Page 10 - Flathead Beacon // 12.31.14

10 | DECEMBER 31, 2014 NEWS FLATHEADBEACON.COM Commission Approves $1.2
Facts
FIGURES
Numbers in the news
8,715
Amount by which Montana’s population increased between July 2013 and July 2014, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
0.9%
Increase in population during that same time period, ranking Montana 18th among states in percentage growth.
1,023,579
Montana’s estimated population as of July 1.
2.2%
Increase in population in North Dakota, the fastest growth rate in the country.
$8.05
Montana’s minimum wage beginning Jan. 1, an increase of 15 cents.
Million Stormwater RSID
Bigfork stormwater project has one phase left before completion
By MOLLY PRIDDY of the Beacon
The Flathead County Commission on Dec. 29 approved a $1.2 million rural spe- cial improvement district to support the stormwater infrastructure project in Big- fork, despite comments from landowners that the project’s boundary is too narrow and too expensive for them.
The Bigfork stormwater project start- ed about seven years ago as a local, grass- roots effort to improve the water quality in Flathead Lake and the Bigfork Bay by put- ting in modern stormwater collection and filtering equipment.
Funding has come through various sources, including public grants and coun- ty financing, and Phases One through Three are complete. All that is left is Phase Four, which will be paid for with the RSID.
An RSID was always in the plan, ac- cording to project coordinators, because there was the issue of equipment mainte- nance. However, the originally proposed RSID had more than 3,100 parcels in it, making the overall cost about $34 a year per parcel.
Earlier this year, the commission changed the boundary of the RSID to that of the watershed boundary drawn up in earlier proposals. It shrunk the boundary lines to include 564 parcels, meaning each parcel will be charged up to $2,138.30. The annual cost has yet to be determined, because construction costs and interest rates aren’t yet set in stone, but officials at previous meetings have estimated about $200 a year per parcel.
Bigfork residents turned out to the Dec. 29 hearing to say they support the storm- water project and keeping Flathead Lake’s waters pristine, but the smaller boundary
A couple skips rocks at Wayfarers State Park near where the Swan River flows into Flathead Lake.
FLATHEAD BEACON FILE PHOTO
puts an undo amount of financial pressure on a specific set of landowners.
Paul Mutascio, who owns parcels in the district and also represents the Com- munity Foundation for a Better Bigfork, said he hasn’t heard any opposition to the project itself, but people have expressed concerns about funding.
He also said that putting the blame for water pollution on the parcels within the watershed boundary is unfair, because the pollutants come from other places and people as well.
“It’s not just coming from downtown Bigfork,” Mutascio said.
Mutascio suggested asking the upcom- ing Legislature for financing to help keep Flathead Lake clean, while taking some of the burden from landowners.
Peter Leander said he’s stopped swim- ming in the Bigfork Bay because of a sheen of dubious origin floating on the surface,
and he supports the stormwater project. However, the size of the RSID concerned him, and he asked the commission to con- sider expanding the boundary to make it fairer.
“We can certainly spread that cost to a more reasonable area,” Leander said.
Commissioner Gary Krueger said he understood the questions about funding and the local support for the project, but the board spent “a lot of time” determin- ing the boundaries.
“The size that we’ve chosen is ground- ed in state law,” Krueger said. “To say that we could arbitrarily change the size of the boundary doesn’t work.”
Commissioner Pam Holmquist agreed with Krueger, and said she supports the project as it is. They voted 2-0 to approve the RSID; Commissioner Cal Scott was not present.
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