Revised Funding, Less Strings

SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer Board signed a letter of intent to meet revised conditions for funding from the United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development (RD). The board also voted to create sub districts in place of the current phases at its regular monthly meeting Aug. 18.

The RD funding offer consists of 5.7 million dollars in grants and 4.4 million in loans. The district has already secured the balance of the 12.75 million dollar project mainly in the form of grants. The funding package is only for the proposed wastewater treatment plant, main pipe to the plant and Phase I of the collection system.

The district received the original conditions last March. District Manager Greg Robertson has been negotiating some of the terms trying to make the system affordable.

The main condition that RD has changed according to Robertson is the requirement for Phase I and II to pay the full cost of the treatment plant and main pipeline to the plant.

The new conditions allow the district to spread those costs over the full district, all four phases. This reduces the cost of the debt in the first phases.

The new conditions also reset the dates for when the district must have the project debt elections and protests finished. The district now has 210 days from Aug. 17. Previously they had 150 days from March 9.

The offer does not reset the dates for starting construction. This gives the district 30 months remaining of the original 36 months. There is a possibility of a 24-month extension. The proposed project is now estimated to be advertised for bid in April of 2017 and estimated to be completed in the summer of 2019.

Another notable change is that RD has accepted the district’s idea to subsidize the first few years of the operating cost. The idea is to allow time for more connections to the sewer and spread the operating costs over a larger number of users. Again, this is to try and make it more affordable for the first phases.

The revised conditions letter also changed the wording in regards to whether the system will be voted on. Previously the conditions read: “The debt requires an approval by public vote or public notice with a protest period.”

“Or” was changed to “and” so it now reads, “The debt requires an approval by public vote and public notice with a protest period.”

It is still unclear if the vote will be only of registered voters living in the district or if there will be a provision for vacant landowners to vote. Either way, landowners will have a chance to protest.

The board also voted to change its phases to sub-districts. Montana law allows the district to charge different assessments for each of the phases but must be organized as sub-districts not phases.

For more information on the formation of sub-districts see the legal notice and map printed on page 2.

There will be a special hearing on creating the sub-districts at 5:15 p.m. Sept. 7. The hearing will be held at the Missoula County Satellite Office located at 3360 Highway 83.

The next regular SLSD board meeting is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Sept. 15. at the satellite office.