Paradise sewer board discusses $53k bill

They’ve already dealt with a revolving door when it comes to membership on the board.

That comes on top of a shutdown of actual construction of the proposed $4.5 million Paradise sewer system.

Now, just when they were hoping to hop in the family RoadWagon and head out on the trip of their dreams, they’ve been told they have no money for gas, food and groceries, much less hotel rooms or campground fees.

And now they may be looking at legal problems and the myriad fees those troubles can harbor.

“Woe” is on the verge of becoming “whoa."

Some weird kind of amusement park ride? Or could it be the actual problems and procedures associated with the embattled Paradise Sewer Board following the latest gathering in the unincorporated village south of Plains.

Last Tuesday, after the reading of the minutes and before the discussion of new/old business, the Sewer Board was presented a bill for $53,000, due and payable upon receipt.

The purveyor of the financial jolt was none other than the Paradise Water District, which until recently had been assumed to be one and the same with the Sewer Board and therefore eligible for use by the Sewer Board.

The bill, presented to the Sewer Board by the Water District the night before last Tuesday’s meeting, was brought to the attention of the board by treasurer Dewey Arnold, himself a relatively newly elected member of the Sewer Board.

Arnold and fellow Board member Janis Barber had been elected to the panel following a successful recall of previous president Sunny Chase and another member of the Board following public protests and unhappiness surrounding what two-thirds of local property owners say would amount to an unacceptable and unfair financial burden to residents of the town.

Ultimately Barber would assume the title of Board Chairperson as the battle to begin work on the proposed sewage system and the benefits it would provide allegedly free of charge to local developer and property owner Bridger Bischoff.

Two other members, Janie McFadden and Don Stamm, were appointed to the board by outgoing and now retired Sanders County Commissioner Carol Brooker. Opponents immediately cried foul over that move, noting that both Stamm and McFadden were vocal supporters of the project before they joined the new board.

Just after going over $1,249 in bills the Board needed to pay, Arnold gave them the bad news.

“I know there has been question of when we could get earnest money to pay Bridger toward the purchase of his land for the project’s sewage drain field,” Arnold said. “But we cannot pay earnest money to Bridger at this time”.

When asked for an explanation, Arnold continued.

“We received last night a bill for $53,000 from the Water Board. A lot of checks were written with no documentation of what they were for, who approved them and other information.”

As the room fell silent Water Board member Katy French, herself an engineer and local property owner, spoke up to clarify the stunning development.

“The bill was provided to your Treasurer last night, with the due date and the amount owed,” French said. “The majority of the checks were written to Great West Engineering, I have copies of the checks”.

Great West has been accused of proposing an over-priced system and using scare tactics to convince Paradise residents they are sitting atop a potential environmental disaster due to the town’s individual septic tank make-up. Those charges have been refuted by local activists who say the Montana Department of Environmental Quality has conducted studies showing the Paradise groundwater is perfectly safe.

And, she added, the erroneous and long-held belief that the Water Board and the Sewer District are one in the same as far as government function goes, has contributed to the confusion and the demand by the Water Board to be reimbursed for funds written on money in their account.

“In part because there were the same people on both Boards, despite them being separate entities, they blurred the line on what bills and financial matters belong to who,” French said. “The bill is due and payable upon receipt, ASAP. The Water Board would be ultimately in trouble for these bills and there are liability issues at stake”.

And, French added, the victim of one of those false assumptions has been that the Sewer Board has been protected legally by what previous Board members perceived to be liability coverage via a Water District policy.

The Water District has had such a policy in place for years, but the Sewer Board, which French emphasized was a separate body to the Water District, therefore has had no insurance protection.

“This problem also extends to members of the Sewer Board who are not covered for liability issues,” she said. “If anything of the liability nature comes up, you would not be covered, you would be liable”.

Upon hearing that, Sewer Board member Terry Caldwell asked if Sanders County insurance would cover them and was told it would not.

After rigorous debate, the Sewer Board concluded that the problem must be taken care of immediately while admitting they have no money for such an act.

That led to an intense debate over the scope of the system itself and what concessions Bischoff was seeking as part of a proposed buy/sell agreement involving the proposed drain field site. The site in question is on the other end of Bischoff’s property that lies along the northern edge of Paradise and which he has already labeled “Bridger’s Paradise”.

Amid the debate, anti-sewer activist Lee Ann Overman advised the group, as she has for months if not years, that the Board has strayed from the original reason for its creation a decade ago.

“Isn’t this whole thing supposed to be a study to see if it (the project) is doable?” Overman asked. “You all have been acting like this whole thing is a done deal.”

Those remarks sparked a brief outcry from proponents of the project. French said the newly proposed changes to the original design would fall under many of the same requirement asked before by the DEQ, including a one year study of water issues in the area.

Other issues such as how much system capacity would be awarded to Bischoff were also discussed with no clear answer with several key project deadlines rapidly related to grants and funding approaching.

Just prior to adjournment, Barber presented another letter of resignation as she collected her papers and things and headed out the door. She previously “resigned” two weeks ago, then rescinded that resignation so she could vote on the new proposed buy/sell agreement with Bridger.

The latest resignation was accepted by the remaining board members, who now appear to be split 2-2 on whether or not to get the project moving.

“This has been a complete mess for the last two years,” Overman admonished the Board. “We would need a different design and a different engineering firm, not Great West, to continue.

“And,” she added, “we need a legitimate vote before we go on with all these plans to see if this is something the people want”.

Another Board meeting is scheduled for tonight (Tuesday) at the “Club House” in Paradise at 6 p.m.