Pablo's Wastewater Treatment Facility Improvements Underway

Pablo — The Pablo/Lake County Water and sewer facility in Pablo is underway with the construction of $3.6 million in sanitary sewer facility improvements. The improvements, as designed, will serve a projected population base of approximately 3,470 people, which equates to approximately 1,335 sewer connections or 2.93 times the population that can be presently be served by the existing treatment system capacity. The planning area includes the entire platted town site of Pablo and adjacent tracts where development is likely to occur by the year 2024. The entire planning area is included in section 11, Township 21 North, Range 20 West. The Pablo/ Lake County Water and Sewer District's board of directors developed the project and associated budget to ensure the costs would be spread equitably among existing system users within the community.

The Pablo/Lake County Water and Sewer District's project is being funded with grant assistance from the following agencies: The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation's Renewable Resource Grant and Loan (DNRC/RRGL) program; the Montana Department of Commerce's program; U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Development's (USDA/RD); and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's State and Tribal Assistance Grant (EPA/STAG) program as awarded through Special Appropriations Action Project Grants by the federal government in 2006. The District also procured a loan from Rural Development through their Water and Environmental Program (WEP) for the local matching share project cost. The Rural Development programs that helped make this project possible are the Water and Environmental Loan and Grant programs. Rural Development's WEP funding can be used for water, sewer, solid waste, and storm drainage projects. The most common uses to restore deteriorating water supplies, or to improve, enlarge, or modify inadequate water or waste facilities.

Construction of the improvements is scheduled to begin April 24, 2007 and will be completed over 120 calendar days. Work includes the removal and on-site disposal of accumulated sewage sludge; excavation and embankment for a new aeration cell and three new storage cells, then installation of a 1.3 million square foot polypropylene pond liner and associated piping. Modifications will also be completed on the existing blower facility. New subsurface aeration will be added. Multiple pre-cast concrete control structures, a lift station structure and pumps and controls will be installed, along with a UV disinfection system and a new lateral move spray irrigation system. The project includes installation of about 600 lineal feet of force main. NCI Engineering with offices in Great Falls and Kalispell performed pre-design, design, and all successful grant applications for this very important project. The Pablo/Lake County Water and Sewer District awarded the construction contract to Johnson-Wilson Constructors, INC.

The Pablo/Lake County Water and Sewer District's board will host a ground breaking ceremony on Monday, April 23rd at 2:30 p.m. Members of Montana's congressional delegation and state legislative representatives will be invited to join members of the board, Lake County and funding agency representatives to officiate the event. Interested parties are also invited to attend the 2:30p.m. groundbreaking ceremony at the Pablo Water and Sewer District office, 208 Carbine Road in Pablo.

USDA Rural Development helps rural Americans to develop, to grow and to improve their quality of life by targeting financial and technical resources in areas of greatest need through activities of greatest potential. Rural Development's mission is to deliver programs in a way that will support increasing economic opportunity and improve the quality of life of rural residents. Rural Development has invested over $76.8 billion since the beginning of the Bush Administration to provide equity and community and technology infrastructure. As a result, over 1.5 million jobs have been created or saved through these investments. Further information on rural programs is available at a local USDA Rural Development office or by visiting Montana Rural Development's web site at http://www.rurdev.usda,gov/mt/.