Future of Sewer Discussed

Seeley Lake Sewer

SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board discussed the future of the sewer district at its May 17 meeting after voters elected three new board members. In other business the board questioned legal fees due to a public information request and got an update on water testing. The board also continued moving the project forward by approving an update to the Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) and a resolution to apply for grants to begin acquiring funding for Phase 2 of the collection system. The resolution to levy current annual assessments was also passed.

With the three new incoming board members whose terms don’t start until June sitting in the audience and the three current board members who were defeated in the May 8 election in attendance, tension in the room was thick.

Just seven minutes into the meeting, board President Mike Boltz had to break up a heated exchange between an outgoing and incoming board members. Despite their differing views and opinions, everyone was relatively respectful the remainder of the hour and fifteen minute meeting.

Outgoing board member Mike Lindemer addressed the incoming board members and asked that they put their heart into it and really consider that the Rural Development funding package has a short timeline on it. He said that leading up to the election he felt that a lot of misinformation had been spread and that people didn’t have right information. He hopes that the new board members will seek out information and realize that town needs this to address water quality issues. There are many opportunities with non-profits and the county to help low income people afford the sewer.

Incoming board member Beth Hutchinson said she appreciated Lindemer’s comments and concerns. She said she did not intend to come in and take everything out of order. She said a lot of her questions and concerns have been with the process. She plans to reach out to residents and property owners to exchange information so they can make better choices. She said the solution may be the one the district has in the works or it may be a modified situation.

Several board members agreed that the district has struggled with informing the public but expressed their frustration that people won’t show up to their public meetings every month.

Board member Bob Skiles questioned why the district had to pay $5,000 in attorney fees to review a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for emails made by the Pathfinder. Though the $5,657.95 invoice does include several line items totaling $1379.50 regarding the FOIA, the remaining $4,278.45 covers other district business.

Boltz asked the Pathfinder what the FOIA was for, what the Pathfinder wanted to know and what was found.

The Pathfinder explained that it had put in the request to Missoula County for emails sent to and from District Manager Greg Robertson’s county email account regarding the Seeley Lake Sewer District. Three months worth of emails were requested for the time period leading up to the sewer district’s notice and protest period in the fall of 2017.

Based on the invoice, the charges to the district from its attorney were to review emails and determine if the district could withhold certain emails under attorney client privilege. Fourteen emails were withheld from the FOIA request.

The Pathfinder put in the request to look for board decisions that were being made outside of public meetings. Over the years, board members had stated that they didn’t have a choice in some decisions and that they were being told how things had to be by various agencies.

In the emails provided to the Pathfinder though the FOIA, there was one decision that appears to have been made involving board members outside of a public meeting. Leading up to the notice and protest period the district changed its assessment methodology from charging commercial designated land a higher rate than residential land to assessing all properties equally. Robertson had emailed the district secretary information about the change and requested that she forward it to the board. After no response to the email, the secretary followed up with the board members and then replied to Robertson that board members approved the change.

Lindemer said he felt that particular decision had been discussed in previous meetings and that due to time constraints it required the district to take action to keep the project moving forward.

Vince Chappell gave the board an update on the surface water and well testing results for the first quarter he performed March 29. Chappell said that the next several tests could be all over the board due to the high runoff. The flushing of the groundwater could bring in cleaner water or it could bring in more contaminants.

Well number one is showing similar results to the same time last year at with nitrates testing at 9.39 milligrams per liter (mg/L). Well number two tested at 1.38 mg/L, which is higher than last year at this time though last year’s test was abnormally low. Well number three was unable to be tested due to a vehicle being parked in the way. The test wells at the proposed treatment site are all steady with previous testing with two wells nitrates at 0.16 mg/L and the third 0.15 mg/L. All of the test wells are showing that the ground water is higher than normal.

The surface water test sites are all showing similar nitrates to previous years.

The next regular board meeting is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. June 21 at the Missoula County Satellite Office located at 3360 Highway 83.

 

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