Considers
increased plant upgrade costs, rate structure changes
By Bay Stephens EBS LOCAL EDITOR
BIG
SKY – At its May 21 board meeting, the Big Sky Water and Sewer District
continued to troubleshoot how to meet an agreement with Spanish Peaks
concerning capacity.
Other
meeting topics included an update of increasing short-term cost estimates on
the wastewater treatment plant upgrade and a first look at different rate
charging structures than are currently in place.
Since
February, the district and Spanish Peaks, for whom BSWSD provides sewer
services, have been trying to reconcile two separate limiting factors in a
district agreement written in 2002.
The
agreement states that Spanish Peaks “shall be allowed to connect improvements
on other lands identified in Exhibit F to the District’s wastewater treatment
facilities to treat and dispose of [42.56 million] gallons of wastewater per
year, which is the equivalent of 1,000 SFEs.”
With
Spanish Peaks’ current platted lots, at full build-out, the district projects
the developer will reach its limit in terms of SFEs, but, at Spanish Peaks’
current sewer-flow rate for structures already built, the club projects that at
full build-out they should be still significantly below the flow maximum of 42
million gallons a year.
However,
the agreement continues, “for the purpose of fulfilling its obligation to
provide future sewer works capacity, the District shall use total wastewater
flow as the sole criteria and not SFEs,” designating flow rate as the binding
portion of the agreement.
Because
Spanish Peaks hasn’t neared the max-flow rate of the agreement, they requested
more SFEs from the district in November of 2018 to continue developing two
projects.
The
district has been hesitant to grant the club’s request for fear of committing and
being legally bound to supply more sewage capacity than their facility and
effluent storage can handle. As many developments around Big Sky that will
connect to the district’s sewer system have been permitted but not yet built,
there’s a possibility the district won’t be able to fulfill its obligations to
other developments.
“I
think you guys are so far ahead of yourselves to sell future capacity now,”
district chair Packy Cronin told his board, which largely stood in disagreement
with him. “I can’t even express how far ahead of yourselves you are.”
Providing
more SFEs to the club could also have repercussions on several other agreements
between the district and developers who have reached their SFE maximums but not
their flow capacity.
Since
February, a subcommittee of the board has met three times with representatives
of Spanish Peaks, which yielded a draft agreement that would involve tight
monitoring of sewer flow rates as development progresses, and punishments if
the developer exceeds the 42-million-gallon maximum. The draft would also
require the club to provide increased effluent storage capacity as a
consequence of exceeding the maximum.
The
board decided to review the draft agreement in greater detail, submit input to
General Manager Ron Edwards and have the district’s attorney review the
document before convening again on June 18 for a possible approval of the
document.
Engineers
from Advanced Engineering and Environmental Services (AE2S) updated the board
on a comprehensive water-modeling system they recently completed that allows
the district to far more accurately track the movement of the water within
their water system. The accuracy of the system increases the district’s odds of
finding leaks that, under the high pressure required to pump water over 2,000
feet of elevation difference, can result in large losses of water, an already
scarce resource in the area.
Scott
Buecker, also of AE2S, updated the board on the status of the wastewater
treatment plant upgrade, offering three alternative avenues of incorporating
the land the district recently gained from the Big Sky Community Organization.
Buecker
gave three alternatives, the third of which had the most benefits, but had the
highest short-term price tag: $30.5 million. However, over a seven-year period,
the third alternative would have a similar cost to the other two.
The
district agreed to further review the details of the upgrade option before
determining which alternative to pursue at their regular June 18 meeting.
BSWSD
is considering changing its rate structure as well, allowing it to allocate
costs of water and sewer operations in proportion to the costs ratepayers incur
on the district, a topic they will further discuss at next month’s meeting.
