Property owners in a proposed Bigfork Rural Special Improvement District have a Christmas Eve deadline to protest the county’s plan for stormwater system improvements.

Written protests must be received by the Flathead County Clerk and Recorder Office by 5 p.m. today. Owners of condominium properties must file their protests through the applicable condominium owners association.

The county commissioners will hold a public hearing on the creation of the special improvement district at 10 a.m. Monday in the commissioner chambers at the main courthouse.

The commissioners last month voted to create the tax district to fund the final phase of Bigfork stormwater improvements. 

They intend to raise $1.2 million of the $2.9 million total cost by levying taxes on 564 properties in Bigfork over a 20-year period.

The annual cost for stormwater maintenance will be $29.54 per property and $169.60 annually for the construction for a 20-year total of $2,138.30 per parcel.

Notices have been sent to affected property owners.

The final phase will install new stormwater pipes along the north and south sides of Electric Avenue to the bridge, and from Montana 35 to Montana 209 to the steel bridge. Curbs and gutters will be installed, along with catch basins and filtration system.

The commissioners have been wrestling with how to pay for the final round of stormwater improvements for a couple of years. In October 2012 they unanimously rejected using a rural special improvement district as a funding tool, saying the timing was wrong at that point.

A year ago the commissioners further mulled options for stormwater improvements and agreed by consensus that creating a separate stormwater district to pay for the improvements and ongoing maintenance was worth exploring.

Earlier phases of the stormwater system construction along Grand Avenue were funded with about $1.4 million in state grants.

Installation of a complete stormwater system is needed to bring Bigfork up to state standards for stormwater pollutants that flow into Flathead Lake.

Bigfork’s old system of corrugated metal pipes has been inadequate for the growing bayside community.

Drainage became an apparent problem in 1996 when a Flathead Lake Biological Station study showed the stormwater runoff contained high concentrations of fecal coliform bacteria, which are a health hazard, plus other nutrients that could upset the ecological balance of aquatic plants in Flathead Lake.

In October 2013, Bigfork Stormwater Advisory Committee Chairwoman Sue Hanson told the commissioners about the hazard businesses face when stormwater runoff chronically overflows the sidewalks and floods buildings downtown.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by email at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com.