SEELEY LAKE - The very life of Seeley Lake depends on getting a sewage treatment system into Seeley Lake. This is not just rhetoric on my part. Seeley Lake cannot build affordable housing without a sewer system. Seeley Lake cannot progress and bring more businesses in until we get a sewer system. This is not just for us but for those that will follow.
Loren Rose, Chief Operating Officer at Pyramid Mountain Lumber Inc., has stated, “The high cost of housing in and around Seeley Lake means more Pyramid employees are commuting to work. A sewer system that allows for the construction of moderately priced housing, would be very beneficial to Pyramid. It makes sense for the community to be proactive and protect our drinking water before some agency comes in and hands us an unfunded mandate. While no one likes the cost today, it will be exponentially worse if we leave our fate to the chance of some regulatory agency.”
We have a fantastic opportunity at this time. We have received an $8 million grant from the U.S. Rural Development fund which will provide about two-thirds of the cost of the system and Phase 1 transmission system. This is an once-in-a-lifetime gift! And we will not see this again if we don’t use it now.
The Sewer Board is well aware of the burden of the cost falling on a relatively few in the district with limited income. Plans are in place to help relieve that burden with the help of Missoula County and with many outside the district willing to help defray expenses. There are additional ways to help defray these costs but we must all pull together and realize that Seeley Lake cannot progress without a sewer.
All discussions of whether there are better ways, alternate plans and other changes needed have been weighed and the proposed plan is the best result we have. Now is the time to band together, bite the bullet and get the sewer in. I urge all of us to vote for this massive improvement for Seeley Lake and Montana!
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