SEELEY LAKE - Missoula County officials have spent more than a half-million taxpayer dollars in the past decade trying to sell a community sewer here in Seeley Lake. Unfortunately, the proposal the sewer board settled on stinks. It does not clean up the shore dwellers’ waste effluent (less than 25 percent of the waterfront properties on the lake and the Clearwater are in the sewer district). It does not protect the watershed. It is REALLY expensive. And it may very well pollute nearly 100 drinking water wells up near the airport where the treatment plant is to be located. The current board continues to plod on with its plan, despite widespread public DISAPPROVAL.
So, as five new candidates vie for seats on the sewer board, there is possibility for some change. Carefully question the candidates and establish their positions on this very important issue. Of course, we should better manage our septic effluent in and around our watershed.
Some of the questions should be: How do we accomplish it in a cost-effective manner? How do we protect the entire watershed? How do we include ALL the most sensitive waterfront properties? Finally, how do we win the support and approval of the residents who will be forced to pay the bill without impoverishing them?
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