In this new 2023 year, our Flathead County commissioners remain as eager as ever to spend taxpayer money for expansion of their property empire rather than for the benefit of Flathead County residents. The commissioners remain steadfast in their desire to construct an industrial “septage facility” in a pristine agricultural and residential area in the Lower Valley, on Wiley Dike Road. The proposed facility has no comprehensive planning to support it. The facility supposedly would recycle waste from septic tanks and porta-potties throughout the entire Flathead County. The disposal of this waste historically has been the responsibility of the septic pumpers. The commissioners already have committed the county taxpayers to purchase a land parcel of about 36 acres on Wiley Dike Road for $1.5 million. The proposed project is a pig in a poke with unknown long-term maintenance and operating costs.
The only public presentation for this proposed taxpayer project occurred on Dec. 1, 2022. At that time, the contracted engineer responded to many questions asked by the public. The commissioners provided no responses to questions. Major unresolved issues remain.
On Dec. 1, the engineer stated that the property size required for such a facility is 30 to 50 acres. The Wiley Dike Road land the County Commissioners are committed to purchase is approximately 36 acres with less than 23 acres as usable land. The engineer stated that the commissioners have yet to decide whether the facility would be operated by a private contractor, a special district, or the County itself. The engineer stated that sewage liquid from the septic waste hauled to the facility would need to be transported a couple miles to the Lakeside Water and Sewer District treatment facility.
The county proposes to construct a pipeline for the sewage liquid under the dirt to the Lakeside treatment facility. This pipeline would be subject to deterioration and leaking into the fragile wetlands nearby. These additional expenses are not identified as costs for the construction and ongoing maintenance of the septage facility. The engineer acknowledged the significant increase in heavy duty truck traffic on the dirt roads to and from the septage facility. Substantial damage to the county’s dirt roads would occur. Ultimately, the county’s taxpayers will bear the burden of the unknown costs for this pig in a poke project. Many alternate and better located properties exist for this ill-conceived project, including the unused county-owned land at Cemetery Road, which formerly was a quarry.
Dean A. Robbins
Lakeside