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The Sanders County Sewer District at Paradise had its first meeting with its newest members and immediately voted for new board officers. Terry Caldwell was voted as chairman, along with Janice Barber as vice chairperson, Janie McFadgen as secretary and Dewey Arnold as treasurer. Each vote was unanimous. Retired school teacher Don Stamm was first nominated as treasurer, but declined.

The hour and a half long meeting was held once again at the Paradise water pump house. One of the main purposes of last Tuesday's meeting was to bring new members up to speed on what the board was planning prior to recently losing its quorum, how much money the board had spent on the project, and the board's balance. Only seven people from the public showed up for the meeting.

Sewer board members, new and old, are not strangers to Paradise. Arnold grew up in Paradise and is nearing retirement from the U.S. Forest Service. Caldwell has lived in Paradise since 1974 and McFadgen moved there in 1985. Stamm has lived there since 1983.

Stamm read aloud the list of funds the project has received: TSEP Grant - $750,000, CDBG Grant - $450,000, DLA Grant - $561,005, Rural Development Grant 1 - $1,692,000,  Rural Development Grant 2 - $190,000, Local contribution - $102,000, and the American Rescue Plan Act Grant - $1,437,881. The project also has $770,000 from the Rural Development Loan. Expenditures have included $322,912 from the TSEP Grant and $97,039 from the CDBG Grant. The project has a balance of $5,532,933.

Caldwell was concerned that Great West Engineering, the company hired for the project, was the only one paid, even though the Paradise Water District loaned the sewer board $24,000 before it had received any grant money and has yet to be reimbursed. Caldwell and Barber also vocalized their concern that the engineering firm had total control of the funds without the entire board's knowledge. The members decided that from henceforth the bills would be reviewed by the board at its monthly public meeting. 

Paradise resident Katy French had also requested that any bills and payments be brought up at the public meetings and noted that for the last three years only one person on the board approved payments - referring to Sunny Chase, who had been recalled - and did it outside of the board's activities. Caldwell, who took over Chase's responsibilities as chairman, told the group he had no interest in making decisions on his own and that they would all be done as a board. 

French also said at the meeting that it should not be only Paradise residents that have to pay for the Sanders County Sewer District at Paradise Director Recall Election of the two former board members, Chase and Rick McCollum, but that the cost should be shared among the entire county. Each taxpayer in Paradise had been billed $40, although a person could protest the county in writing. French stated that prior to the recall, they were told they could hold fundraisers to pay for the recall election, which was $4,317.65, but they were not given that option and the county billed Paradise taxpayers. As a Paradise taxpayer, Barber, who was not on the sewer board at the time, said she knew it was the responsibility of Paradise and agreed with the charge. Caldwell also stated that it was the burden of Paradise taxpayers only, but that it wasn't in the purview of the sewer board to argue the point. 

"We had three board members that violated our civil rights - they violated the law and they did it again and again and again," said French, who added that she wrote letters to the county commissioners, the county attorney, the governor, and the sheriff, who told her they didn't know how to charge Chase. 

"I think it's appropriate for this board to make a motion and approve a motion to have the county pay for it because they could not come up with any other way to remove people that were violating everybody's rights - violating every single one of your rights. That's why we went to the recall," said French. Caldwell didn't think it was the board's position, but asked the board anyway. "I make a motion that we request the county taxpayers to pay for this. Can I get a second on this?" he asked. When none of the board members responded, Caldwell said "motion dropped."

Caldwell said that he was not pleased with the way Great West Engineering had handled the project because the firm did not first confirm obtaining an easement from Burlington Northern San Francisco Railroad before spending more than a million dollars on a plan that now has to be revised because BNSF will not approve an easement. In addition, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality would not approve the project because of the railroad's disapproval of the easement. Caldwell said that a representative from DEQ engineering looked at the new proposed property site and gave him a preliminary verbal approval, saying it's a much better spot. He added that Great West said they can force the issue on the railroad, but Caldwell is skeptical on that.

"Great West is in my opinion trying to shrug responsibility for spending close to half a million dollars on their engineering, so far, and they engineered a system that they should have known from the beginning was not going to be approved. One of the first things they should have done was looked for an easement from the railroad," said Caldwell, who had installed numerous septic systems during his career as a construction worker. "I think Great West is partially responsible for engineering a system that isn't going to be approved, so I'm going to try and hold their feet to the fire and say, hey, what can you do for us," he said.

The spot for the new proposed site is closer to town and is also owned by Bridger Bischoff, who agreed to sell the first property site. Barber said that Bischoff was not opposed to selling the other land, but no negotiations have been done. Barber said she'd like the board to be involved in any negotiations with Bischoff and not leave it solely to Great West.

Caldwell said the new site would save money because they would not need to build an additional road and they would not need a railroad easement. In an effort to save money for Paradise taxpayers, the board also wants to reduce the area of the system to within Paradise proper - from Highway 200 to North Street and from Sixth Street to First Street, eliminating hundreds of feet of sewer lines. 

"What we want to do as a board is try to get the sewer system and we want to shrink it down and one of the first things we need to do is redetermine the boundaries of the district in Paradise," said Caldwell, who doesn't believe they have to have the same boundaries as the water district, which extends beyond Paradise proper. 

Commissioner Carol Brooker, who was in attendance, along with Commissioner Glen Magera, said it would be the board's decision to change the boundaries of the sewer district. The board would have to come up with a plan, present their findings at a public meeting, take public comments, and post the proposal for two weeks. Brooker felt the meeting went well and said the county is sending each board member a training manual so they can understand the state laws on boards.

"I would hope they consider the growth of Paradise, some don't want growth so they think it is away to keep that from happening," said Brooker. It was noted at the meeting that anyone outside the sewer district boundaries could request to be hooked up to the new sewer system, if approved by the board, provided they pay for installation. Those outside the boundaries could install their own septic system. 

"It would be nice for those folks to have away to hook up to a public system so we don't keep installing septic systems. Those subdivisions already will have access to the water system," said Brooker, who said she will try to attend the sewer district's December meeting prior to her retirement at the end of the year. 

"We're not going to build this system for somebody that don't exist. We want to build the system for the people that exist in Paradise," said Caldwell. "One thing is we would be saving the town a lot of money. Two, we hold the authority whether we want to expand the capacity. We're not restricting anybody from subdividing, what we're just trying to do is get this system down to the cost where Paradise can afford it," Caldwell added.

"It's one of my goals to get more people to show up from both sides of the aisle. I appreciate and love the town of Paradise. I'm here to do everything I can to represent the people and do the best job we can for the people," said Caldwell, who wants input from residents, but in a respectful manner.

One of the complaints came from Jina McHargue, who was disappointed that Cody Lampman, the man who petitioned for the recall of Chase and McCollum, was not added to the sewer district board. Brooker said they interviewed all four candidates and made their selection. Magera said that Lampman could go on the ballot when one of the other board members' terms expire. The terms of Stamm and Arnold end in 2024 and McFadgen's term ends next year. 

"I'm very hopeful that we can have a board that recognizes the community and recognizes our rights and makes an effort to make all the documents available to the community and does the sewer business at the table and that's something that's been missing. That's what we seek. We just seek an opportunity to be aware of what's going on and contribute where it's appropriate," said French.

The board approved moving the monthly meetings to the second Tuesday of the month at 6 p.m. They plan to hold future meetings at the Paradise Center, but have yet to confirm it with center officials. The board also put out its new email address, [email protected].

"I hope the board chooses to move this much needed project forward," said Brooker, who added that the lots there are small and have old septic systems. "It has always been a very high priority for the county and DEQ to have a sewer system in Paradise."