Paradise Water District pushes for reimbursement

The Paradise Water District is in the process of seeking legal counsel as it seeks to collect what it says are funds that were wrongly and perhaps illegally paid from their budget to help fund the then newly created Paradise Sewer Board.

Having already won a major victory in the battle against the proposed sewer system for the unincorporated town, opponents, two of whom are now members of the water district, say they are hoping Sanders County will come up with funds to reimburse the Paradise Water District which they claim is invalid because the Sewer Board and the Water District are, and always have been, two separate public entities.

“The Sewer Board has never had the authority to use Sewer Board funds for expenses involved in this matter,” said sewer opponent and PWD member Katy French. “Sanders County executives (Carol Brooker and Glen Magera) signed deals that listed Sanders County as Owners of the engineering services sought by the Sewer District. This gave the parties involved the sense that Sanders County would provide the necessary financial support for the project”.

And French, in a Paradise Water District resolution that was mailed to Sanders County Commissioners last week, said the county signed papers that gave legitimacy to those expectations.

“The Owner-Engineer (Great West Engineering) contract signed in February of 2016 with Great West states that the ‘Owner shall pay Engineer as set forth in the agreement, and that the engineer shall submit its invoices to the Owner on a monthly basis.”

None of those funds have as yet been paid to the Paradise Water District as reimbursement for the roughly $50,000 worth of “services” paid out of the Paradise Water District budget to Great West. French said repeated attempts to achieve reimbursement have been fruitless and the district wants those funds now.

Also at stake in the contested contract is approximately $542,000 in increased charges by Great West for additional engineering services. All of these charges, French and the Paradise Water District contend, should never have involved use of water district funds. When the two Boards were formed in 2016 they had the same people serving on both boards.

All contend they assumed the two boards were actually one entity but that was never part of any formal or legal agreement.

With the county not responding as of yet, French and fellow sewer opponent Lee Ann Overman, who are now members of the Paradise Water District board, say they think the county needs reimbursement based on their self-designation as “owners” of the agreements signed.

“We have no choice but to seek legal representation,” French said. “This will be turned over to the insurance companies involved and we are hoping they will pursue the matter and help us with the legal details. In the meantime, we are seeking a qualified attorney to take up our case.”

Both board members say they think Great West should seek payment for its services from Sanders County.

“We think the County saying it was the Owner of the Sewer Board and project issues, indicates it will guarantee funding,” she said.

The years-long battle ended last year when opponents successfully challenged and halted the proposal to install a sewer system in Paradise and recalled two of the five Sewer Board Commissioners. Since that recall, the Sewer Board has had a total makeover, with all five members voting against proceeding with the $4.5 million project and the financial burden it would place on Paradise’s mostly retired residents.

“At one or more the of the public Zoom meetings we said we were thinking about getting a lawyer to look into what’s been going on. Brooker responding by saying ‘sue us, that’s what’s why we have insurance”, Overman said. “We still don’t have the money they spent. Brooker threw us to the wolves. This was all about the Commissioners and Bridger Bischoff (owner of land adjacent to the town where a housing development was to be built) getting this project going without anyone’s proper input or in the early stages being informed of public meetings and Sewer Board plans”.

French agreed with the notion that the need to take legal action is of the essence.

“We’re building a paper trail,” she said of the PWD’s research into billing and other related documents. “Great West said it sent bills to Sanders County. They had the bills and didn’t pay them. They (County) said the Water District would pay the bills”.

A vote taken to combine the Sewer Board and Water District was rejected by voters, French said.

French and others are continuing to follow what they refer to as the “money trail” hoping to uncover evidence the County acted illegally in dealing with the matter.

“The county didn’t follow any rules,” French said. “We have already found some interesting documents while combing through the files we have. One thing is clear, the county didn’t follow any rules (involving public boards and what they can and can’t do) and their presence at some of the meetings early on gave an aura of support by the county.”

Overman summed up her feelings with a simple statement.

“Nobody knew what was going on,” she said.