City of T. Falls plans for future

Mayor Jerry Lacy has recently received the first draft of the City of Thompson Falls 2019 Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) from Great West Engineering. The firm was hired by the city with funds from Montana Department of Commerce’s Treasure State Endowment Program (TSEP) to assist in preparing the CIP.

The CIP identifies multiple project areas within Thompson Falls, evaluates and prioritizes these projects and costs and how funding may be obtained to complete said projects. The City evaluated the long-term objectives and correlation between all projects. Topping the list of priorities is Sewer System Improvements, an ongoing, contentious topic. Second to that, public safety projects followed along with infrastructure and aesthetic improvements throughout the city.

Lacy commented that he, the City Council and department heads will meet, review the plan and make recommendations to Great West Engineering for the final. “At this stage, not a lot of public input was received, but after the final is complete, we will have a public meeting,” stated Lacy.

“This is a tool to get funding from agencies who like to see long-term plans and what the future holds,” Lacy said as being the main purpose for the CIP. “They like to see that the city is established and what future plans are.”

Since the plan projects well into the future (10 to 15 years), not all costs can be estimated at this time. “We will do an annual review and update the projects completed,” Lacy said, “and we will also meet every five years to revamp it (CIP).”

Within the Plan, 10 projects are identified along with current estimated costs. These include: Wastewater Treatment with an estimated cost just short of $26 million; Drinking Water, $41,500 (not inclusive of all costs); Building, $556,000; Equipment, $269,500; Parks and Recreation, $189,000 (not including ADA accessibility and parking surface improvement costs for the City Swimming Pool and Wild Goose Landing); Streets, $35,000; Law Enforcement, $303,456; Fire Department, $121,000; Stormwater, no costs assessed; and Cemetery, $48,000.

Improving infrastructure, maximizing the life of capital investments, identifying and examining current and future infrastructure needs and priorities, improving financial planning and identifying funding opportunities, and developing an implementation schedule are goals the city hopes to achieve through CIP utilization.

“We have needed this for a long time.” Lacy stated, adding that the CIP will work in conjunction with a growth plan to continue improvements for the City of Thompson Falls.