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Bigfork Stormwater Project Takes Big Step Forward

By Beacon Staff

Flathead County commissioners voted this week to begin negotiating a contract with Kalispell-based 48 North Engineering as the engineering firm for the stormwater system overhaul in Bigfork.

The decision is a big step for the project, said Bigfork Stormwater Advisory Committee Vice Chairperson David Christensen.

“It means we now can get some final engineering done to select a system for treating the water before it goes into the bay,” Christensen said.

There were three companies to choose from, which was fewer than BSAC expected. The other two firms in the running were Hydrometrics Inc. out of Helena and Bozeman-based Allied Engineering Services Inc. Christensen told the commissioners at the Feb. 9 meeting that 48 North was the BSAC’s unanimous choice.

“We’re anxious to get started,” Christensen said.

The project has hit several important milestones since the committee was formed in 2008. Tests in the past two decades determined that the Bigfork’s stormwater drains directly into Bigfork Bay, Flathead Lake and Swan River, bringing with it toxins, oil and unhealthy amounts of fecal coliform bacteria.

The county commissioners created the BSAC to find out how the drainage system – an uncharted maze that has been in place since the mid-1950s – needs to be fixed.

Last November, the committee oversaw the installation of two groundwater monitors on Lake Street, which will track the Village’s water table fluctuations over the year. Any stormwater system would have to be installed above the groundwater mark, which can be challenging living next to a lake, said Sue Hanson, chairperson of the BSAC.

Christensen reported that the first phase of the project – replacing and upgrading the drainage system and installing underground filtration for Grand Drive – is fully funded through the Treasure State Endowment Grant.

Once a contract with 48 North can be worked out, a final design for the first phase could come as soon as summer, Christensen said, along with public meetings to discuss the project.

After the first phase, however, Christensen sees significant funding obstacles. Despite grants from the Department of Environmental Quality and the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, there may still be a movement toward a special improvement district, which is a voter-approved tax.

“It’s going to be a little bit difficult,” Christensen said of future funding endeavors.

Still, the BSAC is hopeful that the project will gain momentum and more grant money once it gets rolling. And since the high school has done such a good job of mitigating stormwater through a new underground filtering system, the flooding problem on Grand Avenue has virtually cleared up, Christensen said.

If everything works out just right, construction on the first phase could begin before the end of the year, Christensen said.