Deck Stacked in Favor of the Sewer

SEELEY LAKE - The Sewer Board has nicely stacked the deck for passage of its atrocious, expensive sewer proposal. Here’s how. 

By ignoring last December’s vote and opting for a “protest” procedure, the Board has effectively disenfranchised every business and residential renter in the district and made property ownership a condition of participation...that would be about 20 percent of the residents in the district.

Further, by scheduling the protest period in November/December it has disenfranchised every “snowbird” who goes south for the winter because, by state law, ballots may NOT be forwarded and this protest letter is considered a ballot. That would be another five percent of the residents (my estimate).

So, in a nutshell, nearly a fourth of the district residents are cutout of the decision making process. Doesn’t sound particularly fair or democratic, does it?

The remaining district residents must stand up and be heard on this issue. It’s far from over yet. We can protest, then we can elect to NOT sign a contract for sewer service.

If the proposal passes, the USDA Rural Development folks are still requiring the Board to obtain 148 signed user agreements before it will release and award its $14 million funding package. All Sub-district 1 residents have to do is NOT sign a contract for sewer service. If the Board doesn’t get the contracts, it doesn’t get the money to build the sewer system.