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Council committee approves oversizing and extension of mains for Voyager Heights; to be paid with project ‘whack’ and ‘sack’ fees
Summary
Staff recommended, and the committee approved, an oversizing and extension plan for water and sanitary mains tied to the Voyager Heights development, estimated at about $150,000 for water upgrades and $115,000 for sanitary upgrades, to be funded by the project’s whack and sack charges.
Brainerd City committee members approved staff’s recommendation to oversize and extend water and sanitary mains as part of the Voyager Heights development and to use the project’s whack and sack charges to cover the upgrades.
City engineer Jesse Dean said staff reviewed the developer’s proposed publicly owned utilities and recommended adding capacity to accommodate potential adjacent development. Staff estimated approximately $150,000 in water‑main upgrades and $115,000 in sanitary‑sewer upgrades tied to oversizing. Dean said the city expects to receive roughly $159,600 and $216,600 in whack and sack charges from this project that could fund the proposed upgrades.
Engineers explained that extending the 12‑inch water main down Greenwood Street to Highway 371B and looping to Andrew Street would increase fire flows in the Andrew Street area and remove existing dead‑end lines in south Brainerd, improving redundancy. Councilmembers discussed the risk that oversized mains could remain unused but agreed the looping and redundancy benefits outweighed that risk. The committee voted to approve the oversizing plan and authorize use of the project’s whack and sack fees; the motion carried on voice vote.
