Board passes assessment

SEELEY LAKE – At their July 28 hearing and regular meeting, the Seeley Lake Sewer District Board passed the annual assessment method and discussed drilling additional monitoring wells.

The Board received just one written protest. The landowner was opposed to the assessment in part because they owned two lots and would have to pay twice even though they only have one residence. They also felt that their land was not necessary to be in the District in the first place as it is not near the lake or the contaminated groundwater monitoring well.

Manager Bill Decker said he received one phone call regarding the assessment and the caller wanted to know why they could not refund money collected in the past.

There was no public comment at the hearing and the Board unanimously passed the assessment with the equal assessment method. Landowners can expect to see a sewer assessment of $64.17 per lot on their property tax that comes out in October.

In other business, the Board’s Selection Committee updated the Board on the first of several meetings with companies that had responded to their Request for Qualifications last winter. The Committee hosted representatives from engineering company Water & Environmental Technologies (WET) and manufacturer SepticNET to learn how they might work to solve Seeley’s groundwater and septic problems.

The Committee has met with a second engineering company, Morrison & Maierle since then and has a couple more to go before making a recommendation to the Board.

In the meeting with WET, it was discovered that WET could possibly contract with the District to drill more monitoring wells, regardless of whether they were ultimately selected by the Board to work on the full project. The Board plans to discuss this option for drilling wells further at its next meeting.

The next Board meeting is scheduled at the Seeley Lake Historical Museum and Visitor Center (the Barn) for Aug. 18 at 6 p.m. The meeting will also be available via Zoom. The agenda and information on how to participate will be posted on the District’s website seeleysewer.org