Great Falls City Commissioners will be asked to set an Aug. 4 public hearing for an annexation request of a single-family home at 305 21st Ave. S. 

In June, the city planning board voted unanimously to recommend approval of annexation and assign R-2 single-family medium density zoning.

There was no public comment or board discussion during the June planning board meeting.

The property is about 1.26 acres.

In March, the property owners submitted an application for annexation so they may connect the existing residence to city water and sewer due to a continuous septic failure, according to a city staff report.

The property is located in Phase 5 of the Upper/Lower River Road Water and Sewer District.

The city has been in discussions with the City-County Health Department and residents of the Upper/Lower River Road area since 1996 to resolve public health issues and remove sources of groundwater contamination in the area, according to the city.

The city last annexed a single property in the Phase 5 area in 2019 on 21st Avenue South.

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Phases 1, 2, 4 and most of 3 of the sewer district were previously annexed into the city.

The district and city signed a memorandum of understanding in September 2016 that Phase 5 is next in line for annexation. The district received funding and installed water and sewer mains in the phase, but the city hasn’t received enough petitions to annex the entire phase. Instead, individual property owners have petitioned for annexation over the last several years, according to the city staff report.

To annex the entire district, at least 50 percent of the property owners within the district must sign an annexation petition.

State administrative rules require property owners to connect to city utility mains if the cost of the connection is less than or equal to three times the cost of installing a new on-site septic system.

Since the Upper/Lower River Road district mains were available, the property owner completed those connections in March.

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The property owner signed a letter in the spring acknowledging that they needed to complete the annexation process and will abandon all drain fields and septic tanks per CCHD.

The property is contiguous to the existing city limits along the north, east and south property lines with R-2 zoning. 

As part of the water/sewer district, as assessment was established in 2017 to reimburse the city for the improvements. The assessment for this property was $6,813 and is being paid back over 30 years as part of the annual property tax bill, according to the city. Additional stormwaterfees are also applied.

Neighborhood Council 6 voted unanimously during its June 3 meeting to recommend approval of annexation and zoning.

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City water and sewer services were installed in the Upper and Lower River Road Water and Sewer District and over the years, unincorporated parcels have been gradually annexed.

Phase 4, which included 16.6. acres and 57 parcels, was annexed in 2011 and Phase 3, which included about 37 acres and 38 parcels, was annexed in 2010.

In 1996, the Cascade County City-County Health Department and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality began an 18-month groundwater pollution study in the Upper and Lower River Road and Donovan Park areas.

According to city documents, the area was occupied by about 3,000 residents and is the largest area in Cascade County with this type of density, having neither a public water nor sewage system.

The study didn’t find any imminent hazards, but “it was determined that impacts to the area groundwater were being caused from individual sewage septic systems and two aging sewage lagoons serving the Pearson Addition and the Trailer Terrace Mobile Home Court in the Donovan Park area,” according to a 2011 city staff report.

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The study recommended that area residents avoid potential problems by developing an official sewer and water district so they would be eligible for state and federal grants for the planning and construction of public water and sewer systems for the area.

The district would also have contracting authority for any possible interlocal agreements with the city for connection to city water and sewer lines that were already present in part of the study area.

The study was broken into two separate geographic areas, Upper/Lower River Road and Donovan Park. According to city documents, problems were noted in both areas, but the worst problems were in the northern portion of the study area along Upper/Lower River Road.

In 2001, property owners along Upper and Lower River roads voted to create a water and sewer district and elected a five-member board of directors to address the water and sewer issues.

In 2003, the district and the city entered into a memorandum of understanding noting that the most cost-effective way to provide water and sewer to the district was to connect to the city systems, which required annexation.

Also in 2003, voters in the district defeated a $5.7 million bond to pay for the extension of city services to the district.

To reduce the per household cost of the project, the district was divided into smaller service areas and according to city records:

• Service District 1 was annexed in 2007;
• Service District 2 was annexed in 2009;
• Service District 3 was annexed in 2010;
• Service District 4 was annexed in 2011.