Hungry Horse subdivision plans continue
Plans for a 600-800 home subdivision in Hungry Horse are still in play. The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is taking comment for a sewage treatment plant for the project through April 17.
The 90-acre project between U.S. 2 and the South Fork of the Flathead River was ordered to go to sheriff’s auction by Flathead County District Court Judge Stewart Stadler on Jan. 2, 2013, after the owners lost a foreclosure lawsuit.
According to court records, Hungry Horse Development Partners LLC owed Glacier Bank at the time about $1.76 million for the Hungry Horse land and another $327,653 for a note backed by a lot in the exclusive Iron Horse subdivision in Whitefish.
Developers Stephan Byrd, of Spokane, and Dennis Konopatzke, of Whitefish, and others proposed a 900-unit subdivision in 2006 on land they purchased from the Flathead National Forest for $2.38 million. Byrd and Konopatzke said the project would be built out over 10 years and would include 60 commercial spaces along the highway.
The Flathead County Planning Board gave the project a negative recommendation in December 2006. One board member called the plans “half baked,” and another said it was “too much in too small a community.”
A key component to the project was a wastewater treatment plant estimated to cost about $2.5 million. As proposed, treatment would include influent screening, aerobic and anaerobic biological treatment, treatment by a membrane bioreactor, chemical phosphorus treatment and ultraviolet disinfection. The treated effluent would then be discharged into groundwater.
Konopatzke, as the managing member, submitted a wastewater discharge permit renewal application with a $1,200 check on Jan. 29. The application states that the treatment plant could serve 962 households and seven commercial businesses for a total population of 2,405 people.
“In the event the proposed wastewater treatment and disposal system adversely affects nearby domestic, agricultural or commercial/industrial wells, water will be supplied to the affected user from one of the unaffected Hungry Horse Water and Sewer District wells,” the application states.
A draft environmental assessment for the treatment plant prepared by DEQ environmental science specialist Rainie DeVaney in February 2014 concluded that no further environmental analysis was needed if the project was built as proposed.
No potential impacts and mitigation measures were identified, including in categories for water quality, aesthetics, demands on land, water, air or energy sources, locally adopted environmental plans or goals, access to and quality of recreation and wilderness activities, cultural uniqueness and diversity, and density or distribution of population and housing.
For more information on the permit, call the DEQ at 406-444-3080 or visit online at www.deq.mt.gov/notices/WQnotices.mcpx. Comments can be e-mailed to wpbpublicnotices@mt.gov or mailed to DEQ Permitting and Compliance Division, Water Protection Bureau, P.O. Box 200901, Helena MT 59620. Deadline is April 17.