County halfway to goal for Bigfork sewer study

The Daily Inter Lake

$20,000 down - another $20,000-plus to go.

Slowly but surely the Flathead County commissioners are getting closer to finding the money to study a facelift for Bigfork's storm water system.

The Flathead Basin Commission notified county commissioners Thursday that it would contribute at least $5,000 to help funding an engineering study and construction related to upgrading the out-of-date system.

Faulty drains and disconnected pipes in Bigfork have brought much concern recently from residents and county officials.

Storm-water runoff from parking lots and streets in "old" Bigfork runs through a maze of drain pipes and eventually dribbles into the Bigfork Bay.

And it appears that some of the drains and pipes go nowhere at all.

According to Commissioner Joe Brenneman, some residents of Bigfork have conducted experiments on their own to determine where the mystery pipes drain.

The experiments consisted of dropping tennis balls down pipes to determine their final destination. Only some of the balls were recovered.

A more scientific study will need to be conducted to determine the extent of the proposed upgrade.

The cost to study the archaic system and eventually correct its faults is unknown.

Brenneman met with representatives from the Department of Environmental Quality and the Flathead Basin Commission last week to search for some funding.

The county has already acquired a $15,000 grant from the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. But that money barely makes a dent in the approximately $40,000 needed to complete an engineering report for the drain system, not to mention the eventual cost of correcting the system's deficiencies.

In a letter to the commissioners, Flathead Basin Commission Chairman Rich Moy said, "It is our understanding that this project upon completion will greatly improve water quality in Flathead Lake by reducing both sediment and nutrient load."

The commissioners also were notified of another funding opportunity when they met with Virginia Sloan from the office of Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont. Sloan told commissioners about possible funding through a Community Development Block Grant Program.

Commissioner Gary Hall said this grant could possibly fund the remainder of the engineering study.