City crews to tackle debris pile near Flower Creek

Libby City Council approved plans to mitigate part of a debris pile near Flower Creek this week in hopes of protecting the municipality’s watershed.

City Engineer Mike Fraser told the council during a July 19 meeting that the pile consisted of over-excavated material left over from the construction of the Flower Creek Dam. Crews dumped the sandy silt, gravel and rocks on flat ground adjacent to the dam and hydroseeded the resulting mound.

To prevent material from washing into Flower Creek — which the city relies on for its drinking water — councilors considered a plan to grade the silt at a 3 percent slope and arrange the large rocks along the perimeter of the flat ground.

“Is leveling this to that level in the best interests of that area or is leaving it the way it is…? What’s best to hold that soil and retain it?” asked City Councilor Hugh Taylor.

Fraser initially said it wouldn’t make much difference whether the city graded the material or left it as a pile. Inspections had yet to reveal runoff coming from the mound.

Tony Petrusha, who serves as the city’s park district manager and is affiliated with the Kootenai Cross Country Ski Club, asked if the city should mitigate the eastern edge of the pile, which sits next to overflow parking for the club. Fraser then said this section of the mound should be graded.

When City Councilor Brian Zimmerman asked how a 50- or 100-year storm might affect the pile, Fraser said mitigation was needed to protect against erosion during extreme weather.

City Councilor Kristin Smith said she supported grading the pile but since the mound did not pose an immediate risk, she suggested holding off on mitigation work until the municipality could get an estimate on the work.

“We don’t have the means to address it at this point, so I support it but I think we can revisit it again or we can look at different partnering opportunities,” she said.

Petrusha favored immediate action, saying that the mitigation work could get lost amid other agenda items if the council tabled it.

Zimmerman said the municipality could grade and armor the eastern edge of the pile — the section of the mound most at risk of erosion — using city crews and equipment.

Council President Peggy Williams, who administered the meeting in Mayor Brent Teske’s absence, was uncertain about the city’s resources. She said she preferred if the council held off until Teske or City Administrator Jim Hammons were present.

The council voted down a motion by Smith to table the matter. After Zimmerman and Petrusha reiterated that the city could rely on its employees to handle the project and that only a portion of the pile needed to be mitigated, the council voted unanimously to grade and armor the eastern edge of the mound.