Roundup: CFAC delay riles council; council also unhappily OK's contract for backflow prevention tests

The Columbia Falls City Council Monday night voted to write Montana Gov. Steve Bullock concerning permit delays for demolition of the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. plant.

While the Environmental Protection Agency is overseeing the cleanup of the grounds, the state Department of Environmental Quality is overseeing permits for demolition of the actual buildings, which is being done by Calbag Resources.

Calbag, which has demolished and scrapped several aluminum plants in the Pacific Northwest, has run into problems getting the necessary permits to haul away the spent potliners in the old CFAC plant.

In other states, the paperwork amounted to a few pages of permits and regulations. With the DEQ, the document has ballooned to more than 700 pages and to date, Calbag still doesn’t have a permit.

As a result, about 30 local workers are currently out of job, as the demolition work is delayed, noted Mayor Don Barnhart and city Councilman Mike Shepard. 

Council’s letter will ask Bullock, who is facing re-election, for help in the permit. The demolition is already six months behind schedule because of the amount of asbestos found in the plant. Disposing of asbestos is a time consuming process because it is hazardous material.

In other council news:

• The city voted in favor of bumping up some fees in the planning and zoning department. The new fees are more in line with what the county charges. The city did not increase pool fees or building permit fees.

“This is an affordable place and we want to keep it that way,” Barnhart said.

• After much angst and a 10-minute break to research state law, the council reluctantly agreed to approve a contract with B.E. Gibbons Consulting of California for backflow valve testing. Backflow valves are necessary for irrigation systems and homes with boilers to protect the city’s water supply. They have to be tested annually. 

The city requested bids and Gibbons was the low bidder for the work at $42.50 a test. Paul Pierce, a local plumber, bid $50 per test. Barnhart and council were pained that they had to give the contract to a California firm, but state law gave them no choice. They could not simply award the bid to a local firm if it was higher.

Gibbons will have representatives in town over the course of the summer to do the tests. Barnhart noted the only reason he voted for Gibbons was because they could come back and sue the city if they weren’t awarded the work. The city has about 300 systems that have to be tested.

The city will take a closer look at the contract language next year. 

Note: This story is corrected from a previous version. The city did not increase pool fees.