The Basin County Water and Sewer Board met July 19 at Basin Elementary School, where Brad Koon of Triple Tree Engineering made an appearance to visit with the board about moving forward with well improvements. The board had been consulting with Triple Tree, an engineering firm based out of Helena, to make necessary repairs, which include replacing services (including curb stops), repairing and recoating the interior of the tank, replacing two chemical feed pumps and replacing the existing pump motors.
This one-phase, $642,000 project is expected to be complete by November of 2023 and is mostly covered by an American Rescue Plan Act grant, a principal forgiveness loan and one additional Single Resolution Fund loan. The water and sewer board is currently working to qualify for more grants to cover this price, but that’s no easy task, said Basin County Water and Sewer District Board President Jason Norman.
“Qualifying for a lot of grants that are out there right now depends on the median household income determined by the federal government,” Norman said, “and, for our area, what the federal government used was Basin, all the way up Basin Creek Road and all the way over to Bernice and that whole subdivision. All that’s considered our median household income, which they determine to be around $47,000…it should be $10,000 less than that.”
And to get a more accurate picture, Water and Sewer Board Director DeDe Rhodes said the board will have to knock on everyone’s doors and ask them.
“Can anyone tell me how that’s going to end up?” she said, shaking her head.
Norman did say, however, following a conversation with a Department of Commerce representative, there is a way to create a petition to get a more accurate household median income, but it will take people coming forward to divulge that information.
“You need around 80 percent of the people in the district to respond, in order to make that happen,” said Koon.
Puzzled, Norman rebuttled, “well, if that’s the case, why the hell are we even talking about this?”
Koon, however, told the board not to get discouraged, as there are still a lot of other avenues out there for grants, such as community development block grants. Rhodes agreed and said she is currently seeking hazard mitigation assistance grants and believes there may be potential for a Federal Emergency Manage Agency grant.
Despite the frustrations here, the board agreed they’d rather continue to seek grants rather than raise the rates. However, if the median household income can’t get updated to better reflect the situation of the residents, it may have to remain an option.
Rhodes added that one way to try and get the correct household income is by explaining the situation and requesting financial information in a note attached to the bill. Rhodes said perhaps providing this information with the bill could inspire people to come to a meeting where the issue could be addressed.
Norman, however, was skeptical as to whether or not people would read the note attached to their bill.
The board also discussed having a booth at Basin Days Saturday, Aug. 20.
Other Business
Former Basin County Water and Sewer District Board member MJ Williams brought up the need for replacing some curb stops, particularly one that services the Hewitt building downtown.
“My concern is I was told it doesn’t work,” she said. “I have two valves. One of them was done around Abe Lincoln’s time. I’m concerned that if one goes there’s nothing I can do..can the curb stop be repaired?”
Basin Water and Sewer Board Treasurer/Secretary Nancy Smallwood told the rest of the board it’d be a good idea to replace the curb stops before next year.
Norman said curb stop replacements most likely won’t happen until summer 2023.
Water operator Andy Giulio said water usage in the community has been down this year as opposed to this time last year.
“The highest usage in the last month was 82,400 gallons in one day,” he said. “That’s high, but it’s not half as much as it was last year.”
Smallwood – who recently announced her resignation from the board, effective in August – attributes less usage to the increased precipitation.
“We’ve had rain, rain and lots of rain,” she said.
In his report Giulio also mentioned there have been some issues with a water pump.
The Basin County Water and Sewer District Board will meet again Tuesday, Aug. 2, 6:30 p.m. at Basin Elementary School. Discussion will include the contract with Triple Tree and getting updated information on median household income.
