The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board met last Thursday to discuss the process of selecting a wastewater treatment plant site, heard about funding updates and announced the resignation of the board’s secretary and manager.
Bill Decker, the sewer district’s manager since the end of 2022, announced his resignation at the meeting on Sept. 19. Decker told the Pathfinder he started to feel like he was going in a different direction than the board, and that it was his time to step down. As a part-time Seeley Lake resident and one that doesn’t live within the sewer district, Decker didn’t want to impose his will on the board.
“I really, really enjoyed doing the monitoring and the installation of the new wells and working with the health department,” Decker said, but he felt like it was his time to step down.
Decker said if the board plans on moving forward with a sewer project, they will need a full-time manager. His position was a part-time, contract position.
Felicity Derry, secretary for the sewer district board for over 18 years, announced her resignation the same evening.
Derry said the secretary position ended up taking more of her time than she was willing to let happen anymore.
“After much deliberation and realizing that my timing is less than ideal, I have decided I must put my family’s needs first. I know that the board district will continue to work hard and find a solution to the ongoing groundwater issues and I wish you every success,” Derry wrote in her resignation letter to the board.
Decker’s resignation was effective immediately and Derry’s last day will be Oct. 12. Both said it had been a pleasure working with the sewer district board during their tenures. The board will form a hiring committee to address the open secretary position.
Steve Anderson, engineer with Water & Environmental Technologies, or WET — the company the board is working with to come up with wastewater treatment plans — discussed draft decision criteria with the board that will be used for selecting a location for a potential wastewater treatment plant and included a couple of feasible options, like Pyramid Mountain Lumber property. All the potential properties were within the sewer district and the high school property, which the board has had conversations about as a wastewater treatment location, was not included.
Criteria include capital costs, potential for expansion, logical location, technical geological feasibility — like vegetation cover and soil type — public opinion and community support. WET will go through and score potential locations using these criteria to come up with a main option to use when finalizing the preliminary engineering report.
The location will need to be between 12 and 15 acres, which will include the building the treatment facilities are located in and the drainfield, which makes up the most of the acreage. The grassfield that would lay over the drainfield could double as something the community could benefit from, like a soccer field.
Grant funding can be used to acquire property, and Anderson explained the goal is to cover all expenses so far with grants. Anderson said the tasks WET is working on right now aren’t completely in the company’s scope of work, which is part of the reason for striving for grant funding, and once a site is selected, Anderson said they can really start evaluating wastewater treatment options.
Anderson anticipates being able to receive $100,000 in grant funding in the next six months to pay for the preliminary engineering report, which he expects to be completed in March or April of 2025. More infrastructure specific money will be available once the PER is completed.
WET has obtained a grant to help complete the Montana Coal Endowment Program planning application, which helps fund drinking water, stormwater and wastewater projects, and will apply for a grant through Montana’s Department of Natural Resources and Conservation to use to fund more grant applications. About $70,000 is anticipated through the DNRC program to help fund the PER.
Perfectly competent at too many things
Keely's journalism career started with staff positions at the Lone Peak Lookout and The Madisonian in southwest Montana and freelancing for Dance Spirit Magazine.
In 2023, she completed a legislative reporting fellowship with KFF Health News during Montana's 68th legislative session and graduated with an MA in Environmental Journalism from the University of Montana. Keely completed a summer fire reporting internship with Montana Free Press in 2022.
Her bylines include Scientific American, Modern Farmer, U.S. News & World Report, CBS News, The New Republic, KFF Health News, Montana Free Press, Ars Technica, Mountain Journal and Outside Business Journal.
She also is a producer and editor for a Montana Public Radio podcast.
Keely received her undergraduate degrees in History and Religious Studies from Montana State University in 2017.
In her spare time, she's dancing, drinking processo and running around the mountains.
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