Lake Minne-tonka side of the channel?"
"They were not petitioned," he said.
Councilmember Mary Thun said, "I'd like to see just exactly what those agen-cies would cover in costs.  I'd suggest they come prepared to discuss costs."
Added Kim, "I think the residents should also know what the impact on their property taxes will be."  Access to Lake Minnetonka probably means an increase in property taxes.
City Planner Eric Zweber pointed out the agencies will also have to review what can and cannot be done from a legal perspective.

October 27^th, 2005
One of the concerns was safety.  If people try to navigate the channel with a piece of watercraft that gets stuck, someone can get hurt and someone can get sued.
Stated City Attorney Mike Norton, "It sounds like we're basically being put in the middle.  Without knowing what the DNR, the Watershed District, and the Met Council are going to permit, I don't know your level of discretionary immunity.  My sense is that you don't have enough infor-mation at this time."
He added, "You can withdraw the permit if you don't get the answers you want.  Do you own the culvert?  I'm not sure that you do considering the permit-ting process you're being asked to go through."
Stated City Councilmember Terry Bishop about the possibility of tabling or  delaying the issue, "We have the attention of the Met Council right now!  And don't forget this is a problem related to sewage and the smell."  Some Victoria residents have complained for years about an inter-mittent odor in the area.
Several Lake Virginia and Lake Minnetonka (Smithtown Bay) homeown-ers spoke to the issue.  Gene O'Brien, Lake Virginia, said, "I'm in favor of navigation between the lakes -- like small watercraft and pontoons."
Tom Sheehan, Smithtown Terrace, said, "If you enlarge the channel you're exchanging one hazard for another.  It'll become a snowmobile highway.  I'm in favor of the status quo."
Jeff Marshall, Lake Minnetonka, said, "I would challenge the assumption there is currently access for a canoe or a kayak between the two lakes."
Thomas Thompson, Smithtown Terrace since 1959, said, "There have been times when there was no movement between the lakes.  I can't believe there's really any way to have access.  We do not have access between the two lakes.  I believe the effort to make it happen would bring in snowmobiles.  Status quo has the least liability, the least expense, and it'll work."
Resident Marian Carpenter said, "The people who originally put in the road could have blocked the connection between the lakes but they didn't.  The configuration of Lake Virginia isn't any different than many of the bays that have been created for Lake Minnetonka over the years."
She continued, "Forty-four residents have signed a petition who want greater access and are willing to pay the extra taxes.  I can't imagine the city turning that down.  We've got money on the table.  We've got residents willing to pay more taxes!  At least listen to what the residents are asking you to do." 
Her recommendation was the large 14 by 14-foot box culvert.
Rick Adams of Lake Virginia said, "A lot of cities would spend a lot of money to have a lake like Lake Virginia.  There's life above and below the culvert.  We need the sewer system, but every-thing around dumps into Lake Virginia and it could become a holding pond full of chemicals.
"Lake Virginia is a recreational lake.  Do you have a list of pro's for opening up the channel?  Why don't we bring Maynard's restaurant into the picture?  There's also an economic issue.  I don't believe we're getting all of our options here.  We're talking about something the City of Victoria should be proud to have.  Let's not kill it.
"Back in 1988, getting the Met Coun-cil to move was like moving a mountain.  Well, now the mountain is moving.  If you make something nice, people are going to treat it nice."
Said John Quest of Lake Virginia, "Please consider adverse impact on the shoreline for landowners.  I'm sure the DNR could do an impact study so you're not dealing with conjecture and innuendo regarding channel traffic."
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