City selects $18M treatment plant

POLSON — Concerned about funding construction of an $18.3 million wastewater treatment plant, city officials hope to phase in rate increases to ease customers’ added burden and shock.

After about two years of grappling over federally mandated regulations forcing construction of a new plant, city council members voted unanimously Monday to pursue construction of what they believe is the better of two alternatives.

“About 12 years ago the city did a 10-year Band Aid (to improve the plant),” City Manager Mark Shrives said Thursday. “That Band Aid is worn out.”

Option 1 called for a $15.7 million facility while Option 2, which uses a different process, will cost an estimated $18.3 million, according to a city report.

As proposed, the new plant will cost ratepayers an estimated $64 extra every month, Shrives said. That would mean the average monthly bill could jump to an estimated $94 if not phased in, according to the report.

“That would be an engineer’s estimate, which is always a worst-case scenario,” Shrives said.

Councilman John Campbell expressed the thoughts of many city officials regarding the added financial burden to ratepayers. He said he has friends who live on fixed incomes.

“This will be big for them,” Campbell said. “The non-profit organizations, the aging, that’s what’s killing me here. We need to do something for certain people. Find ways to help people who really need help.”

He suggested starting to phase in slightly rising rates starting as soon as possible.

“If we can bank some of that money, it wouldn’t hurt,” he said.

City Sewer Superintendent Tony Porrazzo said the city already has a method for helping those who struggle to pay the sewer fees.

“We have to be careful because people will take advantage but we’ve always been able to weed those people out,” he said. “I’m sure we can come up with a way to help them adjust.”

City officials are confident they will receive about $750,000 in grant money and hope to secure a state loan to pay the balance. Coupled with city reserve funding, Shrives hopes to drive down the monthly rates, he said.

The grant will help, Shrives said.

“And we will still go out and see what other grants might be out there,” he said.

The “lagoon” plant served the city for decades but its age, more users and stricter ecological regulations rendered it obsolete, Porrazzo said.

He said all the communities around Flathead Lake are depositing their treated wastewater into the lake or river and that is increasing the amount of nutrients that use oxygen, which makes it harder for fish and fauna to survive.

The eventual result is a “dead lake,” he said.

“We live here and we care about the lake and the river,” Porrazzo said. “We do have to protect the river.”

The new plant must be completed by July of 2017 and the grant application deadline is April 21, Shrives said. That means Monday was the latest date the council could decide on which plan to select, he said.

He hopes the new facility will meet requirements and function for at least 20 years. He also suggested that the city council might impose a 1- or 2-percent annual rate increase to help pay for the next plant construction or major expansion.

“It’s hard to charge people for something they can’t see,” Porrazzo said. “That’s a hard fish to sell. But we can’t do a patch job this time.”

Shrives said every small city in Montana is up against the same challenge. Bigfork started its project 9 months ago and Whitefish is on the clock.

“In some ways, the EPA is asking for us to meet regulations with technology that doesn’t exist yet,” Shrives said.

The new plant will treat up to 1 million gallons of effluent daily while the city’s current capacity is about 750,000, said city engineer Shari Johnson.

That could attract new businesses and residents who are sure the city can manage the added capacity.