Residents weigh in on sewer project

Thompson Falls residents and local contractors heard details of the city’s plan to connect the residences and businesses on the hill north of the railroad tracks to the city’s sewer system.

About 20 people attended the meeting, where they heard from Mayor Mark Sheets, engineer Craig Pozega with Great West Engineering, and Sanders County Sanitarian Shawn Sorenson.

The Project Engineering Report (PER) created by Great West Engineering has the project split into five phases. Great West created a 20-year plan, looking at potential growth of the community and the wastewater treatment system. He said they used the water system connections in planning and cost projections. Pozega said for wastewater treatment, they look at volume in gallons, and that currently the city collects about 33,000 gallons a day on average. Looking ahead 20 years if the wastewater treatment plan moves forward, the city would collection an average of 160,000 gallons a day.

“The community is already generating that, it’s just going into the ground,” Pozega said. “What this plan does is allows the city to properly treat it first.”

The entire project would cost an estimated $23.79 million, with $4.462 million of that being treatment upgrades. Included in the Great West plan is grant funding opportunities. The largest potential grant, Pozega said, is a Rural Development grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That grant could fund up to 75 percent of the total project. Pozega showed projected rates for those on the city sewer system, ranging from about $45 a month to $68 a month, depending on funding that can be secured for the project. Mayor Sheets explained that the city will continue to gather public comments, and then will have to look at what funding is secured before deciding to move forward on the project.

The plan Pozega outlined includes connecting the city sewer system to existing pipe about five feet from residences. The projected cost also includes abandonment of existing tanks, including pumping out systems and filling in tanks. Pozega explained that the property owners would only be responsible for landscaping the affected areas.

“Thompson Falls is one of very few communities in the state that don’t have a community sewer system,” Sorenson said. He explained the issues with the current septic systems in Thompson Falls, noting that when systems are replaced on the hill, the size of the lots and the rocky, clay and sometimes steep ground present issues.

“The space in town is just really difficult to deal with,” Sorenson said. “We’re basically band-aiding problems.”

Sorenson said that of the new systems that are being installed on the hill in Thompson Falls, 79 percent have adequate treatment. “That should be 100 percent,” he said.

Local contractor Chad Pardee said that it’s challenging to put systems in the city, adding that aging septic systems are a safety issue. “A lot of old metal tanks are collapsing, so it’s definitely a safety issue as well.” He said as his company has been hired to work on some of the issues for residents, sometimes it’s not the system failing, but the tank caving in.

Several residents expressed opposition to the project. Carla Parks said that instead of helping the city, the project could end up hurting it.

“My concern is our town is so poor and if you add $70 a month more, you’re going to have people going somewhere else to live,” Parks said. “Taxes are a lot, water is a lot, and now septic on top of that.”

Linda Parker explained that she and husband Nolan have rentals, and said that an added sewer fee “would put a burden on folks who rent from us.”

The City Council will discuss the issue further at its meeting Monday, March 12, at 6 p.m. at City Hall.