Paradise to vote on sewer board

The Sanders County Sewer District at Paradise board continues to plan for its new sewer system and though opposition also continues, the community division is getting narrower, according to Terry Caldwell, who conducted the sewer board meeting Friday.

"My goal is to bring the community together - the board, Bridger and the community, because we're all neighbors and friends, and that's important to me," said Caldwell, who ran the meeting in the absence of Sunny Chase, the board president. Chase and board member Rick McCollum are awaiting the results of recall proceedings that were initiated by resident Cody Lampman in February, claiming they violated their oaths of office. Lampman was also at the meeting. Paradise residents have until 8 p.m. Tuesday, August 24, to return their ballots by mail or drop them off at the Sanders County Courthouse.

There has been strong resistance to the installation of the proposed system. Caldwell's goal in getting on the board was to bring everybody together. "This town does need a sewer system. There are many lots on Central that are in desperate need; some of the places need to be condemned - that's my opinion, of course," said Caldwell. He would like to get more people involved in the project and on the board. "We're trying to move forward with the best interest of the community," said Caldwell, who joined the board last October and has a construction background.

Many of those in opposition believed the system was being installed merely to help resident Bridger Bischoff with his proposed subdivision and RV park. Caldwell noted that the general consensus from the opposition was that it was being done for Bischoff, but he said that's false; it's something the entire community needs. He said the town needs the sewer system to replace the individual septic systems. In addition, Bischoff would be paying more than $100,000 for the additional infrastructure for the sewer system. It was Bischoff's six and a half acres of property that he agreed to sell to the county for the system's treatment plant and drain field. This was the first meeting Bischoff had attended, but he said he's always been willing to talk with anyone on or off the board.

One of the setbacks to continuing with the project is the need to renegotiate a land deal with Bischoff because the railroad recently refused to give Paradise an easement for the mixing zone, which is needed for the drain field. Caldwell said the present negotiated property is about a half mile west of town, but he feels if they could get it closer to town, they would not only not need the railroad easement, but it would drastically reduce the project cost. He feels that moving the sewer main closer would also eliminate constructing a road from Highway 200 as an extra access. It would also mean fewer feet of pipe. The property abutting Sixth Street is also owned by Bischoff, who said at the meeting that he was open to negotiate. He plans to attend future meetings.

Only three board members were present Friday - Caldwell, McCollum and Janice Barber, who replaced Adam Rice, who resigned three months ago. Gary Kelly is still a board member, but was not present. Thirteen community members attended the hour-plus meeting, held this time in a small room in the water board building. Caldwell said they are looking to have the next meeting, scheduled for Friday, Sept. 10, at 6 p.m., at the Paradise Center.

"This has ballooned and ballooned and ballooned to an outrageous amount of money that cannot be put on the backs of Paradise," said Barber. "We're trying to move forward with the best interest of Paradise," she said. "Our goal is not to burden Paradise with a sewer, but give Paradise a sewer. If your lot is big enough to legally handle a drain field, you don't have to have it, but I can tell you that when you sell your property that's going to play into effect when you sell your property," said Barber.

Caldwell would like find out about reducing the size of the system to the area within the paved part of town from Highway 200 to North Street and from Sixth Street to First Street, eliminating sewer lines to the Church of God, the post office, the Paradise Center, and to Bischoff's future subdivision. Caldwell said Bischoff could still have a subdivision and not have to be hooked to the town's sewer system or he could later pay to get lines to his subdivision.

Caldwell said they plan to ask Great West Engineering to look at the cost of the project with a reduced area. He also said they want to get rid of the $750,000 rural development loan, a levy that is also a contention with property owners, who would have to pay $185 a year in taxes for 40 years. Caldwell feels that instead of utilizing the $3-million RD grant, which is attached to the levy, they could get money from the American Rescue Plan Act - ARPA - from the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. He said they've been told they already have $750,000 in ARPA money through the county and they are working on getting $1.7-million more. He doesn't know when they'll get word about the additional requested ARPA funds. Plains recently applied for ARPA funds for water work. Plains hopes to get word on its request by the end of the year. Caldwell said they'd like to get work started on their sewer system in 2022.

"Our end goal is that we want to be able to get the sewer system in and allow anybody to hook up that wants to hookup and also allow anybody that does not want to hook up that they don't have to," said Caldwell. He added that in the future if they change their minds and want to get hooked up, it would be at their own expense.

Caldwell felt the meeting went well and hopes those in opposition to the proposed sewer system could see that the community needs it. He is also striving to make everything the board does available to the public for transparency purposes, including having a website created that would include the minutes of every meeting. He also plans to have a large banner made that would be placed next to the park in Paradise with the date and time of future meetings. The board had a paper copy of the minutes from the July meeting that was passed around, but two people in attendance complained that the minutes were incomplete. Resident LeeAnn Overman wanted to go on record that she objected to accepting minutes because it didn't reflect all information from the last meeting. Caldwell also wants to make sure the meetings remain civil without rude outbreaks or disruptions.