Looking Back: Need for sewered homes to slow septic leachate pollution
Whitefish Pilot | UPDATED 3 days, 22 hours AGO
The students of the week in April, 1996, were Erin Gallis, Brad Biolo, Hunter Morton, Troy Zentner, Jessica Spencer, Anne Standley and Tashina Maurer.
A look back at past Pilot articles by Julie Engler
50 Years Ago
April 22, 1976
In an effort to meet the requirements of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act which went into effect on June 24, 1977, the city of Whitefish was seeking an alternative source of municipal water. State Department of Health Officer Art Clarkson defined the new criteria for a municipal water supply. One of the major requirements was a turbidity level of less than one. Most affected by this requirement would be 60 - 65 cities in Montana that have surface water supplies such as lakes or reservoirs. The city of Whitefish has both. In the new regulations, a turbidity check would have to be made daily at the point of intake, and the city would have to pay the cost of monitoring.
40 Years Ago
April 23, 1986
When Betty Day realized her boat had been lifted from her Whitefish Lake dock and perched over 30 feet up in a neighborhood tree, she knew it was going to be tough to get it down. “It cost us 100 bucks,” the owner of the flying boat said. “I couldn't believe it. We called the fire department and the power company and neither of them could get it down," Day has seen the effects of lake winds before, but none of that resembled the small twister that hoisted the 12-foot aluminum boat to its resting place in the dead and brittle branches of a nearby tree. Eventually, Hal Bennett of Pacific Power and Light called Glen Dyke of Kalispell, who had a crane service and brought the boat down.
30 Years Ago
April 25, 1996
County commissioners enacted an emergency property tax that would raise $200,000 to fix roads damaged by frost and floods. Some 60 county roads are being destroyed by flooding and frost heave, Roads Superintendent Charlie Johnson reported. Damage was estimated at $2.4 million. “We've got major problems on the slumps in the roads,” Johnson said. “The kids at Lost Prairie can't even get to school. They're talking about home schooling. It will take months to get to get to some of these things.” Disaster and Emergency Services coordinator Kim Potter called the $200,000 a drop in the bucket. Near Whitefish, East Edgewood, Haskill Basin, Lupfer Meadows, Lion Mountain, Beaver Lake, Twin Bridges and Farm to Market roads desperately needed repair. “Just those roads will cost us $735,500,” Potter said.
20 Years Ago
April 22, 2006
Raising revenue from planning, park and ambulance fees and from residents in Whitefish's rural fire area are some of the funding options the city considered as a way to pay for higher emergency services costs through 2010. The Whitefish City Council approved a new five-year emergency services plan. An eight-member ad hoc committee presented 13 recommendations based on population projections, level of service standards and financial analysis. City Manager Gary Marks said the plan would give him direction in how to develop a city budget “so there won't be any surprises,” and he noted that all the plan elements would require council action for implementation.
10 Years Ago
April 22, 2016
A few Whitefish City Councilors said the city might be forced to annex Lion Mountain and other neighborhoods in order to clean up the septic leachate pollution found in Whitefish Lake. “They have to have city sewer, plain and simple,” Councilor Andy Feury said. “We've known this problem has been coming for decades. Lion Mountain has to be sewered, and so do all the other areas that need some kind of upgrade. Lion Mountain is closer to us and that makes it easier. We're going to have to come to grips with this annexation.”