Road re-construction

Everyone complains about the condition of Havre streets, but no one has done anything about them.

That's been a common refrain around Havre for decades.

Well, now Havre City Council has made it clear what it wants done to fix Havre streets.

On Nov. 4, city residents will give notice if they are willing to swallow the bitter pill City Council says is needed to solve the nagging street problems.

Council has passed a $30 million proposal to reconstruct city streets gradually over 20 years. That means the city will spend $1.5 million per year. The tax hike will be roughly $150 mills per year or $202 on a house with an assessed value of $100,000. If the city's total assessed property continues to increase, the annual tax bill will be less.

City Council member Matt Boucher first brought up the idea earlier this year, saying that when he campaigned for his job, the number one issue was the condition of streets.

There was immediate and widespread support for the idea of fixing streets, but supporters were worried that a tax hike of that magnitude would face strong resistance from taxpayers.

But Boucher said that the even with the renovations proposed, not all streets that need reconstruction would be taken care of.

Council passed the measure on a 7-1 vote.

Andrew Brekke, the lone council dissenter, said he agreed with the need to make renovations to the streets but said the tax increase proposed would be too great a burden for people to withstand. He noted that a 40 percent sewer rate hike had just been imposed on city residents.

The proposal calls for reconstruction of streets and the infrastructure beneath the streets. In most cases, this means waterlines, since, as City Public Works Director Dave Peterson said, in most cases sewer lines are buried beneath alleys behind homes.

An engineering company prepared a city improvement plan a couple of years ago that lists the priority streets that need to be fixed first. In general, that list will be followed in determining what projects to undertake, Peterson said. But emergencies will pop up, he said,.

The freeze-thaw created by tough Hi-Line winters are especially hard on streets, Peterson said. 7th Avenue in the vicinity of St. Jude Thaddeus School and Pepin Park suffered greatly from that problem this winter. Minor potholes turned into serious crevices in the road, making it nearly impossible to drive through. The city spent $60,000 on making interim fixes, but there is no telling how long they will hold, Peterson said.

Those problems pushed 7th Avenue to the top of the list.

Other than that, the top projects the city plans to reconstruction are:

4th Street, 12th to 14th avenues, $295,000

16th Street, 6th to 12th avenues, $1,047,000.

8th Avenue, 1st to 3rd streets, $266,000.

These figures include the cost for the streets but not the water lines. Sidewalks will not be redone under the plan.

"It would be irresponsible to do the streets and not repair the water and sewer line beneath the street," said council member Terry Lilletvedt.

She feared that leaks from the water lines will create most problems with the freshly completed streets.

Peterson said the city streets are on the average 50 to 70 years old, and the water lines are older.

The alternative to a citywide mill levy increase is creation of special improvement districts. Residents in the districts can create districts by a majority vote, and they can place special assessments on property owners - usually so much per frontage on city streets.

City Council members even considered the idea of a citywide district, an unusual but not unprecedented action, to fund the reconstruction projects.

But city officials were worried that people living on street corners would pay an excessive amount since assessments are measured by frontage to streets.

And special district assessments are not tax deductible for state and federal taxes, thus people who list their deductions would not not get that break.

So it was decided to seek a mill levy hike.

Under the proposal, the tax increase would take effect in the fall of 2016, and work would begin in the spring of 2017.

Voter Information

• Voting will take place by mail ballot only. Ballots will be mailed to registered voters Wednesday.

• Ballots must be returned by Tuesday, Nov. 3. County officials urge people who have not mailed them by Monday, Nov. 2, to deliver them by hand.

• People can register at the Clerk and Recorder’s Office at the Hill County Courthouse in downtown Havre. People can cast their ballot when they register.