Avenue upgrades approved

A pair of amended proposals to upgrade water and sewer service to Fourth Avenue West and Fifth Avenue West passed the Columbia Falls City Council on Monday night.

Both, however, drew one dissenting vote and a caution from the mayor for the city to be vigorous about pursuing financial help for low-income property owners.

The city formed special improvement districts on Fourth and Fifth avenues, then last month amended them because of higher cost estimates. A protest period and public hearing process did not bring enough objections from property owners to stop the action.

Through the districts, property owners pay a portion of the cost for the improvements and the city pays the rest.

The total cost of Special Improvement District 34, which will bring service to Fifth Avenue West, is $73,000 for water plus $92,000 for sewer. Of that, property owners will pay $49,100 of the water cost and $50,200 of the sewer.

Water upgrades on Fourth Avenue West are the focus of Special Improvement District 36, which will cost about $88,000. Property owners will pay $39,000 of the water main cost. In addition, those who need water connections to their property will pay $1,700 per connection, and those needing sewer connections will pay $1,200 each.

City Manager Bill Shaw has kept the council abreast of efforts to apply for the financial aid for several months, although response from the state has been slow.

He and finance director Sybil Noss are looking into a low-income and elderly assistance program through the Community Development Block Grant.

If a property owner applies for assistance, a worker with the state program would determine eligibility. The city would not be involved in gathering the information or determining financial need but would be the conduit between the state money and individual recipients.

"The type of funding we are pursuing is [likely] to be approved because it would be spent immediately on … something tangible," Shaw said of district 34.

"Well, anything we can do to help should be done quickly," Mayor Susan Nicosia said.

The work on Fourth Avenue West "is substantially different from 34," Shaw said, because there are several absentee landowners with higher incomes who would be unlikely to be eligible for assistance.

Council member Jolie Fish was the dissenting vote in amending both districts.

Reporter Nancy Kimball may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com