Kalispell City Council voted Monday to sponsor grant applications for two resident-owned mobile home communities seeking federal funding to connect the properties to the municipality’s sewer system.

The grant applications are being filed by NeighborWorks Montana, a local housing nonprofit, on behalf of Morning Star Community, Inc. and Green Acres Cooperative, Inc. Because the city acts as a passthrough for any federally-awarded funds, Council must agree to sponsor the applications.

Both communities' septic systems are over 50 years old and are at the end of their useful life, according to a memo by Planning Director Jarod Nygren.

Septic waste is bubbling up to ground level at Green Acres, according to Danielle Maiden of NeighborWorks, who is assisting the communities in putting together this year’s application.

Untreated sewage can be harmful to the environment and human health, according to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

The city approved similar requests in 2022, but the applications were not selected for funding, so the communities are trying again. There are also state grants that could apply to these kinds of capital improvement projects, Maiden said after the meeting.

COUNCIL ALSO approved a resolution of intent to set public hearings for May 15 and June 19 to take comment on new pretreatment and nondomestic sewer use program regulations.

Setting dates for public hearings is a required step in adopting the new regulations, which are meant to protect the environment and the city’s wastewater treatment plant from toxic or blockage-inducing industrial discharges such as oil, grease and sand.

City staff has worked on the regulatory framework for about five years and in consultation with the federal Environmental Protection Agency, according to Public Works Director Susie Turner.

The city is moving towards adopting and enforcing pretreatment regulations because of the size of Kalispell’s treatment plant, and because the type of industrial users present in the water and sewer district require local enforcement under federal and state law.

Reporter Adrian Knowler can be reached at 758-4407 or [email protected].