Meeting set to discuss North Havre sewer project

The engineer working on a report recommending how to best upgrade and repair the sewer systems in two districts in North Havre will be in town Thursday to talk about progress on the report.

Members of the two North Havre Rural Special Improvement Districts, RSIDs 11 and 21, involved are invited to come to the presentation by Craig Pozega of Great West Engineering and provide their input.

Pozega is preparing a preliminary engineering report on a proposal to work on the sewer systems in the districts.

While the report will examine all the issues in the RSIDs' sewer systems, the focus is on two areas.

The mains that transport the sewage from the districts across the Milk River en route to the Havre sewer treatment plant have become exposed, and the engineering report will look at the best ways to repair that problem before something happens to break the pipes.

Another major problem is the status of the lift station for RSID 11 that pumps the sewage through the exposed forcemain for that district. The pump is outmoded, requiring regular repairs with parts that are increasingly difficult to obtain.

Pozega said during a meeting in April that replacing that lift station would significantly reduce yearly expenses for RSID 11.

Pozega also said the exposed forcemains are likely to be damaged or broken eventually, with the cost of repairing the damage — as well as paying any fines or assessments charged for sewage going into the Milk River — immediately charged to the users of the system.

The two options Pozega originally recommended were either using a directional bore, in which 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.

He said that, due to the geography of the river, the directional bore probably would be much less expensive.

Pozega said the project, if the residents would be willing to create a sewer or water and sewer district, would be a good candidate for grant funding.

Even though the county could apply for grant funding for the project, any money awarded could not be released until sewer districts were formed to administer the money.

Pozega said that if a district were formed, it would be prudent to form a combined water and sewer district. Even if nothing were done with the water district, if later on the residents decided to change the water policies, the district already would be formed, even if the action were decades later, he said.

The meeting is scheduled to start Thursday at 7 p. m. in the Bear Paw Development Corp. large conference room in the Ryan Building at 48 2nd Ave.