City sewer upgrades mean about $1.50 increase in base rate for homeowners

The Columbia Falls city sewer system upgrades will likely cost the average homeowner about $1.50 to their base rate per month.

Columbia Falls is eyeing about $2.8 million in upgrades to its sewage treatment facility and accessory equipment in the next few years. Last week, the city council accepted a preliminary engineering report from Craig Caprara of HDR engineering, which is designing the upgrades.

The city is also looking to upgrade its water system as well in the next few years.

Those upgrades are expected to cost about $1.5 million and would raise the base water rate about $2 per month, so combined, the increase would run the average homeowner about $3.50 per month, while still maintaining reserves in both water and sewer accounts.

The next step is for the council to formally adopt the sewage and water rate increases and hold public hearings on both.

The water system will come first, then the sewer.

The sewer system is just about at capacity right now. The city will also look to renegotiate its contract with Meadow Lake Resort. The resort relies on the city for its sewer and water.

In his analysis, Caprara estimated the city would see an annual growth rate of about 65 homes a year with a population of over 7,000 in 20 years.

That growth rate hasn’t happened yet, however. Last year the city added 20 homes. It’s running out of in-fill lots — there’s about 150 lots left, without expansion outside the current city limits.

Because the Flathead River is in nearly pristine condition, the city is held to a high standard by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality for discharge of nitrogen and phosphorous as well as metals.

Meeting those standards can be costly, but it also means the city is doing a good job of protecting water resources, Caprara noted.