City fixes huge water leak

A man who was walking his dog last week at the base of “killer hill” noticed water flowing out of the ground and alerted the city of Columbia Falls. The city knew it had a leak, but the man’s find helped them find out where it was. It turned out a line had broken along Ninth Street West and was leaking 500,000 gallons of water a day.

The city’s aging water lines have multiple leaks, city manager Susan Nicosia noted at the Columbia Falls city council meeting Monday.

But finding them is another matter. Even with special sensing equipment, they’re hard to track down because the city’s gravel soils simply drain away the excess water.

If the man walking his dog hadn’t reported it, the city may still be looking for the leak on Ninth Street.

Mayor Don Barnhart wondered if the leak was caused by construction in the area earlier this summer. But two engineers, who happened to be at the meeting for other reasons, said it was hard to tell exactly.

The city is going to spread the word about leaks to its users. If anyone sees standing water this time of year in their yard or other areas in the city, they should contact the water department, Nicosia noted.

In other news:

• The council approved a special improvement district for Riverwood Estates for new sewer and water lines. The street will be replaced as well. The neighborhood is currently on septic tanks and has community water. Ryan Mitchell of Robert Peccia and Associates said the cost of the project had jumped about $52,000 after several problems were discovered. For one, the system will require about four sewer pumps at individual homes, which was more than expected. In addition, they added one more fire hydrant at the request of the fire department and the service lines from the homes to the main water line are all copper pipes. They’ll have to be replaced, he noted. The city plans on absorbing the additional cost, so homeowners will have the same cost to them as the earlier estimate, which was about $12,000 per home.

• The city council reverted the zoning back to suburban-agricultural 5 on a plot of land on Rogers Road north of the Montana Department of Transportation garage. The land is owned by Will and Andrea Brunz. It was zoned several years ago for high density development as part of a subdivision that never panned out. The Brunzes plan to pasture horses on the lot, run a dog kennel business and build a home there. There were no objections from the public or council on the zone change.

• Sandy Carlson has been named the city’s new finance director. She comes to the city after a long career with Flathead County.