In the wake of two Clancy Water and Sewer District (CWSD) resignations at the end of 2020, three new interim board members were appointed Jan. 26 and they immediately began reviewing issues that had been stalled due to the disruption — namely a resident survey and a test well site.
Four volunteers submitted their interest in the positions, and three met the qualifications, which include being registered to vote, over the age of 18, a U.S. citizen and a resident or property owner within the district.
Appointed by CWSD President David Leitheiser were Bob Marks, Jen Davis and Jason Gilliland.
The fourth volunteer, Tammie Chenoweth, president of the Red Cliff Estates Homeowners Association, could not be appointed to the board as her residence in Red Cliff Estates is not part of the water and sewer district. The three new members were sworn in at the meeting and were able to begin participating immediately.
Leitheiser explained that the appointments are temporary and a special election will be held May 4 for three members to serve the remaining one year of the two-year Board member terms. The secretary position would fulfill the remaining three years of Lori Gilliland’s term, who had previously held the position. The president and secretary serve four-year terms.
Those who are interested in the positions must sign up before the Feb. 8 deadline.
Gilliland had resigned stating that after five years on the board it was time to move on, whereas Bob Johnson said his resignation was due to what he described as a “wave of misinformation that has spread throughout the community.”
Their departures, coming during the ongoing controversy over a test well site, left a Board of one, Leitheiser, and sparked concern among Jefferson County officials about the future of the water system project.
The previous Board had voted to move forward with a resident survey developed with the help of Michelle Pond, a technical assistance provider for the Midwest Assistance Program (MAP) in Montana. The new Board approved that proposal and motioned to move forward with the survey. The CWSD plans to get the survey to evaluate public support of a centralized water system completed before the next meeting so it can be discussed.
Meanwhile, finding a site of a test well was put into “limbo” due to the resignations late last year, said Collette Anderson, PE, the project engineer and architect from Great West Engineering.
After two previous locations had been shot down — one at the Clancy School and the other at Marks Ranch, Great West had been steered toward finding a location on state land south of Clancy.
A test well is the next step in the process to build a centralized water system designed to mitigate water issues for the district. Both uranium and nitrates, found in some Clancy wells, are considered public health threats. The test well would allow Great West Engineering and the board to pinpoint a site that could sustain the well system.
Previously, Anderson and David Donohue, a hydrologist working with Hydrosolutions, stated that there was little information on the targeted state land and its potential for water. Anderson said the state land was not the most ideal location for the test well due to its distance from the community it would be serving, as well as a lack of data on water quality and quantity. Anderson said that she was still looking into options for the test well and a field visit of the state land location would have to take place. Anderson planned to have a report by the next meeting, Feb. 23.
