SEELEY LAKE - After a winter of wrangling and struggling, the Seeley Lake Sewer Board seems no closer to an equitable funding formula for its sewer proposal than ever. The costs, in fact, seem to be going up and Missoula County officials have reneged on a pledge of more than a half-million dollars in engineering services for the construction of Phase l. That alone has resulted in an estimated cost increase of nearly three quarters of a million dollars.
Sewer district residents have a constitutional right to know what the project will cost them BEFORE they vote to approve the indebtedness. With all these recent changes and twists, the project no longer even closely resembles the one voters were asked to approve two years ago. There should be a NEW vote on the project AFTER the Board presents residents with accurate cost estimates.
Sewer district resident Pat Caffrey wrote a well-reasoned letter to the editor last January which correctly pointed out the Board is facing a legal challenge BECAUSE it has failed to properly inform residents of the actual costs of this project. Citizens for Sensible Wastewater Solutions will continue to pursue that challenge and the question of whether or not residents are entitled to vote AGAIN on the project will be added to the discussion.
Don Larson
Seeley Lake, Mont.
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