C. Falls seeks levy for street work repair

Mail ballots due back by June 26

Columbia Falls voters are being asked to let the city borrow $1.1 million from itself to bring several city streets up to snuff next year.

At the top of the wish list are Talbott Road, Veterans Drive and First Avenue East, plus a stop light on U.S. 2 at 12th Avenue West.

Mail-in ballots for the proposed street levy were sent to registered city voters on June 4. They must be returned to the Flathead County Election Department - not the city - by 8 p.m. June 26.

An informational sheet explaining the ballot request was mailed out separately. According to that, the additional tax on a property assessed at $100,000 would be about $43 a year.

To answer remaining questions, the city will hold an open house on Monday, June 11, from 1:30 to 7:30 p.m. in council chambers at City Hall, 130 Sixth St. W.

City Manager Bill Shaw also can offer more information at 892-4391.

If a majority of voters approves the 20-year levy, the money will be borrowed from the Cedar Creek Trust Fund. Set up in 2005, the fund now holds about $1.4 million from the sale of almost 400 acres of city land at the Cedar Creek Reservoir.

About 180 acres immediately surrounding the reservoir, and another 15 acres in two tracts, was paid for last year. Final payment on another 122 acres west of the North Fork Road came in recently.

The city is developing two final parcels at the north and south ends of the land and will sell the lots over the coming months. The eight lots in the two parcels are expected to sell for an average of $200,000 each.

Shaw projected the fund's ultimate value, after land sales and expenses, at $2.8 million.

Its principal can be used only for city infrastructure improvements and property purchases. The interest earned on the principal can be used for a variety of projects that benefit the public good.

The levy is needed, the city council agreed in its April 16 decision to call for the public vote, because several streets are at the end of their usefulness.

. Talbott Road, between Horine Park on the west and Fourth Avenue on the east, tops the list.

"If we don't do Talbott Road we are going to lose Talbott Road," council member Doug Karper said April 16.

The road bed and surface are severely deteriorated and the 20-foot-wide road surface is below city standard for 24-foot arterials. If the levy passes, Talbott would be widened to 22 feet. Further widening is restricted on the north by a bike path and on the south by storm drainage abutting private land.

The cost would be $390,000, Shaw and Public Works Director Lorin Lowry estimated. A turn lane at Ruder Elementary would add another $10,000.

. Veterans Drive, too, is just 20 feet wide - narrower in some places - and the road surface is rough in several spots. It would be widened to 22 or possibly even 24 feet, Shaw said. Its width is limited to the east by a bike path.

The cost for Veterans Drive would be about $200,000. Again, add about $10,000 for a turn lane at Ruder.

Shaw speculated that impact fees on new development along the two roads may be justified as a means to help with the road costs. A newly formed Impact Fee Committee will meet sometime in the next couple of to lay groundwork for those decisions.

. First Avenue East between Railroad and Sixth streets is another high-priority neighborhood road. It is severely deteriorated after bearing delivery truck traffic to Smith's grocery and a handful of Nucleus Avenue businesses over the years, plus residential traffic to the post office.

. A traffic light to help school children cross U.S. 2 at 12th Avenue West already has cleared at least one hurdle. Shaw said he just received word from the Montana Department of Transportation that the project finally made the state's to-do list, although no money is immediately available. If the Columbia Falls street levy passes and provides the city's share of perhaps $100,000 to $150,000, the traffic light could move higher on the state's list.

. Four other streets could be tackled if any money is left: Second Avenue West from City Hall to U.S. 2, to reduce steepness of the grade and improve the surface; Second Avenue West south of 11th Street into Cedar Pointe Estates; all of Third Avenue East in Mosquito Flats, up to the new road at the Habitat for Humanity homes; and four blocks of Sixth Avenue West that are broken down from heavy logging-truck traffic.

This levy is the first request to borrow from the Cedar Creek Trust Fund.

City Council members stipulated that the loan be paid back with interest at the same rate the money would be earning if invested.

Shaw said the money is invested with a state revolving fund that many Montana cities use. If the levy passes, he expects the city will pay back the $1.1 million at 5.2 percent - or whatever the fund is paying at the time withdrawals are made.

One concern came up April 16 when council member Don Barnhart questioned whether, by temporarily reducing the fund's principal, interest earnings available for other projects would diminish.

Susan Nicosia, director of finance and administration, said the impact should be minimal. She explained the city would be able to draw down the fund only as the money is needed for street projects. Then, as tax collections come in on the levy, the fund would be reimbursed.

By borrowing from its own trust fund the city would save about $25,000 in bond fees.

A levy for major projects is needed because city tax collections from the annual street assessment bring in just $310,000. Another $90,000 comes in from the state motor fuel tax. That's enough to fund three full-time street department workers and cover repairs and maintenance on about 30 miles of city streets, seal and overlay some streets every year, and set aside a small amount to replace equipment.

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