Bigfork stormwater tax district rejected

A proposed rural special improvement district aimed at completing the Bigfork stormwater project was unanimously rejected Tuesday by the Flathead County commissioners.

“I don’t think the project is dead. I think the timing is wrong,” Commissioner Pam Holmquist told members of the Bigfork Stormwater Advisory Committee, acknowledging the time and effort the committee and county grant writer Debbie Pierson have put into the project.

A rural special improvement district would tap property owners within the district for the remaining $1.3 million worth of work to be done on the Bridge Street portion of the project, from the southern leg of Electric Avenue to Bridge Street and out to Montana 35. 

In such a district, each property owner pays an annual assessment spread out over a number of years.

“That’s where the majority of the erosion and flooding occurs,” said Sue Hanson, chairwoman of the advisory committee about the remaining portion of the project. “We are disappointed with this decision.”

The commissioners maintained there’s not enough support for the project from property owners within the proposed district.

The committee conducted a survey, and while a number of people said they didn’t know if they’d support the project because the exact costs were unknown, more than 60 percent of the businesses were in favor, Hanson said.

Of the 3,382 surveys mailed, about 900 were returned. 

When asked if they would be willing to pay a special assessment for improvements to eliminate localized flooding and erosion and reduce pollution in Flathead Lake, 47.3 percent of respondents said they would be willing to pay such an assessment; 52.7 percent would not.

The committee mailed surveys to property owners in three areas: the Bigfork County Water and Sewer District; those outside the sewer district but part of the Bigfork Zoning District; and the Swan River Road area.

Had it gone forward, the proposed rural special improvement district likely would have included the entire water and sewer district, “everything [south] to the river, north to the Catholic church [on Montana 35] and east to Swan Hill,” Hanson said. “Basically the greater Bigfork area.”

About $1.3 million in grant funding from several state sources — the Department of Environmental Quality, Montana Treasure State Endowment and Department of Natural Resources and Conservation — paid for earlier phases of stormwater system construction along Grand Avenue. Installation of a complete stormwater system is needed to bring Bigfork up to state standards for stormwater pollutants that flow into Flathead Lake.

Bigfork’s old system of corrugated metal pipes was inadequate for the growing bayside community.

Drainage became an apparent problem in 1996 when a Flathead Lake Biological Station study showed the stormwater runoff contained high concentrations of fecal coliform bacteria, which are a health hazard, plus other nutrients that could upset the ecological balance of aquatic plants in Flathead Lake.

Recent stormwater samples taken from the new Grand Drive stormwater outfall showed relatively high amounts of fecal coliform bacteria. 

Hanson said the committee was surprised at the results and will do six more tests. In the meantime, the committee is discussing installing pet waste stations at various points around town and wants to educate citizens about cleaning up after their dogs.

Otherwise, the new stormwater system seems to be reducing the amount of other pollutants to below the levels allowed by the state, Hanson said, but more samples still are needed for an adequate data set to compare with samples taken before the stormwater project was started.

Bill Myers, who operates Pointer Scenic Cruises on Flathead Lake and owns property in Bigfork Bay, is not in favor of the proposed rural special improvement district. His property would be taxed by the district if it’s eventually set up.

“The entire [stormwater] project — all of what has been done and what they’re proposing to do — could have and should have been done under the initial grant funding,” Myers said. “They chose a design that was a Mercedes instead of a GM, Ford or Chrysler, and had they chosen a simpler design, there’d be no need for the proposed RSID district.”

Engineer Brett Walcheck of 48 North Engineering said the design of the stormwater system was for both treatment and conveyance of stormwater, “nothing above and beyond” that.

The design was not done arbitrarily, but rather was a collaborative effort with oversight from the Department of Environmental Quality, Walcheck said. “There were a lot of hands in the project, and a lot of parameters. Our concern was to get best bang for the buck.”

Flathead County Administrator Mike Pence said county officials understood all along there would need to be a financial contribution from the Bigfork community to complete the stormwater project.

Pierson, the county grant writer, said a good portion of the grant money used for the first phases were “specific dollars to specific activities.”

The Treasure State Endowment Program money, for example, was specific to Grand Drive and couldn’t be used elsewhere, she said.

Pierson had completed an application to the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation for $100,000 to help with construction costs of the final stormwater project phase, but it’s moot without RSID approval from the county.

The county’s contribution to the proposed district would be about $10,000 to cover survey and engineering fees to prepare for a resolution of intent, and for mailing fees.

Commissioner Dale Lauman acknowledged the advisory committee’s hard work on the stormwater project and said the county should support the RSID in the future.

“It needs to happen,” Lauman said. “It should be on the scope, maybe to revisit for next summer. I know it needs to happen.”

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.