City offers carrot and stick to septic owners

Mayor Don Barnhart calls his strategy for getting city property owners to hook up to city sewer service “the carrot and the stick.”

“It’s been 40 years since some of these sewer mains were installed, and we’ve tried all kinds of inducements, but they’re still not hooked up,” he told the Columbia Falls City Council on Feb. 17,

The “carrot” is a $2,000 loan the city could provide to help pay for labor and materials, Barnhart said. The money could come from the city’s Cedar Creek Trust Fund and be paid back a little at a time, the same way plant-investment fees sometimes are handled.

The “stick” is a city code text amendment requiring property owners with septic systems inside the city to hook up to city sewer before their property can be sold or transferred to another owner.

City staff have a hard time nailing down the exact number of homes in the city still hooked up to septics but it’s around 50, city manager Susan Nicosia said. Some property owners have been paying for city sewer service even though they’re not hooked up, she said. Others have paid plant-investment fees, and some more will get on the list when sewer mains are run near their homes this year, she said.

“We were making headway and got the numbers way down, but then we annexed some more land,” Barnhart said.

Sandy soil in Columbia Falls makes it difficult to spot a failed septic system — the effluent just runs into the ground. Barnhart said he’s concerned about impacts to a shallow aquifer south of the high school near Fifth Avenue West. There are also cases of water lines running through drainfields to homes.

Barnhart said he asked a representative of the Flathead City-County Health Department at a city Public Works Committee meeting on Feb. 10 what they could do. It’s hard to determine if a septic system is working until it actually fails, he said, and the health department was reluctant to order property owners to hook up.

“Some lending institutions have said they would require properties to be hooked up before they could be sold, but they didn’t hold to that policy,” Barnhart said.

Nicosia said owners of a failed septic system could face a fine of up to $500 per day, and most older septic systems inside the city don’t have a health department permit

“Those septics cannot be legally repaired or pumped,” Barnhart said.

But that’s led to other problems — some property owners were properly maintaining their septic systems until they were annexed into the city. Then they stopped.

Nicosia noted that a sewer main that will be installed along Frontage Road this year will cost around $130,000, but what if people there won’t hook up to city sewer?

Hooking up to city sewer can be expensive for many residents. Barnhart estimated the cost at $2,500 for the plant-investment fee and permit, another $2,000 for labor and materials, and much more if a lift pump or excavation of a paved street is needed.

Councilor Darin Fisher asked about cost sharing, like the 50/50 split the city offers for sidewalks.

That wouldn’t be fair, Barnhart said. He cited the case of a man without much money who recently paid to hook up. The city has also considered shutting off water to people who won’t hook up to city sewer, as can be done for violators of the city’s backflow prevention program, he said.

“We’re ready to move on this,” Barnhart said. “There’s no money involved. We just need the city attorney to draft the city code text amendment.”

The council agreed and directed staff to bring back the proposed text, which must go through a public process before being enacted.

Mayor Don Barnhart calls his strategy for getting city property owners to hook up to city sewer service “the carrot and the stick.”

“It’s been 40 years since some of these sewer mains were installed, and we’ve tried all kinds of inducements, but they’re still not hooked up,” he told the Columbia Falls City Council on Feb. 17,

The “carrot” is a $2,000 loan the city could provide to help pay for labor and materials, Barnhart said. The money could come from the city’s Cedar Creek Trust Fund and be paid back a little at a time, the same way plant-investment fees sometimes are handled.

The “stick” is a city code text amendment requiring property owners with septic systems inside the city to hook up to city sewer before their property can be sold or transferred to another owner.

City staff have a hard time nailing down the exact number of homes in the city still hooked up to septics but it’s around 50, city manager Susan Nicosia said. Some property owners have been paying for city sewer service even though they’re not hooked up, she said. Others have paid plant-investment fees, and some more will get on the list when sewer mains are run near their homes this year, she said.

“We were making headway and got the numbers way down, but then we annexed some more land,” Barnhart said.

Sandy soil in Columbia Falls makes it difficult to spot a failed septic system — the effluent just runs into the ground. Barnhart said he’s concerned about impacts to a shallow aquifer south of the high school near Fifth Avenue West. There are also cases of water lines running through drainfields to homes.

Barnhart said he asked a representative of the Flathead City-County Health Department at a city Public Works Committee meeting on Feb. 10 what they could do. It’s hard to determine if a septic system is working until it actually fails, he said, and the health department was reluctant to order property owners to hook up.

“Some lending institutions have said they would require properties to be hooked up before they could be sold, but they didn’t hold to that policy,” Barnhart said.

Nicosia said owners of a failed septic system could face a fine of up to $500 per day, and most older septic systems inside the city don’t have a health department permit

“Those septics cannot be legally repaired or pumped,” Barnhart said.

But that’s led to other problems — some property owners were properly maintaining their septic systems until they were annexed into the city. Then they stopped.

Nicosia noted that a sewer main that will be installed along Frontage Road this year will cost around $130,000, but what if people there won’t hook up to city sewer?

Hooking up to city sewer can be expensive for many residents. Barnhart estimated the cost at $2,500 for the plant-investment fee and permit, another $2,000 for labor and materials, and much more if a lift pump or excavation of a paved street is needed.

Councilor Darin Fisher asked about cost sharing, like the 50/50 split the city offers for sidewalks.

That wouldn’t be fair, Barnhart said. He cited the case of a man without much money who recently paid to hook up. The city has also considered shutting off water to people who won’t hook up to city sewer, as can be done for violators of the city’s backflow prevention program, he said.

“We’re ready to move on this,” Barnhart said. “There’s no money involved. We just need the city attorney to draft the city code text amendment.”

The council agreed and directed staff to bring back the proposed text, which must go through a public process before being enacted.