Councilor questions drainage project's cost

After lengthy discussion about how to bring down the costs for a proposed stormwater drainage project on 13th Street West near South Hilltop Road, the Columbia Falls City Council unanimously agreed at its Sept. 15 meeting to put the project out to bid and see what happens.

The project’s goal is to protect property on Grace Road, Martha Road, Karen Road, Clayton Lane and 13th Street West from spring flooding when the ground is still frozen, city manager Susan Nicosia said.

But the engineer’s estimate for the project ballooned from a low of $80,000 to about $144,000. Nicosia recommended putting the project out to bid and then “tweaking” it to bring down costs.

Among the many flood sources were insufficient stormwater infrastructure in the Clayton Lane subdivision, when it was built under Flathead County jurisdiction, and removal of junk and debris on the Rocky Mountain Riders rodeo grounds, which had been holding back stormwater, Nicosia said.

“The city inherited this problem,” Nicosia said.

Standing water is damaging road pavement, she said, and city crews have spent several weeks at a time pumping the flood water. Increased density and land sloping toward roadways made finding an inexpensive solution difficult.

City councilor Dave Petersen expressed his reluctance to pay that much money to fix the problem.

“When did this become a high priority condition?” he asked.

Petersen suggested taking other steps to reduce costs, such as putting a berm along the rodeo grounds to hold back stormwater.

“The rodeo grounds is just one small part of the overall problem,” mayor Don Barnhart noted.

Petersen suggested what he called “the farmers fix” — addressing 80 percent of the problem and calling it good. He also suggested letting it go for another year and dealing with one more spring flood.

“We had a whole neighborhood come in here about this,” Nicosia pointed out.

One of the engineer’s plans called for planting trees along the rodeo grounds, she said, which would create a stormwater berm and a landscape buffer at the same time. If the city can do anything to bring down the costs, it will, she added.

“I suggest as much mitigation as possible,” Petersen said before voting.