The city of Columbia Falls received a bit of a Christmas present earlier this month when it learned that it had received a “yellow light” from the U.S. Economic Development Administration on its grant request to help fix Twelfth Avenue West and extend sewer and water services to the Cedar Palace Medical Center.

The grant request would pay for about half of the $1.2 million project. The remainder will come from the city and the center. The city qualifies for a grant because of jobs lost when Weyerhaeuser closed down the sawmill and plywood plant in the city.

The Medical Center, in turn, will provide jobs and services to the city, but it needs city sewer and water eventually. Right now its using well water and a septic tank, both of which are not longterm solutions for the center, as the water has to be tested on a regular basis.

The road itself is also in poor condition, as it saw heavy truck traffic for years and is beginning to break apart. The city would like to start engineering and other work on the project as soon as possible, because it can take several weeks just to get a permit from Burlington Northern Santa Fe to drill under the railroad to extend the water and sewer lines.

The next step toward grant fulfillment would be a conditional commitment letter from the EDA, city manager Susan Nicosia told council on Dec. 21 during its regular meeting.

In other city news:

The city is still losing about 20 million gallons of water per month from its water system. Nicosia said they don’t believe it’s one large leak, as the city’s mains have been tested, but its probably cumulative leaks from service lines. The city has gravel soils and the leaks just go back into the ground, making them hard to find unless the leak is large.

The city will soon call for bids for new tennis courts as well as a an overlay for Sixth Avenue West planned for next summer. The overlay will start as soon as school ends.

Work on the city’s new water well at Horine Park has been delayed until early in January, as the pump itself hasn’t arrived.

Nicosia addressed concerns from some neighbors about a home that would be used as a vacation rental in River Bend Estates. She noted that vacation home rentals require a permit and inspection from the health department. Neighbors expressed concerns about parties and noise, but the city hasn’t had that problem with other rentals. Nicosia noted if noise and parties did become a problem, the city could pull or suspend the permit. Neighbors also complained that it could drive down property values, but Nicosia noted that studies have shown that vacation rentals typically go up in value, not down, because they’re well maintained or they get poor ratings online.

Council heard that a police car recently caught on fire after the front differential failed, spraying oil onto the engine. The oil flash fired. The fire was put out before the rig was destroyed, but fixing the front end will cost thousands.