SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer Board has been assessing district residents $47,000 for the past 13 years for “study” of the sewer situation. That’s a total of more than $600,000 of taxpayer money. Now add the cost of the services the Missoula County Commissioners have donated through an interlocal agreement signed in 2011. They’re easily a couple hundred thousand dollars and include a hundred thousand dollar “loan.”
These services include the Public Works Directors time...between 10 and 30 hours a week as well as that of an administrative assistant. Also, other county employees have:
• Acquired the discharge permit
• Acquired the land for the treatment facility
• Obtained land use clearance from Powell County to build the treatment facility
• Worked with the District Engineer to develop substantial parts of the design elements
• Provided survey data for public rights of way (for piping) and the treatment facility.....
The list goes on. In summary we are in nearly a million taxpayer dollars and we haven’t even turned a shovel. Most of this taxpayer expenditure has been without residents’ knowledge or approval.
Board members will quickly reply residents could come to the sewer meetings and learn about the expenditures but none of the efforts by the County under the interlocal agreement have ever been assigned a dollar value.
The final insult, if property owners DO sign on to the Sewer Boards’ proposal this fall they obligate themselves for up to $20 million in construction and maintenance costs which have NOT been fully identified or enumerated. Would you buy a new car or home without knowing how much it will cost? Of course not.
The interlocal agreement through which the county offers these “free” services is up for renewal next month. Tell the Sewer Board and the Board of County Commissioners you are tired of mis-spending county tax dollars on a project which will do little to protect the Clearwater Watershed. And tell them you’ll protest the project until you know the total cost.
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