Commissioners reject stormwater tax district

Flathead County commissioners unanimously rejected the rural special improvement district proposed to help finish the Bigfork stormwater project on Oct. 2.

Commissioners told the Bigfork Stormwater Advisory Committee that there wasn’t enough support for the project from property owners within the proposed district.

“It’s difficult to garnish support until it starts affecting people and that’s just the way it is,” BSAC chair Sue Hanson said. “It’s not visible to people.”

The RSID was proposed to tax property owners within the Bigfork water and sewer district about $1.3 million to complete the last leg of the stormwater project on Bridge Street, both north and south of the bridge. The tax would have been spread out over a 10- or 20-year period of time. Hanson said it would have wound up costing people in the district between $35-40 a year.

BSAC was formed six years ago to address issues with flooding in Bigfork and improper drainage systems that caused pollutants to enter Flathead Lake via the Bigfork Bay. Samples taken from Bigfork’s bay by the Flathead Lake Biological Station in 1996 showed that too many pollutants were being discharged into the bay. New stormwater systems were installed on Electric Avenue, Grand Drive and River Street, which were paid for with about $1.3 million in grant funding from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, Montana Treasure State Endowment and Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

Hanson said future grants were applied for, but were also dependent on support from within the community.

“This has to be a community effort,” Hanson said. “If this community doesn’t support it, the project just won’t happen.”

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 were mixed.

While 47.3 percent said they would be willing to pay a tax assessment, 52.7 percent said they would not.

Commissioner Pam Holmquist told members of BSAC that the timing was wrong and Commissioner Dale Lauman said the project was something he wanted to revisit next spring. But by that time, BSAC will most likely no longer be operating as a committee.

The committee is set with the task of spending remaining grant money that was awarded specifically for education and outreach about the project. Hanson said the money will be spent purchasing pet waste cleanup stations to install at various points in Bigfork. She also said those stations will most likely have signs educating citizens about where pet waste goes if it isn’t disposed of properly.

Recent stormwater samples taken from the Grand Drive stormwater outfall showed relatively high amounts of fecal coliform bacteria. BSAC thinks the majority of the issue can be addressed if people clean up after their pets.

The results of the sampling showed significant improvement in reducing other pollutants, such as nitrogen, over the samples taken before the project began.

Hanson said although commissioners didn’t say one way or the other, the committee will stay formed until at least the end of the year.

“We got a lot done in the last six years,” Hanson said. “I’m proud of what we accomplished.”