Water rate increase approved

The Seeley Lake Water District Board voted to approve a rate increase to users’ monthly water fees.

This increase is needed to balance the nonprofit water district’s budget after Pyramid Mountain Lumber, the district’s largest user, shuts down and stops using water. Vincent Chappell, Seeley Lake Water District manager, said when the mill does finally shut down the district will lose about $55,000 each year.

“Unfortunately we have to find a way to make up that deficit and the only way to do that is to raise rates to other customers,” Chappell said.

Chappel said the increase is likely to be permanent until someone purchases the mill property and develops it.

The rate increase for a general customer will be about $12 more per month, going from an average of $63 to $75. Seeley Lake water district residents’ bills are made up of three parts: a monthly base rate dependent on meter size, a water cost per 1,000 gallons and a bond debt dependent on meter size that will be paid off in July 2029, eliminating a payment of $32.72 each month for a typical meter, which is a three quarters inches in size. The district will restructure rates again when the bond debt is paid.

The water district began communicating about the increase over the spring and summer and staff made extra effort to bring it up to anyone calling about something unrelated. Chappell said out of the 700 water users, he only had a complaint from one customer. Only five community members attended the hearing on Nov. 6 intended for public comment on the rate increase before the board voted.

“Everybody kind of knew that the mill was a pretty big user so I think everybody wasn’t surprised,” Charlie Hahn, water district board president, said.

After the mill turns off its water, the amount once used will be available to other customers, Chappell said. With this surplus, the district will be able to allow expansions or mainline extensions for something like a subdivision. Chappell said each case will be looked at on an individual basis. The last time a subdivision was built in Seeley Lake and enveloped into the water district was 10 years ago.

With the mill gone, Chappell said the district could potentially service 250 to 300 more homes.

To start a subdivision, a homeowner or a group of homeowners would have to petition to enter the water district, hire an engineer to layout the proposed mainline extensions to service each home and everyone in the expansion area would have to agree to the project.

“We were only allotted so much water out of the lake so any expansion was really scrutinized because we have to be able to serve every person in the district before we can expand,” Todd Johnson, water district vice president and general manager of Pyramid Mountain Lumber, said.

The mill has a water loss rate of about 45 to 50 gallons per minute due to old pipes and leaks underneath buildings that haven’t been able to be addressed. That loss is built into the mill’s water bill and paid for by the mill, another way in which revenue to the water district will be lost when the mill is no longer a customer. Those leaks mean the mill is using more water and paying for it, adding to the district’s revenue.

Chappell said last summer the district inspected Seeley Lake for leaks in water lines and about 10 small leaks and one large — 14 gallons per minute — were found and fixed this year. Water loss last winter jumped to 1.3 million plus gallons per month and was brought down to 300,000, putting the overall water loss at about 12% in the district. Chappell said the national average is 35%.

Johnson said he expects the mill to stop using water by the end of March or very beginning of April. The rate increase in the district will be in place the first of the year.