With one of the wettest springs on record many people around the state are dealing with flooding and high waters. Some residents of a small town on Lake Minnetonka are experiencing a different type of flooding: raw sewage. Due to the high water levels on Lake Minnetonka and an outdated sewage line many residents have found their basements, houses and yards filled with raw sewage.
City of Mound officials are pointing the finger at the Metropolitan Council, claiming that their decade-long delay to upgrade the sewer system is to blame. The Council, on the other hand, says that the systems they control are upgraded and that it’s up to individual cities to upgrade their sewer systems.
What about the residents? With all of this political finger pointing and bureaucracy the only ones losing out are the ones that the paid elected officials should be taking care of. Instead of passing blame to each other, they should be focused on an immediate fix and a long term solution, as well as providing assistance to those homeowners that have had their homes turned into a sewage treatment facility without any kind of warning.
The biggest reason that no one is accepting responsibility for this problem is they are worried about the financial burden it would put on either party. Instead of passing the blame the two parties involved should collaborate and get to a speedy resolution of the problem. The problem is sure to not go away quietly.
Peter Ripka is the co-host of the Rambling On podcast. He's a blogger and analyst who specializes in sports, particularly hockey and baseball. Reach him via email or find him on Facebook and Twitter.