Engineering to Resume

SEELEY LAKE - At their Jan. 18 meeting, the Seeley Lake Sewer Board voted to restart engineering on the treatment plant and Phase 1 of the collection system. In other business, they signed grant applications for funding to design Phase 2 of the collection system.

Engineering had been put on hold until the notice and protest portion of the process was completed. The district didn’t want to spend the money if there was not going to be a project. Now that the landowners have approved the funding the process can resume.

In a letter to District Manager Greg Robertson, Great West Engineering laid out the work to be performed to get the project ready to bid.

Great West recommended more geotechnical evaluations be done at the locations for lift stations and sewer mains. Board members were concerned that this would add to the cost of the project but Robertson assured them it was already included in the cost.

Robertson explained that collecting better data would allow construction companies to give more accurate bids. Bids will be lower if the companies know what they will encounter when they start digging.

The district is responsible for obtaining all the easements and permits for the project. Construction engineering for the collection system will be provided by Missoula County.

The engineers are estimated to be ready for the district and the Department of Environmental Quality to be able to review the plans by July 2018. Approval of the design should be done by September and ready to bid by October of 2018.

The board questioned why Great West couldn’t finish the design work sooner than next fall. They said no one would start the project in the winter.

The board was also frustrated that Great West had charged them $45,000 to start and stop the engineering but ultimately moved forward with approving the Notice to Proceed.

In other business the district is applying for $15,000 from the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation and $15,000 from the Treasure State Endowment Program.

The district will match the grants with $15,000 of it’s own funding and start the Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) for Phase 2 of the collection system. It is estimated that the draft PER will be ready for a public meeting by April. The final PER is estimated to be completed by May 2018. The district could then start the process of applying for a funding package for Phase 2.

The next sewer board meeting is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 15 at the Missoula County Satellite Office located at 3360 Highway 83.