Peterson: City faces many infrastructure problems

Havre has many major infrastructure faults that will be expensive to cure, the city's public works superintendent told City Council Monday night.

Work will begin soon on the $9.5 million renovation of the city's sewage treatment plant, he said.

The work has been mandated by state and federal environmental agencies.

That will bring the city into compliance with state and federal regulations concerning emissions into the Milk River, he said.

The project is costly, but there will be advantages to the city, he said.

The river water will be cleaner, and a conversion to ultraviolet treatment of wastewater will replace chlorine treatments.

The new treatment will be less odorous, he said. The city has in the past had to have emergency plans ready on how to evacuate neighbors of the plant if something went awry with the chlorine.

The city also needs to plan on spending about $1 million, he said, on needed repairs for the water system.

Routine inspections showed there was deterioration on one of the tanks, with lesser problems on the other, he said.

Usually, he said, the city needs both tanks during the summer, but in the winter, when water usage is less, it can get by with using just one.

The work on the deteriorating tank cannot be done in the winter, so he said the city plans to shut down the tank in August.

This may mean the city will have to impose water restrictions in the later summer, he said.

It also will cost about $2.7 million to repair storm water problems, he said.

The biggest problem is the gaping hole in 3rd Street between 5th and 6th avenues where the pavement fell through into Bullhook, which drains storm water under the city. The street is closed to traffic.

The city seems certain to get a $500,000 Treasure State Endowment grant for that, he said. But the rest of the drainage problems will cost more than $1 million and no funding source is available yet.

City crews are doing some of that work to lessen the cost, he said, but contractors will have to do much of the work.

City taxpayers will also have to pay to repair pavement heaves around the city, especially in the St. Jude Thaddeus Church area, he said. Some temporary fixes have been made, but the worst area, the pavement on 7th Avenue, remains a problem.

He said people can expect worse problems in future years on the streets, many of which are 40 to 60 years old.

Some streets, he said, are more than 80 years old.

The weather this winter was especially hard on streets, he said.

"We all like warmer winters," he said. "And I do, too. But warm winters are hard on streets."

Peterson said approval of the proposed referendum - that would spend $50 million over 20 years - would alleviate many of the street problems.

In addition to street and infrastructure problems, Peterson said, his department will be responsible for enforcing the new weed control ordinance.

Under the new rules, people will get one notice a year if weeds in their yard grow taller than eight inches. Every time the weeds grow taller, city crews will cut them down, he said.

"We've got a lot more to do than cut weeds," he said. "But we've got to do this."