Informal survey indicates Paradise residents against sewer project

Earlier in the day Friday, a group of four guys gathered around tables at the Plains Town Hall Council chamber to count “ballots.”

Paradise Sewer Board members Terry Caldwell and Rick McCollugh were joined by “outside observers” Randy Robinson and a reporter from the Valley Press to take part in the count, which had been laboriously collected by Caldwell throughout last week as an unofficial way of gauging support or opposition to the controversial Paradise sewer project.

One by one the small paper ballots, which contained only two boxes to check and no names of those who marked their choice, were unfolded and read.

After approximately 30 minutes of counting, the vote was 59 against the proposed $4.5 million project and 29 in favor.

“I spent a lot of time going throughout the town giving the choice to as many residents as possible,” Caldwell said.

Caldwell said there were a “handful” of abstentions from those residents, as well as a few out-of-town property owners who could not be reached or did not return his phone calls. Using a list of the unincorporated town’s property owners and tax payers provided by Sanders County, Caldwell managed to collect 88 responses, more than 90 percent of those deemed eligible to make their mark.

Their names were checked off on the lists to make sure no one voted more than once.

By Friday night, during a Sewer Board virtual conference to discuss the matter, it was clear the two-to-one “No Sewer” vote did not deter Board members, by a 4-1 vote, from okaying the purchase of a piece of property deemed vital to the project’s future construction.

That property, an approximately six-acre swath of land just west of the town’s unofficial boundary, is part of a deal with Paradise landowner Bridger Bischoff to sell the acreage as part of his plans to construct as many as 19 residential units on property he also owns on the northern edge of town.

The proposed project has drawn the ire of many of the town’s residents and property owners, who say the deal has not been properly vetted and has been shrouded in transparency issues since its conception.

Giving the go-ahead to the buy/sell agreement allows planning to continue in the days and weeks ahead. The six-acre plot is projected to be the site where a large underground sewage storage system will be built. That storage tank would be hooked to properties throughout the town by a sewer line as part of the project.

Supporters of the project say the sewer is critical in preventing potential groundwater contamination that would do serious harm to the town’s drinking water supply, as well as other environmental concerns.

Critics say their water is fine and claim the real reason is the proposed housing development and the increased revenue it would bring to Sanders County coffers.

Opponents also claim the project as initially planned is way over-priced and that town residents simply can’t afford monthly sewer fees or a projected $185 per year assessment to help defray costs of the project.

However, county officials and representatives of Great West Engineering, the firm chosen to design the system, say federal grant money has been secured to defray those costs and pay for the system.

The Friday night Zoom meeting got off to an immediate testy start, with Caldwell urging Sewer Board president Sunny Chase to not go right into the public comment portion of the meeting.

Several parties logged into the virtual session, including local anti-sewer activist Lee Ann Overman, who had her audio capability muted twice by Chase for interrupting the proceedings.

“I’m trying to help the board become more functional,” Caldwell told Chase when she questioned his reasons for deviating from the meeting’s planned agenda, saying it was not something a new-comer would not typically do. “I don’t care if I’m new or not.”

Early into the proceedings, Overman attempted to express her thoughts, telling board members, “you should listen to the people, you are members of the board and are responsible to the people.” Overman was making her remarks in reference to the vote total announced by Caldwell at the beginning of the meeting. Chase ordered Overman’s audio input to be muted at that point.

Caldwell, however, continued his comments on the need for better organization by the Board and greater transparency.

“I believe the people ought to be heard,” he said. “We need to work on being more transparent and we need to get our housekeeping in order.” Caldwell was referring to rules and regulations the Board has allegedly not followed during the course of the proceedings.

Chase countered that she feels the Board has made significant progress in areas of transparency and warned the poll results have been influenced by those against the project.

“There is a lot of misinformation be passed out by strong, powerful voices,” Chase said. “The problem with this poll is its been influenced by those voices.”

Board member Adam Rice, who voted to proceed with the buy/sell agreement, agreed about the need to represent all residents, but said he also supports moving forward with the plan.

“Yes, we represent all the people,” Rice said. “We are also charged with researching the matter and we have a task to take care of that was given to us by the people.”

Voting to proceed with the project, construction of which is slated to begin this spring, were Chase, Rice, McCollugh and Gary Kelly. Caldwell voted to abstain.

Following adoption of the buy/sell agreement, the board launched into a discussion of how to enforce compliance with the planned projects and its required hookup to the sewer system by area residents.

They debated means of fining and/or shutting off water to those who do not pay their new sewer bills once the system is officially in place.

At one point during the debate, Chase referred to the act of shutting off a delinquent user's water as not a “life-threatening thing,” saying those whose water is shut off as a result of non-payment could always obtain water from a nearby, roadside spring/fountain.

By the end of the more than two-hour discussion, all participants found one thing on which they could all agree.

“I’ll be glad when this is all over,” Caldwell said as others nodded in agreement. “I still have lots of questions…do I think they will ever be answered? I doubt it.”

Meanwhile, Overman and others vow they will continue to fight against the project.

“We aren’t done yet,” she said after the Friday night Zoom session. “We are not going away. I will fight against this thing to the very end.”