Libby top-rated for state grant

The City of Libby has been awarded $750,000 from the Montana Treasure State Endowment Program for the 2021 biennium, which is to be used for the replacement of approximately a half mile of water main.

The entire project is estimated to cost around $922,000, according to the preliminary engineering report commissioned by the city.

The final cost of the main replacement may change as costs of materials change before work begins, said City Administrator Jim Hammons.

With reduced funds available for the program, only 16 projects are considered funded at this time. There were 51 grant requests for infrastructure projects, according to a letter sent to the city by the Montana Department of Commerce.

But Libby made the top of the list of funded projects based on scoring.

While some of that scoring is need-based, the city also stood out because of how well their project proposal was put together, Hammons said. Additionally, the scoring looks at factors such as condition of the community, health and safety and income levels.

Cost of water

Hammons said that the main that currently runs under Highway 2 from Education Way to Mahoney Road is considered a top priority out among all the projects outlined in the preliminary engineering report for water and wastewater infrastructure.

The binder that holds all of the projects the city is looking into stands around seven inches thick.

But, the main that runs under Highway 2 — Hammons said he thinks it likely ran next to the highway when it was only two-lane in that area — has averaged almost a leak per year in recent years, Hammons said. Each time, the city has had to dig it up, make the repair, and then repair the road surface as well, adding to the cost of the repairs.

“If you drive out there, you’ll find the pavement has spots that have been repaved. Those are all water leaks that we’ve had to to repair,” Hammons said.

Meeting the state standards for returning the road back to its original condition makes the main very expensive to repair, he said.

Hammons said he hopes it will be many years before the new main needs any repair, but it will also be in the right of way to the side of the highway, preventing the need to tear up pavement in the future.

Part of assuring not as many repairs will be needed is replacing the steel main with a PVC one, Hammons said.

“It’ll outlive us,” Hammons said of the new water main.

However, replacing the pavement will still be a cost of the replacement. The estimate from the PER places the cost of removing and replacing the asphalt at $110,000.

The city is also seeking additional grants, Hammons said. Among those are the Community Development Block Grant administered by the Montana Community Development Division and the Renewable Resource Grant and Loan Program administered by the Montana Department of Natural Resources.

Libby is requesting $125,000 through the RRGL program, which is part grant and part loan, Hammons said. The city has not decided how much it will ask for from the CDBG grant.

If the city receives the additional grant funding, they will then have to start the bid process, and it is unlikely any work will begin before 2021, Hammons said.

“By the time you actually start digging in the dirt, you’re going to be two, two and a half years out,” he said.