Plans for the controversial Lansing-area sewer project should become much more definitive Monday.

That’s because City Council is set to approve an assessment policy, which will determine how affected property owners will pay for the project. How much people will pay is still not fully set in stone — the city has received project bids and knows each of the roughly 200 residents should pay $15,590.17 per residence if costs are to be split evenly. However, citizens concerned with the assessments — and there have been many to date — will still get the chance to voice their thoughts during an assessment hearing, currently scheduled for June 21.

The assessment policy that could be enacted Monday states that residents will pay for 100 percent of the project. It also states that vacant properties will have up to five years or until developed to start paying, and that homes with compliant septic systems can wait up to five years to hook-up to the new city line.

Work on the new sewer is expected to begin in late-July, city engineer Jon Erichson said. Erichson also noted that the bids came in below estimates, which is why residents are looking at price tags closer to $15,000, rather than $17,000 to $18,000 as discussed earlier.

The line will bring septic service to a 338-acre piece of land to the north of town that officially joined the city early last year. Residents in Lansing Township originally petitioned to join the city to get a sewer system several years ago, but the process was drawn out as details of how the annexation and the project would occur were hammered out.

Without the sewer system, much of the area’s waste currently discharges into the Cedar River, which has prompted the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency to get involved and see that the issue gets resolved.