Townsend City Council Update
Author: Eliza McLaughlin, MT43 News Correspondent
Townsend City Council Update Eliza McLaughlin, MT43 News Correspondent Townsend receives grant for water project:
Townsend’s water system will be receiving some much-needed upgrades courtesy of an American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) grant, which Townsend City Council members were notified of during their March 7 meeting.
The grant, which includes an ARPA Water and Sewer Minimum Allocation Grant award for $364,187 and a transfer from Broadwater County in the amount of $447,124, will help fund a new water storage supply and delivery system, repair fire hydrants, replace clay pipes and address water pressure concerns.
The entire project, Mayor Mike Evans said, will cost $11 million and will be covered by grants, loans and user fees.
A site for the new water system has yet to be selected, city officials said.
“It’s just so preliminary right now,” city councilwoman, Vickie Rauser, said.
The goal of the water project, Rauser added, is to meet the current and future population’s water needs.
“It’s probably past time,” she said. “We’ve got to get moving.”
The city is especially rushed to complete the project since Townsend’s current water storage system no longer meets the population’s needs.
For Townsend’s current population, the Department of Environmental Quality recommends 1.2 million gallons; however, the city only has a 200,000-gallon capacity.
The project, Evans said, may not have gotten underway without the ARPA funds.
Internet contract:
In addition to preparing for an upgraded water system, the Townsend City Council is continuing to review its contract with Montana Internet Company regarding the company’s system on the city water tower.
If the two parties can’t reach a consensus, the agreement will terminate on Apr. 15, 2024. Although Rauser suspects an agreement will be reached, she said that in the event that it isn’t, Montana Internet will have to find another location to place its receiver.
Montana Internet was the first one to install a system on Townsend’s water tower, and the agreement Rauser said, “highly favors [Montana Internet Company]".
