SEELEY LAKE - Eighty thousand dollars per lot – that is roughly what Sewer District residents will pay for the proposed sewer. If your home happens to sit on two lots you will may be obligated for $160,000 of the roughly $40 million, 40-year bond debt obligation. That works out to more than $100 per month per lot (after subsidies) for sewer service in one of the lowest income communities in the county.
Subdistrict (Phase) 1 residents who will get a revised user agreement in the mail must just say NO. DO NOT SIGN THE AGREEMENT. If you do, you obligate yourselves and all the other residents in Subdistricts 2, 3 and 4 for this very expensive, albatross of a project. Not signing will delay or kill the project.
Signing the user agreement however does not obligate residents of future Subdistricts to construct their collection systems. It was revealed at the meeting that those future Subdistricts will cost several times more per lot than the first one meaning that its very possible that Subdistrict 1 will be the only one ever built. They will have to pay the full cost of O&M when subsidies run out.
Sewer residents must begin to attend the board meetings. They are high entertainment. Last week the audience which contained two past board members who are now outspoken opponents, asked dozens of great questions. Former County Commissioner Jean Curtiss...now the Sewer District Manager had no answer, poor answers or answers we did not want to hear while the three board members present sat virtually silent.
The Sewer Board must begin to look at cheaper alternatives. Most growth will occur outside the sewer district. The high cost of sewer service will drive new development out. The board has not done an accurate income survey of the district to understand the devastating effect this will have on residents. The Missoula County Health Department has consistently misrepresented water quality and groundwater flow patterns. If this project is approved, rent will skyrocket and mill employees, unable to find affordable housing, may cause Pyramid Mountain Lumber to reconsider, contract or close its operation.
This ultimate, important decision about where we go as a community is still in Sewer District residents’ hands.
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