HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – Officials from Havre and Hill County gathered at Bear Paw Development on Monday afternoon to address deficiencies with the Milk River Levy before it loses accreditation with the Army Corps of Engineers standards.
The group agreed to put out a Request for Proposal (RFP) to survey the right of way in order to identify and verify encroachments to the levy.
“In our SWIF (System Wide Improvement Framework) plan, the estimates that we put together, there’s a lot of encroachments,” said Jeremiah Theys, Business Unit Manager for Great West Engineering. “We made some assumptions on where the right of way is and what those are. We need to actually define that to show folks that they are truly encroachments, there are outbuildings and fencing that are in the levy, and then we can show them where that needs to be moved and start working on that process as well. It’s critical just to know that the levy is in the right of way, and show folks that.”
The survey is expected to take several months, and Theys said they should have monumenting done by the fall. The process of dealing with encroachments is still a ways away, but the group said they will work with affected landowners to deal with them when the time comes, and could even provide financial assistance.
The other action taken was the decision to schedule a conference call with a bond council to further discuss the creation of a new Rural Special Improvement District in the area protected by the levy, and come up with a fair plan for assessing the land within it. This would replace RSID 10, which does not include the entire protected area. RSID 10 was created decades ago and only provides the County with $44,000 a year, not even enough for annual maintenance of the levy.
“(Hill County’s) next step is to engage with a bond council and start the process. We need to define a boundary, look at who is within the District, and start looking at assessments and such,” Theys said. “You can get it done right away in just a couple of months, but I think with the scale of this District, the entities involved being both city and county, and the number of parcels and flood protection, it could take six or eight months to get created.”
Deficiencies need to be dealt with within the next 5-7 years at most to remain in compliance and prevent much of Havre from being in a floodplain, which would require costly flood insurance.
“In the long run, the levy needs to be certified so it shows flood protection. That’s the whole nature of the levy,” Theys said. “To protect Havre and the North Havre area from flooding on the Milk, but also for any potential future flood maps and updates and showing folks within the floodplain. That we can show they are flood protected, and that is reflected in the flood maps. That’s going to be a benefit to the community, not having to pay flood insurance.”
A rough estimate for the cost for the entire project is $2.6 million. The County is working on ways to obtain funds for this project, which could include methods such as applying for grants and loans, and creating a District.
“The county is doing their part to get in compliance,” Theys said. “They got a SWIF plan accepted by the Army Corps of Engineers, they are eligible for the PL84-99 flood protection program, so if there was flooding, a failure of the levy, there is some federal assistance there, so the county is doing their part, and now they are moving forward. So with the support of creating a District and looking at other grants, the county has a plan and a path forward on getting this levy accredited and getting it up to speed so it does protect the community.”
