HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – The Havre City Council met for their regularly scheduled meeting on Monday evening.
Items approved unanimously by the Council included the confirmation of Havre Probationary Police Officer Brandon Murnion. Murnion has been working with the Hill County Sheriff’s Office at the Detention Center and will attend the Montana Law Enforcement Academy in September.
Also approved unanimously was July claims and manual warrants and Independence Bank Pledged Securities for the second quarter of 2020.
The last agenda item was an update from Jennifer Patrick, Milk River Joint Board of Control Project Manager, and Steve Davies, Area Manager of the Bureau of Reclamation’s Montana Office, on the status of the St. Mary’s Diversion project.
Patrick appeared in person while Davies called in.
Since Drop 5 of the St. Mary’s System collapsed in mid-May, the flow of water from the system to the Milk River has been cut off. Work is currently underway to repair Drop 5 as well as Drop 2, which has been deemed vulnerable.
Patrick and Davies said that the project is continuing apace and is expected to be completed in late September or early October.
The project comes in at an estimated cost of $8 million, of which Havre’s share will be between $5,000 and $10,000. Davies said Havre should expect a bill in January.
With the system currently not working, Fresno Reservoir has dropped to 20 feet below full pool. The majority of irrigation was cut-off last week to allow for Fresno to maintain enough water for municipalities to have water through the winter. Milk River flows have also been reduced from Fresno Reservoir.
Fresno is now projected to be at 26 feet below full pool sometime in September, which will continue to negatively impact the fishery.
The hope is that weather permitting, the project will be completed in time to push some water back into Fresno before winter.
Davies told the Council he doesn’t anticipate any water restrictions for any municipalities that rely on Fresno for water, regardless of when the project is completed.
Davies also mentioned that preliminary work is underway for a “substantial modification” of Fresno Dam. Construction on this project, which is expected to cost somewhere around $60 million, is as much as five years away. Water users will foot approximately 15 percent of the bill. It is unclear how much of a draw-down of the reservoir would be necessary for this project.
One member of the public spoke before the meeting adjourned, asking whether anything can be done about people speeding down 6th Street near 7th Avenue. A solar speed limit sign was suggested, but Mayor Tim Solomon said any benefit of that would not outweigh the excessive cost.
The next Havre City Council meeting is scheduled for August 17th.
