Wastewater project: Just the facts

Thanks for taking the time to read this summation of the current status of the Greater Woods Bay Wastewater Project, and the recent income survey effort.

It has been more than two years since the last public meeting April 2008 regarding the status of the project and in that time much has changed. One change is that all three districts within the planning area were given the promise of state grant money, providing the whole funding package including loans, are secured and committed by June 2011.

Another change is that the core line was not promised funds under the state program and an alternate method for funding had to be found. The core line is roughly six miles of large diameter pipe with lift pumps that will traverse the distance from the project area to the Bigfork Wastewater Treatment Facility. No funding or promise of funding has yet been secured thought the district is working with a federal agency for that funding.

Another thing that has changed is the outlook that the state funding program has for the project. From this point on, the project is considered a single entity, although there are three districts (entities' within the planning area.

If this sounds confusing you have the apologies of the board of directors of the Greater Woods Bay Sewer District (GWBSD). It is just as confusing to the board. Since the formation of the GWBSD in October 2006, nearly four years ago, the single objective for the district has been to secure some kind of funding for the project. It seems to the board that the state and federal funding agencies to which grant and loan applications have been submitted have been challenged in deciding just how to handle the unique nature of the Greater Woods Bay Wastewater project. It just doesn't seem to fit neatly into a well-defined set of standards for municipal projects like water, wastewater, storm water and solid waste, to name a few.

Several steps have to be taken before the wastewater project ever gets a shovel in the ground. These steps are outlined in the Montana Code Annotated (MCA). The most significant of these is that the planning area stakeholders must vote on the rates they will be charged. But before that can happen, the district has to know what it qualifies for in grants. It is much like qualification for some competition. Until the minimum standard is met to qualify to participate, the thought of winning is out of the question.

One of the minimum qualifications needed in the matter of funding for the core system is the income survey. In April the Midwest Assistance Program, a third-party agency not affiliated with the GWBSD, mailed out more than 280 income surveys to portions of all three districts. The entire planning area was not surveyed because the funding agency did not require it. At the time the announcement of the survey was made in March, that information was not known. As a result not all stakeholders received income surveys.

The objective of the income survey is to provide required information to the funding agency that will allow the agency to decide what percentage of grant funds can be allocated to the core system part of the overall project. Once that is determined the amount of the loan will be known as well, and the district can proceed and follow the MCA and conduct the mandatory public hearings on rates, draw up the legal description of the loan, and conduct the ballot vote. But until the 170 valid income surveys are returned (the minimum number required for the determination to be made), the district can move no further. The district is essentially waiting for the community to respond.

The Greater Woods Bay Wastewater project exists only on paper and the hopes and minds of the residents and neighbors who expressed their desires for such a system throughout the past decade. Many have supported in word and deed. A few have supported with money. To all those who have helped thus far, the board of directors say thanks.

To all those who have received the income survey but have not returned the filled out form to the Midwest Assistance Program, it is an easy way to at least participate in a community wide effort. Simply returning the filled out form does not commit a person to support for the project. You will still have that opportunity when the matter of funding the project goes to a vote. But by not sending back the filled out form the chance the district has to use grant money for any part of the project slips rapidly from good to poor. Like the competition, we first have to qualify.

Once we are in the game, it is another story if we'll win or not.

Rana is a Woods Bay resident and Greater Woods Bay Sewer District board member.