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Lincoln County health department reports septic workload, animal-shelter demand and tick surveillance
Summary
County health staff reported 165 septic applications in 2025 with 146 permits issued, growing animal-shelter intake (13 dogs, 17 cats, 13 kittens), plans to apply for a CDBG planning grant for a new shelter, and increased tick surveillance after blacklegged ticks were found in Montana in 2024.
Kathy, a county health department representative, briefed commissioners on environmental-health operations, animal-shelter activity and public-health outreach.
"We currently have 13 dogs and 17 cats," Kathy said, adding that 13 of the 17 cats are kittens and the department is partnering with the Humane Society in Kalispell to spay and neuter animals and move them more quickly out of the shelter. The department is pursuing a Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) planning grant and has contacted regional design firms to scope a new shelter.
On septic permitting, Kathy reported the department has received 165 applications so far this year — about three fewer than the same time last year — with 136 applications for new systems, 23 for replacements and six for affidavits or declarations of unpermitted systems. "Of the 165 applications, we've issued 146 permits," she said, and noted 68 applications required local review and some remain incomplete while staff follow up.
Kathy also described progress digitizing permit records (about 20% of the county’s ~10,000 permits are now in the online system) and congratulated Robin Blumberg on passing the certified reviewer exam with the state, noting the county is finalizing a DEQ contract that will allow the county to perform and bill for reviews.
Public-health items included recent outreach events across the county, dental checkups provided by Smiles Across Montana, and wildlife surveillance: staff reported five bats with human or pet contact this summer, one of which returned a 'suspicious' rabies result because the brain tissue degraded in transport. Kathy urged pet owners to keep vaccinations current and explained the state has increased tick surveillance after blacklegged ticks were first found in Montana in 2024; the county has not yet documented locally found blacklegged ticks but offers tick-collection kits.
Commissioners asked for more detail on online permit corrections and the timeline for compliance-enforcement steps (staff said initial compliance notices allow 30 days, with a 30-day extension for demonstrated substantial progress; cases without progress are referred to the county attorney’s office).
