BSAC searches for funds

The Bigfork Stormwater Advisory Committee has much to do before it can send out a second survey to test the waters for a Rural Special Improvement District. An RSID would help pay for the last installment of the stormwater project, which will be completed at the north and south ends of Bridge Street.

The project’s already $1.3 million cost for construction on Electric and Grand Avenues was paid for through grants from the Department of Environmental Quality and county funding.

Tax-based RSID districts are used to finance infrastructure improvements and are generally formed to pay for new roads. According to state law, an RSID can’t be formed if 40 percent or more of the affected landowners protest it. Without an RSID in place, the remainder of the storm-water project will be halted.

“You know there are so many things involved in this,” said committee chair Susan Hanson. “It’s not as simple as building a road.”

Late last year, BSAC sent out a survey on the RSID to 3,382 homeowners in the Bigfork Water and Sewer District, the Bigfork Zoning District and along Swan River Road. Roughly 900 surveys were returned. Results from the survey showed a need for greater public outreach about the stormwater project and what it’s trying to accomplish.

The committee has a few things to complete before they can start the public education and outreach program.

First the committee and the county need to nail down the exact cost of the RSID, which includes the project cost, future stormwater maintenance costs, and the cost of the RSID itself.

Brett Walcheck of 48 North Engineering submitted preliminary construction design plans to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality last month, which the DEQ approved. Walcheck’s plans show the cost of Bridge Street construction at approximately $1.2 million.

BSAC still needs to meet with the county to determine final maintenance costs for Bigfork’s stormwater system, which will include keeping up the systems already installed on Electric and Grand Avenues in addition to the Bridge street system.

“Had the system that was installed 60 years ago had maintenance, we wouldn’t have had the problems we had,” Hanson said.

The issues include flooding from blocked and clogged drain and filtration systems, and pipes that were broken by other construction projects. Those problems and samples gathered in 1997 that showed stormwater contamination to be well above the standards outlined by the DEQ spurred the start of the stormwater project in 2007.

The total cost of the RSID will be determined by its length, 10 or 20 years.

BSAC also wants to have data to take to the public that shows how effective  systems on Electric and Grand Avenues are for treating stormwater. The committee has gone for several months without having a way to gather samples from the new storm water system.

County commissioners approved a sampling contract with Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services (AES) last week. Once AES employees are properly trained, they can begin collecting samples at the next major rain or snow-melt event. Sampling analysis funding is already secured through the county and it will cost between $2,000-3,000.

Once some sampling is completed, the numbers can be compared with the pre-construction samples taken by Mike Kopal of the Whitefish Lake Institute.

After sampling data numbers are crunched and the complete cost of the RSID is secured, BSAC members will begin public outreach and start putting together a second RSID survey.

“We’re hoping we can get through this and get to the RSID in the fall,” Hanson said.