HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – Officials from the Hill County Commission, Great West Engineering, and Bear Paw Development gathered at the Great Northern Fairgrounds on Tuesday evening to hold a public meeting regarding a proposed replacement of the Rural Special Improvement District (RSID) No. 21 Lift Station in North Havre.
The new lift station will be in the same location with a slightly larger footprint. Improvements include emergency shutoff capabilities, the addition of a backup generator, and the lining of an existing wet well and two upstream manholes with cured in place liner to seal out groundwater.
Although the current lift station does not have an emergency shutoff, it does have an alarm that sounds when there is an emergency, with someone in the area needing to contact the county to notify them of the alarm. The new lift station will remove this step by immediately notifying the county when there are issues.
There will be no impact to residents during construction, according to Great West Engineering. The project is not expected to add any additional costs for those living in the RSID.
The lift station currently serves approximately 48 residential sewer hook-ups in North Havre, and the new lift station would have with the potential to serve more hook-ups if the area sees expansion.
The meeting was called because the $260,500 Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Hill County received for this project requires public discussion of any concerns since the lift station is inside a 100-year flood plain.
The hope is for the entire project to be grant funded. Hill County is awaiting aproval of a $260,500 grant from the Treasure State Endowment Program (TSEP) that would be funded through the legislature.
Once funding is secured, the plan would be to put the project out for bids in the near future. Jeremiah Theys of Great West Engineering says that if “all stars align,” construction could be completed this fall. However, he says it is more likely that construction takes place in the spring or summer of 2022, as there are a number of steps that still need to be taken before construction, including putting the project out for bids.
Commissioner Mark Peterson says this is one of the last lift stations in the county with deficiencies that need to be addressed. He says the final lift station they need to fix is located by North 40, and they hope to get started on that once this project is in the rearview mirror.
