Sandpoint council approves LOI to seek state funding for wastewater plant replacement

The Sandpoint City Council on Jan. 8 approved submission of a letter of interest (LOI) to the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality to pursue state funding for replacement of the city’s aging wastewater treatment plant, voting unanimously on the resolution during a special meeting.

The LOI, which must be submitted by the Jan. 10 state deadline, opens the city to ranking and potential funding consideration by DEQ but does not commit Sandpoint to a particular technology or to accepting funds, city staff and the city’s engineering consultants said. The council also heard a detailed update on the preliminary engineering report (PER) and next steps for design, public outreach and funding.

Holly Ellis, Sandpoint’s public works director, told the council the LOI would “position us for the wastewater treatment plant reconstruction project for different state fundings,” and said staff will add public open houses and a project web page to keep residents informed as the PER advances.

Keller Associates, the city’s engineering firm, presented technical details and funding context. Kyle Meschko, project manager for Keller Associates, said the LOI is a request for DEQ to rank the project and that “there’s no commitment, no obligation” in submitting. He told councilors that the project cost estimate has risen since the facility plan was prepared and that the PER includes a higher contingency to reflect market uncertainty.

Why it matters

Sandpoint’s wastewater facilities include infrastructure more than 50 years old and face capacity and operational constraints during peak inflows, presenters said. Replacing and modernizing the plant is framed as necessary to protect public health and nearby waters including the Pend Oreille river and Lake Pend Oreille. Funding will determine the project scope and schedule.

What the council learned

- Timeline and deadline: Staff stressed the urgency of the Jan. 10 LOI deadline. Keller said DEQ typically issues a priority ranking in the spring and funds projects in midyear; the city will pursue parallel funding avenues including USDA Rural Development. Council members were told a revenue bond or similar authority will be required before many funding sources can be executed.

- Costs and ranking: Keller said the city’s earlier 2018 estimate was about $61 million and that the city applied for LOI funding last year for roughly $80 million and ranked 29th of 73 applicants. Kyle Meschko said only three wastewater projects were funded in the most recent state package and that statewide demand for Clean Water State Revolving Fund money has grown sharply (Keller cited statewide demand rising from the hundreds of millions to near $1 billion in recent years), making competition intense. Keller noted a 40% contingency in the PER-level cost estimate to reflect schedule uncertainty and market volatility.

- Technical direction and deviations from the 2018 facility plan: Keller recommended modifications from the earlier facility plan, including installing two mechanical screens (for redundancy), considering primary filters (smaller footprint, higher removal of solids), using conventional activated sludge for secondary treatment rather than a proprietary ballasted-sedimentation approach, and planning new anaerobic digestion capacity rather than only rehabilitating the existing digesters. Keller said the anaerobic digestion work alone added materially to the price estimate (Keller cited a preliminary construction figure of about $9 million for new anaerobic digestion). The consultants said geotechnical findings and soil conditions also increased estimated construction costs.

- Funding mix: Presenters described the Clean Water State Revolving Fund administered by DEQ (loans with some principal forgiveness that varies by project and disadvantaged-community criteria) and USDA Rural Development as complementary funding paths; they said projects sometimes use both sources. Keller noted that USDA programs may offer higher grant percentages on some projects.

Council questions and public outreach

Councilors pressed Keller and staff about specific LOI checkboxes and scoring items, such as whether Lake Pend Oreille or the nearby river would change the application’s environmental scoring, the potential to document renewable-energy projects (the DEQ/ EPA Green Power Partner evaluation), and whether conservation items (e.g., irrigation efficiency, phosphorus recovery, on-site energy generation such as methane reuse) should be marked. The council voted to amend the LOI to add an evaluation of becoming an EPA Green Power Partner; Council President Deb Ruhl moved the amendment and Councilor Pam Duquette seconded it.

Ellis said staff plans biweekly, informal open-house sessions (noon) and a project web page to explain the PER, facility plan background and funding process. Keller said the PER is about 65% complete and staff anticipates delivering a draft this spring for council review before DEQ submittal.

Formal action

The council approved a resolution directing submission of the LOI to DEQ. Motion: “approve the resolution directing submission of a letter of interest to Idaho Department of Environmental Quality for future funding of a wastewater treatment plant replacement,” moved by Council President Deb Ruhl and seconded by Councilor Pam Duquette. The roll call vote recorded by the clerk was: Councilor Schreiber — yes; Councilor **** — yes; Councilor Sprow — yes; Councilor Dukat — yes; Councilor Howard — yes; Councilor Woo — yes. Mayor Jeremy Grimm declared the motion passed.

Votes at a glance

- Consent calendar: Motion to approve the consent calendar passed by roll call (mover and second recorded in minutes; roll call recorded as unanimous). (No items were removed from consent.) - Resolution to submit LOI to DEQ: Approved by unanimous roll call vote (see above for recorded names).

Next steps

Staff and Keller said the city will continue PER work, coordinate environmental review and public outreach needed to finalize the facility plan, and pursue multiple funding paths. If state or federal funds are available, the city expects further design and then a bond or revenue-authorizing measure would be required before many funding agreements can be executed. Ellis said staff will begin regular public outreach and keep the council and public updated via the new project web page.