C. Falls to discuss Kiser sewer-extension request
Columbia Falls property owners along 12th Avenue WN likely will be interested in a sewer-extension request that will be up for discussion May 15 at the City Council meeting.
Vern Kiser represents the Kiser Family Trust, which owns 16.3 acres of wooded land from Tamarack Lane on the north to Rocky Lane on the south. The family eventually wants to create a subdivision with lots about three-quarters of an acre in size.
The land lies southeast of Meadow Lake Resort and currently has a home on the north and another on the south.
A sewer main that serves the resort already is buried in Meadow Lake Boulevard, a road that becomes Rocky Lane at its northern end. Rocky Lane takes a turn to the east until it joins with Third Street WN.
The homes along 12th Avenue WN and immediately east of there are the ones that City Manager Bill Shaw said eventually could be affected by this sewer extension. If Kiser's request were approved, those homes could be within a few hundred feet of the city sewer and be required to connect if their septic systems fail.
Kiser's land borders the utilities service area defined in the city's recent facility study.
Shaw said he expects other requests soon to connect to the sewer along Meadow Lake Boulevard.
City Water and Sewer Superintendent Gary Root wrote in a memo to Shaw that the half-mile stretch from the pressurized main in Meadow Lake Boulevard to the Kiser's property is too long a distance for such a small development. Root said a small lift station would be needed to serve fewer than 20 homes in the development, a cost and long-term maintenance responsibility he thinks the city should not assume.
Connecting two pressure mains, such as those in Meadow Lake and as proposed in Rocky Lane, would result in variable pressures and pumps that never operate at peak efficiency - thus the cost and maintenance concerns.
Shaw said these technical issues could be overcome with design work.
He added that development potential in the area warrants considering the current sewer extension: Five or six potential customers lie between U.S. 2 West and the Meadow Lake lift station, 164 new units are coming online at the northwest end of Meadow Lake Resort, and a new subdivision could be requested soon just south of the railroad tracks.
Council member Don Barnhart asked how Kiser's request would affect the neighboring properties, drawing a response from Shaw that it would enhance values along the main line and could trigger a future connection requirement for properties to the east.
Council member Julie Plevel asked for an engineering report on which to base a decision. Kiser said he was looking for the council's approval before investing money in the engineering study.
The council directed Shaw to contact each of the neighbors on adjacent property, notifying them of the May 15 city council discussion.
Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com.