SEELEY LAKE - Curt Friede’s letter to the editor about the sewer proposal last week suggests we “get the facts.” Here are a few:
Fact: Mr. Friede of one of the parties suing the sewer district board to force them to build the sewer.
Fact: There is NO SIGNIFICANT groundwater nitrate degradation, in the groundwater OR the lake, that we know of definitively. The engineers recommended water quality testing in all four sewer “sub-districts” but test wells were drilled in only two. Of those two, only one was tested regularly and it consistently showed nitrate levels well BELOW state-acceptable limits with only occasional spikes above.
Fact: This sewer proposal would bankrupt many of the 450 middle and low-income residents and would only benefit the well-to-do-developer landowners who are joined with Mr. Friede in the lawsuit. Conservative estimates are it would cost around $35 million, $70,000 per lot and start out at around $100 per month per resident.
Fact: There are new, alternative (expensive) technologies for Mr. Friede and his developer friends if they want to pursue subdivision of their properties on the lake and along Highway 83N between the Health Center and the bank.
Fact: This sewer proposal would NOT promote affordable housing in Seeley Lake, something we desperately need to keep and attract millworkers.
Fact: Both the Montana State AND the Federal governments have unfunded mandate legislation on their books. That means they cannot legally mandate an infrastructure program (such as a community sewer) or service without providing the funding for it.
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