During their May 6 meeting, City Commissioners approved the purchase of a 3.23 acre parcel for $374,000 for a future regional stormwater pond.

The property at 5200 2nd Ave. N. is within the county with commercial zoning, functioning as an existing detention pond on a geographical low area, according to city staff.

The purchase was initially on the April 15 commission agenda, but was pulled since the deal wasn’t quite ready, City Manager Greg Doyon said at the time.

The Montana Department of Transportation owns and maintains an existing stormwater lift station that pumps water out of this pond into the city’s stormwater system near Loy Elementary.

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City staff recommended the purchase since “a future improved city-owned pond in this location would help alleviate existing storm pipe capacity issues in this area,” according to the staff report.

City stormwater is already routed around this pond and surrounding county parcels by a network of storm mains.

“Modeling associated with the upcoming stormwater master plan shows significant flooding and full pipe capacity issues in these nearby storm mains, especially on 3rd Avenue South. Flows from these areas could be re-routed to this pond via new storm mains and alleviate the capacity issues. Another benefit is the detention of stormwater, reducing the impact to pipe networks,” according to city staff.

The property could support an estimated pond volume of 500,000 cubic feet, according to staff, and the upstream basin that could drain to the pond includes undeveloped properties between 57th Street South and Malmstrom Air Force Base and between Loy Elementary and the east side Walmart, according to staff.

The city may be eligible to recoup some of the costs of the stormwater improvements on the property based on a development’s proportional use, according to staff, and the property could be used for a future sanitary sewer station lift since it’s in the natural low spot of the area.

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Through an appraisal and phase one environmental assessment several items were discovered but “did not warrant backing out of the purchase,” according to staff.

The purchase is being funded through the city stormwater utility fund.

Staff wrote in their report that if commissioners denied the purchase, “it may become more difficult to acquire land for future improvement of a pond at this location. If status quo is maintained, the city would continue to face challenges with managing the existing storm sewer capacity issues. Development in these areas may continue to have costs or restrictions associated with discharging into the existing storm main network.”

Ron Paulick, a city resident, said he had concerns with the purchase price of the property and said the city should consider that it may need a larger property in that area.

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Christian Leinhauser of the Great Falls Development Alliance said that stormwater issues can hinder, even cancel, development and they have some developer interest in the east end of the city.

Commissioner Joe McKenney said he was in favor as the purchase is “some real forward thinking.”

There’s potential for “enormous growth” on the east side, McKenney said, and they’ll need a place for stormwater.

Such a purchase takes a willing seller and buyer, he said, and said appraised prices are different that values listed on the state’s property records site that Paulick had referenced with concerns about the price.

McKenney asked about the differences in the purchase price versus the appraisal price.

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Chris Gaub, city public works director, said that the original asking price was $425,000 and the city offered a lower price.

When the appraisal came in at $350,000, the city offered that amount, which was rejected, Gaub said.

McKenney asked if it was worth paying a little more to purchase the land since potential future development could makeup that cost, to which Gaub said yes.

There is a house on the property that has lots of issues such as foundation, water, electrical and structural, so Gaub said the city will make a determination on what to do with that structure in the future.