After months of discussion and negotiation, the City of Boulder received a final easement proposal from the Montana Department of Health and Human Services on Aug. 19, which would allow the city to construct a new well on the Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) Headquarters campus and connect it to the public water supply.
Once the easement proposal is reviewed by City Attorney Ed Guza, and agreed to by city officials, the well project will be submitted to the Montana State Board of Land Commissioners (MSBLC) for final approval.
“We’ve been told that approval from MSBLC is ultimately a formality,” said Boulder mayor Rusty Giulio at the Aug. 19 City Council meeting. Decisions from MSBLC on projects such as the MHP campus well are usually issued within a month of receiving a proposal from involved parties, and, according to city officials, are likely to result in approval.
The City’s two-phased water system improvement effort will see two new wells connected to the public water supply: the MHP campus well and another to be constructed on city property near Little League Park. Construction and improvements planned in both phases of the effort are partially funded by loans issued through the Montana State Revolving Fund (SRF), which account for roughly $3.4 million of the project’s $5.2 million total cost.
Boulder City Administrator Brian Bullock made clear that, once the project is complete, likely within two years, the City will likely increase monthly rates charged to connected households in order to repay the loans.
“Even though we don’t have an abundance of information right now, we will inevitably need a rate increase,” said Bullock during the Council meeting. “This is a long way out, and we’re also hopeful for the possibility of loan forgiveness, so we won’t know exactly what change will be needed until after the project is finished and the loan administrators and actuaries tell us what is necessary. But we want to be transparent. There will be plenty of public hearings and opportunities for the public to voice their concerns, and time to prepare for this eventuality.”
Boulder, according to Bullock, has not increased water rates since 2005, and presently has a base rate of $34.16 a month per equivalent dwelling unit (EDU), which is a unit used by water providers to measure demand and equates to the amount of water used by a single family residence. This is significantly cheaper than rates charged in neighboring communities, such as the roughly $48 per EDU charged in Basin. Bullock says that water attorneys consulted by Boulder suggested a monthly rate increase between $10 and $30 dollars.
Costs have been held down in recent years because the City has used just two functioning wells, on 3rd and 4th Avenues. Returning four wells to the city’s supply will greatly increase the long term resiliency and security of the system, say city officials.
