New district discussed for levee repair funding

Havre city and Hill County officials met with Jeremiah Theys of Great West Engineering at Bear Paw Development Corp. Monday to discuss the possibility of replacing RSID 10 with a district encompassing a more accurate flood district that would raise tax dollars necessary to pay for repairs to the Milk River Levee.

The levee, which was completed in 1957, was designed to prevent destructive flooding that often devastated the area.

Havre and North Havre flooded fairly regularly, sometimes severely, before the levee system was completed.

However, after inspections in 2014 and 2015, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said the levee did not meet their standards. Problems with the levee include structures being built too close or against the levee and trees growing on it.

If the levee isn't certified by the Corps, people determined to be in a floodplain will be required to buy flood insurance, a significant financial hit for many in the community.

In January, Hill County Sanitarian Clay Vincent approached the Hill County Commission to move forward on a plan to expand RSID 10, now primarily in North Havre, to include properties that benefit from the Milk River Levee dike but don't contribute to its maintenance.

At Monday's meeting, Theys said in order to pay, not just for the maintenance of the structure which was already a challenge, but to begin bringing it back in line the the Corps's standards the City of Havre and Hill County could work together to create a larger district that could generate the revenue necessary to be used for grant matches that could pay for the larger project.

Theys said the revenue could be used to support the project directly, but grant opportunities should be taken advantage of given the expense of the project, and the fact the some people in the area will be low-income, and less able to contribute.

"We're going to need a mechanism for it," he said. I don't think the county has 2.5 million dollars sitting around."

He said this larger district would include properties in the city limits so the City of Havre would need to give approval for its creation, but there are advantages to the county administering the district itself.

Bear Paw Development Executive Director Paul Tuss also said nearly every essential town and county facility is in the floodplain.

The creation of such a district would eliminate RSID 10, ultimately replacing it, and would require that letters of intent be sent to everyone in the affected area.

Theys said if 50 percent or more protest out of the proposed district it cannot be formed.

He and Bear Paw Development Director of Community Development Susan Brurud said the ultimate result of the district not being created will be that the people in the area would need to buy flood insurance, which will unquestionably be significantly more expensive.

Vincent and Tuss said, ultimately, the commercial district of Havre, which is also in the floodplain, is something that benefits everyone and it needs to be protected, same with the railroad.

"I can almost guarantee you that the railroad is within the floodplain," Tuss said. "That's not good, for anybody."

Vincent proposed combining this district with the one that supports the Bullhook Dam, since both protect the area from flooding, and there are certainly people who will fall in both districts, being kept safe from both sides.

Theys said there some sense to that, but due to the way the systems are set up it would be prohibitively complicated and time-consuming to do this given the urgency of the matter of hand.

Tuss said he likes the idea in theory, but thinks it will be a tough sell for people in the Bullhook district who will be affected by flooding even if their properties are not at direct risk.

"I like Clay's idea personally, a lot," he said. "But I'd also like to be an attorney to take the case of a person who's never going to get flooded and paying."

Vincent conceded the point and said the involvement of lawyers would only serve to complicate matters.

Theys said the county and city would also need to consider how to assess properties in the area.

He said the main options are, per parcel, square footage, and value, the first of which he thinks would be the most fair.

He said they would also need to make decisions on how to assess residential vs. commercial properties.

Officials also discussed the survey that would need to be conducted to look for structures in the right-of-way and rectify those issues.

"We know there are violations," Vincent said.

Brurud said landowner engagement will be important at this stage and they need to come with funding to help solve these violations.

"The easier we can make this for community member, the more tolerable this will be for everyone," she said.

Theys agreed, foreseeing a hostile relationship between property-owners and the county if no concessions are made.

"It's easier to tell somebody to move their shed if you can do it for them or financially contribute," he said. "If you just tell them to get their shed out of the way, unfortunately the county is going to end up dragging things out with people standing their with shotguns. That's just how it works."

Brurud asked if the county would like her to look for loans on top of grants for the project and Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson said that would be wise.

"I think we need to look at everything," he said. "... it's not going to get any cheaper."

Theys said he would assist the county with finding a good survey service, and said they should get moving on creating the flood district as soon as possible.

He said it needs to be created this year and reported to the Montana Department of Revenue so they can make their first collection in November of 2022 and get the ball rolling.

He said they can bill one year of funds into it if they need to, but the sooner the district is created the better.