Havre City Council applies for grant to pay its share on St. Mary Diversion repairs

Havre City Council board members welcomed in the New Year with a short meeting addressing resolutions and drawdowns, and approving applying for a grant to pay for its share of the cost of repairing the St. Mary Diversion and Conveyance Works.

A pair of siphons in the 29-mile conveyance works that transfers water diverted from the St. Mary River into the North Fork of the Milk River failed in June, leading to a scramble to replace the siphons and another pair of siphons in the system.

The water is diverted by a dam near Glacier National Park and runs through the conveyance works, primarily across the Blackfeet Indian Reseravation. It has been shut down since June and the Milk River has been dry most of the summer.

At a meeting of the St. Mary Rehabilitation Working Group in Havre in December, representatives of the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation that oversees the Milk River Project, an irrigation project of which the diversion and conveyance works are part, said work is progressing steadily to replace the siphons and having the project completed by late next summer is still expected.

At that meeting, Bear Paw Development Executive Director Paul Tuss, also a state representative representing Havre, said Bear Paw was working on getting grants from Rural Development to cover the obligations Havre, Chinook and Harlem, all of which contract for Milk River water for their municipal water supply, have for the repair of the siphons.

The vote by City Council approved submitting the application for a $400,000 grant to cover Havre’s obligation.

An ordinance amending Title 1 Chapter 3 Section 5 to allow Havre Police officers to arrest any person with a warrant up to 5 miles of Havre City limits was approved. The change aligns city ordinance with state stature, Mayor Doug Kaercher said Tuesday, allowing officers to serve warrants and make arrests in ongoing incidents outside of city limits, although it does not allow patrols or the initiation of investigations.

A resolution amending the budget general fund was approved to allow the Havre Fire Department to use a $500 donation Triangle Communications made to the department.

The council approved Boys and Girls Club of the Hi-Line Community Development Block Grant Draw Down #4 and Havre Water Project Renewable Resource Grants and Loans Draw Down #2.

Approvals of December Claims and Manual Warrants were made as well.