Plains pursuing ARPA funds for water projects

The Town of Plains has applied for a new COVID-related grant that could mean a new well and help with several other water issues.

With only six hours before the deadline, Mayor Dan Rowan filed a two-page American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) application to the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation last Thursday. With the aid of Shari Johnson, the town's contracted engineer, Rowan listed four of the top priority projects, starting with asking for $1,375,000 for a new well, which Rowan said was the most important item for the health and safety of the townspeople.

The other three projects involved replacing aging or inefficient water pipes around town, something the town has slowly been trying to rectify, but has routinely come up short on funds, according to Rowan. "It really illustrates the amount of funds that are needed for infrastructure in a small town," said Rowan. The total cost of the four projects came to $2,550,000. "If we get these things, it'll be awesome," said Rowan.

Second priority on the town's application was extended water improvements on the southeast of town, where the one-inch water mains are supposed to be eight-inch lines. The cost to upgrade the pipes would be $250,000. The third project, which came to $475,000, was to replace the 1,100 feet of lines on First Street. Last on the list was a $450,000 plan to replace the estimated 400 galvanized service lines, which were installed in the 1960s, with poly plastic lines. Rowan had a sample of one of the rusted galvanized pipes from Stanton Street at a town council meeting. Johnson said they should know whether they received the grant sometime in December.

City Well was created in 1938; Balch Well was done eight years later. The two wells are potentially vulnerable because they are likely on the same groundwater flow direction or current, which means that if some type of pollutant from the railroad or along Highway 200 in town seeped into the water, both wells could be impacted, which in turn could impact the town's drinking water, according to Rowan. Johnson said that a shallow aquifer is vulnerable to contamination because there isn't a lot of distance between the surface and the water.

"A contaminate spilled or used on the ground - i.e. herbicide or pesticide - can reach the aquifer easily and be pumped into the water supply through the well," Johnson said. Any new well site would not be in the same flow path as the other two wells, which are located within the town limits. If the town gets the money for a well, they'd look for a piece of property north of town. It would require less than an acre, said Rowan. The requested cost includes drilling the well, erecting a pump house with a chlorination room, and creating a transmission main to the existing system.

"Without additional ARPA funding, the source capacity issues will likely continue until funding becomes available," Rowan said in the application. "The town only requested ARPA Competitive Round funds for their most imperative project with a high health and safety need," he added.

Johnson, a professional civil engineer who's been working with Plains for about 10 years, provided input to Rowan, who had the final decision. Johnson, who's also working with ARPA projects for Lake County, Ronan and St. Ignatius, presented the options to the Plains Town Council on July 6 and said that because of some of the ambiguity in the state's guidelines, the town might have to make last-minute decisions on the application. To simplify the situation, the council unanimously voted to allow the mayor to make the final determination of what to request.

Johnson said the well was the most crucial project on the list. The town used to have three water sources, but in 2002, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) forced the closure of Boehler Springs, located in the Boyer Creek drainage, after it determined the springs as "groundwater under the direct influence of surface water" and said it would have to be treated in accordance with surface water regulations. The treatment would cost the town around $4 million, something they would not even consider, said Rowan. The elimination of Boehler Springs took the total water capacity from 980 gallons per minute to 680 gpm. Johnson said that DEQ would like to see 720 gpm without the largest well pumping. She also said that with regards to water supply, the town should be planning for the future because population growth means additional water demand and with the present system the water needs would not be adequate.

"Turning off the spring source has made the source capacity situation even more vulnerable," Rowan said in the grant application. DEQ requires that the water source meet the maximum daily demand even with the largest well source out of service, according to the town's application. With all three water sources, the total gallons of water per day was nearly 1.5 million gallons. Without Boehler Springs, the daily maximum for the other two wells is only 979,200. Balch Well's capacity is 547,200 gallons and City Well is 432,000.

Rowan said that DNRC will be reviewing and ranking the applications before forwarding them to the Infrastructure Advisory Commission, which it must do before Aug. 15. The governor has the final decision. Rowan said the state would be looking through countless applications for billions of dollars. The ARPA application does not include $489,209 that the town will be receiving in a separate ARPA grant. He said the town has already received about $140,000 and will get about the same amount next year. The mayor said he's not sure when they'll receive the rest. "I also think it is important for readers to know that there will not be a rate increase because of the project or funding being pursued," said Johnson.

One item Rowan said they considered putting on the list was a new water tank. The town has one 500,000-gallon storage tank, which sets atop a hill along Highway 28 just outside the town limits. However, he and Johnson thought that because the cost of a tank would probably approach a $2-million price tag, it would jeopardize getting other items. He said the present water tank is not large enough for today's DEQ capacity standards. The tank is nearly 60 years old and might need replacing. Divers are scheduled to go inside the tank in August, well past the ARPA deadline. In 2018, divers found evidence of minor corrosion, but Rowan feels it has probably grown. He is looking into another grant avenue to replace the tank. The mayor went to Somers three weeks ago to see its new concrete water tank, which he was told was a little over $2-million.

"We're hoping to get everything we asked for. Water is a real necessity," said Rowan. "All of these things are needed. These things are not there as fluff projects or beautification projects, these are basic necessity projects," said Rowan, who is also looking at other grants for additional funding to complete more project needs. "It's a somewhat sobering thought to think of how much money is needed to have a functioning system."