Paradise sewer opponents continue fight against project

There’s been a lot of digging going on concerning the proposed Paradise sewer system but not a shovel of dirt has been turned.

The “digging” in the small, unincorporated town in the heart of Sanders County has been by community members opposed to the $4.5 million project and has uncovered increasing signs of what opponents say is a flawed planning process.

While the protests continue the entire project may soon be headed to the courts.

In a letter to Paradise sewer board member Adam Rice, local engineer and Paradise property owner Katy French said the Board has overstepped its legal authority in proceeding with the project. She said there have been violations of Montana’s Constitution in matters concerning establishment of boards, the by-laws by which they operate and their legal obligation to affected citizens.

“The Board can’t just decide they want a sewer,” French told Rice. “They (the Sewer Board, which was established by a vote of Paradise resident a decade ago) are the ones who have to take everything into consideration to help define what a sewer might look like for the community, how it meets the needs of the community and what the overall impact of a proposed system is.”

She also accused the Board of neglect in its obligations outlined by Constitutional language to encourage citizens to attend board meetings, post notices at a minimum of three public places, staying up to date with important and necessary issues including the recently disclosed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by the board president and local land owner/developer Bridger Bischoff and potential land acquisitions involving the project.

“Montana’s 1972 Constitution has two key right to know sections that are the strongest in the nation,” French said. “Those provisions guarantee citizen’s rights to inspect public records and attend meetings of government agencies at all levels of state and local government.

“The Sanders County Sewer District at Paradise is a government body…the people of Paradise have not been factored into the discussions and decision making of the Paradise sewer board.”

The Board, she said, has failed on all of those important matters.

French offered to put Rice and other Board members in touch with Dan Clark, Executive Director of the MSU Local Government Center to give them guidance in the proper role and function of a local Board.

“The Sewer Board may have violated the law by failure to carry out its duties and obligations,” French said. “We are offering to help them learn what they need to know”.

The Valley Press has reached out in the past months to both Bischoff and Board President Sunny Chase but neither has responded.

Protesters have contended that notice of meetings was limited in one instance to a single three-by-five index style card taped to the wall of the local Post Office. They also allege that Chase and Sanders County officials have in the past denied existence of the MOU which they claim gives Bischoff’s development company extensive rights to current and future sewer use.

Documents obtained by the Valley Press recently confirmed an MOU was signed more than a year ago. In that MOU, Bischoff apparently receives control of up to 75 percent of allocated sewer use with a say in future capacity distribution.

Bischoff has proposed a large residential building program on the town’s north side on land he owns. He is also seeking to sell six acres of land to the west of the town which would be used for construction of an underground sewage holding tank.

French and others, including vocal activist and Paradise property owner Lee Ann Overman say the sale of those six acres for a seemingly agreed upon amount of $200,000, along with other rights the MOU grants to Bischoff are unfair.

Sewer opponents have long contested the project, saying their existing septic tanks are working fine with no evidence of leakage into the surrounding terrain.

Concerns have also been raised about the sewer board simply copying the operational methods of the Paradise water board in conducting proceedings concerning the proposed project.

Rice, in a written response to French’s letter, admits there may have been “things missed, then rectified when brought to the attention of these willing community servants,” referring to the appointed members of the Sewer Board.

“My understanding is that the existing Paradise water board members were appointed to the sewer board at the time of the creation of the sewer district at Paradise,” Rice wrote. “This was done with minimal support or assistance from the county. My existence on the board is short, but I have seen them operate according to the water district by-laws when conducting business as the sewer board until it was brought to our attention of the need for separate documents.”

“What they have been doing,” French contends, “may very well be illegal. “We are offering to help them and if need be will seek a court injunction to halt the project until these matters can be more fully examined.”

In another related matter, several members of the community who earlier this summer signed and submitted letters sent by the project’s backers, including Great West Engineering, have requested their signed documents be rescinded and returned.

Those letters asked for permission to dig on property owners’ land as part of the project and warned those failing to agree would face a $2,000 hook-up fee if permission was not granted. A recent letter from the Paradise Sewer Board has offered property owners a second opportunity to sign the agreement without financial penalty.

According to Overman, who has been working tirelessly for months trying to keep local residents informed on the project’s status, several residents have requested the letters of agreement they signed be rescinded and returned.

“We are going to keep pushing forward until we get them shut down”, Overman said. “They have not acted in good faith from the very beginning. Those letters were intimidating to people, more of the effort to divide us.”

Overman said several residents have indeed received their rescinded letters as requested.

“People are pissed about everything that has gone on,” Overman continued. “And the people of Paradise are not spending one dime on Bridger’s subdivision”.