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Because it isn't good for our living environment. When a septic system fails, it causes untreated sewage to be released and transported to where it shouldn't be. This may cause sewage to come to the surface of the ground around the tank or the drainfield or to back up in pipes in the building. The sewage could also find its way into groundwater, surface water or marine water without us ever seeing it. The sewage carries pathogens and other dangerous contaminants. Exposure to these pathogens and...
SEELEY LAKE – The community is invited to join the Seeley Lake Community Council Feb. 14 to keep up-to-date on important issues. The Council will meet at the Seeley Lake Historical Museum and Visitors Center, 2920 Highway 83, at 6 p.m. with pizza and water served at 5:30 p.m. There will also be a Zoom link for those who wish to join virtually. The Council’s agenda for February includes: • Montana Department of Transportation/HDR Engineering: Salmon Lake Highway 83 Reconstruction project update • Alex Ramsing, Landlord Liaison, Homeword Inc: re...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board brought on its new manager and discussed how to move forward to identify and implement a solution to Seeley’s wastewater issues at its Jan. 20 meeting. The Board was also informed that Missoula County would no longer provide some of the services formerly given to the District. Vice President Pat Goodover presented an idea to put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) to the various manufacturers who have presented their products to the Board in the last few months. The manufacturers would be giv...
There are several Missoula County governing board positions up for election May 3 in Potomac, Seeley Lake and the Swan Valley. Candidates can file their Oath of Candidacy form through the Missoula County Elections office for Special District elections until Feb. 7 at 5 p.m. The deadline for filing for School District elections is March 24 at 5 p.m. The Oath of Candidacy must be signed before a notary and mailed or delivered to the Missoula County Elections Office, 140 North Russell Street, Missoula, MT 59801 prior to the deadline. There are als... Full story
1) Have your septic tank system inspected and pumped regularly Sludge in large quantities can only be eliminated by a professional pumper. You should have a pumper inspect your septic system to determine if the accumulation of solid waste is too high and needs to be removed. It is recommend the average septic system should be inspected every 3-5 years. Five key factors that influence the frequency with which you'll need to have your septic system pumped: household size, total wastewater...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board selected a candidate for their open Interim District Manager position and heard a presentation from a manufacturer of wastewater treatment systems at its Dec. 16 meeting. The Board interviewed two candidates, David Losee and William (Bill) Decker for the manager position at last month’s meeting. After a 15-minute executive session the Board unanimously voted to offer the job to Decker. “It was a really tough decision because both of the candidates are highly qualified,” said Board Preside...
SEELEY LAKE – At their Nov. 18 meeting, the Seeley Lake Sewer District Board interviewed two candidates for the District Manager position, heard a presentation on an alternative sewer and voted to fund E-DNA testing on Seeley Lake. A vote to continue funding of a high school water-testing program on Morrell Creek failed. The Board interviewed David Losee and William (Bill) Decker for the open District Manager position. Both are Seeley Lake residents who live outside of the Sewer District and both said they would not rule out ever investing i...
In celebration of 35 years of the Seeley Swan Pathfinder, each week we will run parts of articles that appeared in the issue 35 years ago and 20 years ago. The entire issue will be uploaded to our website seeleylake.com for you to enjoy. We hope you will enjoy the journey with us as we follow our community through the past 35 years as documented by the Pathfinder. 35 years ago: Nov. 26, 1986 issue Library may open to community Seeley Lake residents may have an opportunity to use the high school...
HOW DOES YOUR SEPTIC SYSTEM WORK? The septic tank holds the wastewater from homes or businesses until solid debris settles at the bottom of the tank (the sludge layer) and lighter waste, such as oil, rises to the top (the scum layer). Between the two layers lies the effluent liquid, which flows into an outlet pipe and is gradually dissipated through a drain field. Bacteria in the septic tank naturally break down organic waste matter and slows the accumulation of the sludge layer. WHAT IF THERE...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council will have its November meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 8 at the Seeley Lake Historical Museum and Visitors Center, 2920 Highway 83N. Pizza and water will be served starting at 5:30 p.m. This meeting will be a Senior Symposium, providing an overview of the many services available to the senior population in the valley. Presenters will include Missoula Aging Services, Seeley Lake Community Foundation, the Seeley Lake Senior Center (Sela Senci), the Seeley Lake Community Food Bank and others. Don’t m...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board discussed the hiring process for a manager, water testing and hosted representatives from two wastewater treatment companies at their Oct. 21 meeting. The District has received two applicants for its open Interim District Manager position from Seeley Lake residents. While a job description was approved in July, the interview process and interview questions for the position were not created. The Board voted to approve the interview questions at the November meeting ahead of interviewing the a...
SEELEY LAKE – At their Monday, Oct. 11 meeting, the Seeley Lake Community Council voted to send a letter to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks asking them to fix the RV Dump Station at Clearwater Junction by next spring. They also discussed the speed limit radar signs. Council member Bruce Friede started the conversation regarding the RV Dump at the Clearwater Junction. He said there are 15 campgrounds in the area from Ovando on Highway 200 north on Highway 83 to Holland Lake. This does not include all the RV dispersed camping that happens in the...
In celebration of 35 years of the Seeley Swan Pathfinder, each week we will run parts of articles that appeared in the issue 35 years ago and 20 years ago. The entire issue will be uploaded to our website seeleylake.com for you to enjoy. We hope you will enjoy the journey with us as we follow our community through the past 35 years as documented by the Pathfinder. 35 years ago: Oct. 16, 1986 issue - Community Survey First impressions Computers began to digest the preliminary data from the... Full story
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council will hold its October meeting on Monday, Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. This will be a virtual meeting via Zoom All members of the community are encouraged to join, and a full agenda will be posted on the Seeley Lake Community Council Facebook page prior to the meeting. There will be an update from the Sewer District by board member Cheri Thompson, and an update on Forest Service activities by District Ranger Quinn Carver. In addition, the Council will consider new bylaws recommended by the county...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council resumed their monthly virtual meetings Monday, Sept. 13. There, attendees listened to representatives from the Seeley Lake Ranger District and Seeley Lake Sewer District talk about their groups’ upcoming plans. Seeley Lake Ranger District recreation manager Matt Walter announced that Lake Alva and River Point Campgrounds will be closed by Oct. 1. Seeley Lake Campground is already closed and Big Larch remains open year round but there are no services and the roads will not be plowed. He said t...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board discussed a variety of items at their Sept. 16 meeting including paying plaintiff’s legal fees for failed lawsuits against the District, funding for a high school water testing program and dissolving the District. Board President Tom Morris received a letter from Don Larson asking for “help from the community” to pay legal bills related to a pair of lawsuits Larson filed to fight the proposed community sewer. In the letter, Larson states that he has already paid $84,000 and has been billed for...
During its reorganization period, the Sewer Board has developed an "Action Plan." The purpose was to create a working document that would guide the actions of the board over the foreseeable future. This is a living plan that will be updated as time goes on but will form a foundation for moving forward. The areas of focus, with sub-points, are: 1. Improve communication throughout the District. Securing member contact information to use for surveys, digital newsletters, share information,...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council is resuming its monthly meetings the second Monday of the month. The September meeting will be held via Zoom starting at 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 13. The agenda includes presentations regarding affordable housing with Homeword Inc., an update on the plans from the Seeley Lake Sewer District, and information on the activities and plans for the fall on the Seeley Lake Ranger District. Everyone is invited to attend the meeting. Feel free to bring to the Council any other matters that are important to...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board approved their Action Plan and jumped into action with reports on improving the District’s communication and researching sewer alternatives at its Aug. 19 meeting. The Action Plan, which had been discussed at length the last couple months, received very little updates from last month’s meeting with the exception of a spreadsheet to track work. Director Cheri Thompson said she added the spreadsheet so the Board could track work being done and better communicate that information to the publi...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer Board is sorting out its priorities and finally heading in a good direction. I appreciate the work done by Beth Hutchinson who has worked tirelessly on behalf of Seeley Lake to ensure a sensible wastewater treatment policy. Without Hutchinson’s efforts, the 500 sewer district residents would be stuck with an ill-conceived, $35 million sewer project pushed by local development groups who have large land holdings in the district. She is a shining example of what community involvement should be and her cool h...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board continued discussing an Action Plan for moving forward at its July 15 meeting. In other business, Vice President Beth Hutchinson resigned her position ahead of the meeting and the Board approved a job description for an Interim General Manager position. The proposed Action Plan is a four-page document explaining the direction the Board intends to take in the coming year. In the overview it states that the Board will focus on assembling information to inform itself and constituents about w...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board adopted a resolution setting the method and assessment to collect taxes for their 2021-22 fiscal year at a hearing June 28. Following the hearing, the Board held its regular monthly meeting where it discussed an action plan laying out direction for the District and hiring a manager. The Board only received a half dozen protest letters out of the more than 500 properties in the District. District Manager Jean Curtiss said she received a few phone calls regarding the assessment. One of the issues...
SEELEY LAKE - Voters unanimously defeated a $35-million albatross sewer proposal but the message seems to have fallen on deaf ears. Now the Sewer Board wants to charge resident homeowners $250/year for each parcel in the district. Many residences sit on two, even three parcels so the owners will be paying $500-750 a year for what? Stuff the County Health Department should have been doing from the get-go If the Missoula County Health Department would do its job we wouldn’t even NEED a Sewer District Board. The Board has FAILED to properly m...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board appointed Cheri Thompson to serve on the Board and adopted an equal assessment method for next year’s tax assessment at their May 20 meeting. In other business, the Board hired an interim manager, heard a presentation on a water study in the area and discussed studying the groundwater with the Health Department. Thompson was the only applicant to fill Director Walt Hill’s seat after he resigned in February. The Board interviewed Thompson at the meeting. Thompson said the reason she applied is b...
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Lake Community Council heard updates regarding the Bob Marshall Music Festival, the status of the sewer project, Paws Up’s use of two motels for employee housing, and U.S. Forest Service summer projects during their regularly scheduled meeting Monday, May 10. Bob Marshall Music Festival Heidi O’Brien, Lewis and Clark Brewing marketing director, provided updates on the Bob Marshall Music Festival. She said they were ready to make any adaptations required should conditions change in the weeks leading up to the festival sch...
