Nearly 20 North Havre residents attended a meeting in Havre Wednesday to hear about options in repairing the sewer systems for two districts in the community.

They also heard about what the repairs would do to their rates.

Craig Pozega, the engineer drafting a report for the project, said grant funding is likely to keep the rates from going up much, if at all for one of the districts, but that would require the creation of a sewer district or districts to be eligible for public grants.

The sewer systems now are paid for by the residents of special improvement districts, with the county government administering the systems.

Bear Paw Development Corp’s Michelle Turville and Pozega both said the desire — and the outcome required by the agencies that would permit or consider funding the project — is to find a long-term solution.

“So we won’t have to worry about it again in our lifetime, ” Turville said.

Aging infrastructure raises costs, concerns

The districts in question are Hill County RSID 11, north of the Milk River from about 10th Avenue North to where the Wild Horse Road splits off from River Road, and RSID 21, north and east of RSID 11.

The initial recommendations from Great West Engineering are to replace the forcemains through which the sewage is pumped across the river and to rehabilitate the lift station for RSID 11.

A major problem in RSID 11 is an outmoded lift station, the system used to pump the sewage through the forcemains across the Milk River. This type of lift station is difficult to work on and to get parts for, and is a high-maintenance item. Pozega said the three-year average annual charge to the residents for operation and maintenance of that station is close to $17,000.

“You’re spending a lot of money every year to keep that lift station running, ” he said. “It’s in need of some work. ”

Pozega said the lift station for RSID 21 is not a problem, and he is not recommending replacement or rehabilitation for that unit.

Exposed pipes

The primary issue, however, is the exposed forcemains that transport the sewage across the Milk River. Pozega said the exposure makes it likely the pipes will be damaged or broken, whether by ice or trees floating down the river or some other means.

That would lead to immediate repairs or replacement being required, and probably fines assessed.

Those charges would have to be paid by the owners of the systems — in this case the county government and the RSID the forcemain serves, he said.

Pozega said there is no way to know how long the exposed pipe could sit without being damaged. It could be 10 years or longer, or it could be broken next year or even later this spring, he said.

A variety of options

Pozega listed several options that could be taken, some of which already have been ruled out.

One option, armoring the existing pipes, had been ruled out but was raised again during the meeting.

North Havre resident Dennis Schaub said he wanted to know what the cost of that option would be. With the generally slow-moving Milk River reducing the chance of damage to an armored forcemain, it might be the best route, he said.

Other North Havre residents said they also would like to know more about that option.

The two primary options examined in the preliminary draft were using directional drilling, where a hole would be drilled deep beneath the river and the pipe pulled back through, or jack and bore, in which a pit would be dug, a steel shaft rammed through the dirt below the river, and a pipe inserted through the shaft.

Pozega said that, for the geographical requirements at the river, the directional drilling would be much more cost-effective — it would have a total capital cost of $229,000 for the two districts, compared to $449,000 for jack and bore.

For the RSID 11 lift station, he said there are three options — a minor repair job, with an initial cost of $37,000, or a complete rehabilitation for $153,000, or replacing the station entirely for $216,000.

Pozega said that looking over a 20-year period, however, if the minor repairs were done, the annual operation and maintenance would create a 20-year cost of $287,000. The replacement option would have a 20-year cost of $276,000, while the major rehabilitation option, the recommended alternative, would have a 20-year cost of $217,000.

Funding the repairs

The next question addressed was how to fund the project.

Pozega said it could be fully funded through a loan from the state revolving fund, although that would add significantly to the sewer charges in the districts.

For RSID 11, the cost of using a full loan would require an average monthly charge of $17.46 per hookup, in addition to the charge for operation and maintenance of the system. If a sewer district were formed and the district was awarded grants, the charge to service the loan would be $4.37.

In RSID 21, although the total cost would be lower, because of fewer hookups, the monthly charge would be a little higher. Pozega said a fully loan-funded project would require $22.24 a month per hookup to service the loan, while a grant-funded project would cost $5.56 a month in addition to the monthly O&M cost.

He said that he did not have figures for the cost of administering a sewer district, but would research that and have the information at the next meeting.

Using just the anticipated O&M costs, without adding the administrative cost, the estimated total cost for RSID 11 would be $40.59 a month per hookup for a fully loan-funded project, or $27.50 with grant funding. That compares to a current monthly average of $30.53 month.

For RSID 21, the total cost before adding administrative costs would be $54.07 a month per hookup for a fully loan-funded project and $37.39 a hookup for a grant-funded project, compared to an average current cost of $31.83.

Looking at sewer and water districts

Pozega and Turville said that, although the county could apply for grant funding for the project, even before a district is formed, any money awarded would not be released until a sewer district is formed.

To form a district, a petition with signatures from at least 51 percent of the residents, or 10 percent of the landowners, must be presented to the county commission. An election then is held to approve creation of the district.

The district is administered by an elected board of residents of the district.

Pozega and Vincent both said the paperwork of the district, such as billing and collections, could be contracted out. A district formed in Box Elder uses that method, Vincent said.

Pozega said he would take the information and comments made during Wednesday’s meeting and continue to work on the preliminary draft. Pozega said he plans to hold another informational meeting in about a month, before completing the final draft and scheduling a public meeting in which to present that draft.