Kalispell's sewer expansion decision pending
By JOHN STANG
The Daily inter Lake
Kalispell's sewage treatment plant capacity would nearly double by 2008 under the city's plans to expand it.
The Kalispell City Council is scheduled to vote next Monday on whether to tell its hired engineers to begin drawing up detailed plans for the expansion. Engineers and city officials briefed the council on the updated expansion plans on Monday.
The engineering firms Morrison-Maierle Inc. and HDR Engineering believe they can submit plans to the state Department of Environmental Quality by mid-August and be ready to put the project out for bids in October.
The project's estimated cost is roughly $12.5 million, with $1.4 million of that going to the two engineering firms - if the council gives the green light.
The expansion would create treatment capacity for up to 6 million gallons a day. Kalispell's current plant can handle 3.1 million gallons of sewage a day. It is currently processing an average of 2.8 million to 2.9 million gallons a day. In 2004, the plant processed 2.6 million gallons a day.
Kalispell's rapid growth prompted the city to originally look at expanding the plant to handle 4.4 million gallons daily, then 5 million gallons daily by 2007 and now 6 million gallons daily by 2008.
The 6-million-gallon-a-day capacity would enable Kalispell to accommodate its growth for several years before any future expansion would have to be considered, said Jim Hansz, the city's public works director.
Right now, the Evergreen Water and Sewer District is contractually entitled to 682,000 gallons a day of Kalispell's capacity, and is currently using 450,000 to 500,000 gallons a day. Meanwhile, Kalispell's government is facing more and more requests from subdivisions in rural Flathead County to hook up to the city's plant.
In recent years, the council increased sewage rates to build up a money chest to help pay for this long-expected expansion.
If the city can hold the price tag at about $12.5 million, there should be no need to increase sewage rates for Kalispell residents, city officials maintained. Those officials said the $12.5 million goal might be tricky to meet, but they believe it is possible.
Kalispell has roughly $5 million set aside or expected in near-future sewage fees to pay for the expansion. The rest of the cost would be likely paid through a bond sale.
Kalispell recently set up a committee to map out how the city could levy impact fees on new housing construction to help pay for the increased load on city services, including sewage treatment. Some of those impact fees could help pay for the sewage plant's expansion. The impact-fee committee will meet for the first time on May 10.
City officials said a couple of "X factors" could affect the expansion costs:
. It's unknown how much construction costs will increase in the next several months.
. Montana is requiring cities to trim the amount of nitrogen and phosphorus their sewage plants can discharge into streams, rivers and lakes.
Cities are beginning to talk with state officials about what those limits should be, how should cities should address that problems and where the money will come from. Those issues could take a couple of years or more to resolve.
Some cities, including Kalispell, might have to add several million dollars worth of improvement to their sewage plants to deal with nitrogen- and phosphorus-laden discharges, which can knock the ecological balances of rivers and lakes out of whack.
Hansz said Montana's largest cities and state officials expect to work closely on tackling that issue, hoping that both sides can come up with solutions.
Reporter John Stang can be reached at 758-4429 or e-mail jstang@dailyinterlake.com