SEELEY LAKE - First, a solid majority voted in a certified, legal election against the sewer initiative last December. That speaks volumes about peoples’ no-growth wishes for Seeley Lake and for their inability to shoulder the heavy financial burden the proposal represents. Majority rule is an age-old democratic principal, even in remote Seeley Lake.
Second, business is at a standstill in Seeley Lake by Missoula County Health Department fiat. In gestapo-like fashion it has changed the septic regulations regularly over the years without a public hearing or any public input from Seeley Lake residents.
Further, the “scientific” study data used to justify the current sewer proposal is without question suspect. Engineers recommended test wells be drilled all over the district. Only three wells were drilled and tested. These were in two of the four sub-districts and of those three wells, one sits by the town’s only laundromat and one sits near a RV pump-out station. Further, early nitrate sampling used to justify the sewer project was done at the Dogtown Bridge OUTSIDE the sewer district.
Third, not all septic waste flows into Seeley Lake. Flowpaths indicate most Sub-District 1 groundwater, which includes the majority of homes and businesses in the District, flows PAST Seeley Lake to the south. Also, remember nitrates are consumed by plant life and are broken down with time as they flow through our gravelly soils. Note also a study of groundwater in Glacier Park after its 2003 fire season indicated nitrates to be 10 times normal for two years, elevated for another four years of the study and reduced to little or nothing in subsequent years. So we have far more to fear from the Rice Ridge Fire runoff than we do local septic effluent.
Fourth, Mr. Silvestro is incorrect in stating the Federal Government will foot 66 percent of the cost. The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board has NO IDEA what this proposal will cost. The feds have offered up sufficient grant and loan money to pay for only the treatment facility and piping for the first sub-district...The costs for sewering Sub-Districts Two, Three and Four are not yet determined or funded.
Current estimates are $74 per month for a resident and $104 per month for a business PER LOT in Sub-district 1. If a business or residence sits on two or more lots you may apply a multiplier which could carry the monthly cost only upward.
Finally, remember this sewer proposal includes less than 25 percent of the creek, river and lakefront residences in the Clearwater Watershed. The other 75 percent will probably NEVER be annexed into the District.
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