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Concerns increasing about sanitation
of city water on the North Side |
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July 17, 2014 |
Concerns are being increasingly raised by many
residents of Bonners Ferry's North Side about
the clean and sanitary state of their household
and drinking water.
Apparently rodents, including mice and possibly
snakes, are getting into the North Side water
tank. Further, the city was formally notified of
this problem in a written letter from the Idaho
Department of Environmental Quality dating back
to at least 2009. Now, five years later, the
same problem continues, according to city water
officials who discussed the issue at the Bonners
Ferry City Council meeting last night, July 16.
Somehow, this problem, even though going on for
several years, has flown under the radar with
little public awareness until recent weeks, even
though, according to Bonners Ferry Mayor David
Anderson, the problem has been openly discussed
from time to time in multiple City Council
meetings.
As word of the issue has gradually spread,
people who live and work on the North Side have
increasingly become more vocal, and several made
their feelings known at last night's City
Council meeting.
DEQ Documented Deficiencies Years Ago
A December 2009 letter from the Idaho Department
of Environmental Quality was sent to the City of
Bonners Ferry shortly after a Sanitary Survey of
the city's water system had been completed. That
2009 letter, a copy of which was obtained by
NewsBF, notes four "Significant Deficiencies" of
the city water system. One of those deficiencies
listed by the DEQ was "The North Water Tank had
signs of rodents inside the reservoir. The
reservoir must be modified to ensure rodents
cannot enter the reservoir, and cleaned to
ensure existing debris cannot cause human health
concerns."
At Wednesday's City Council meeting, city water
officials acknowledged that in spite of various
remediation efforts made to solve this problem,
the rodent problem continues. The most recent
inspection of the North Side tank, completed
just a few days ago, continued to show rodents
present inside the tank.
Citizens Make Their Comments
At Tuesday's City Council meeting, the very
first citizen comment made during the time
alloted by the Council for public input
indicated that this problem has now become
two-fold: the sanitation issue, and an issue of
trust with those charged with maintaining the
integrity of the water system.
"To find out about it the way we did doesn't
make sense," stated North Side resident Kirk
Dixon during the public comment portion of the
meeting.
"I am concerned, and so are a lot of other
people," said Dorothy Smith, also of the North
Side.
City Officials Respond to Concerns
City officials explained that they have not been
ignoring this issue. Mayor Anderson stated that
it has been openly discussed in City Council
meetings on previous occasions, and in fact
several different efforts have been made over
the years to solve the problem. Those efforts
have included cutting back weeds and foliage
near the water tank, installing screens, and
trying to locate and seal any potential rodent
entry points.
City officials further indicated that there are
always many projects and competing priorities
throughout the city, all of which require
attention and resources along with the North
Side tank issue. City leaders are constantly
making decisions regarding which priority to
address.
Regarding the North Side water tank, city crews
would implement efforts to solve the rodent
problem. Once completed, city resources would be
next directed toward a different issue or
project. As time passed, they would find that
the previous efforts at the tank had not
succeeded, necessitating additional, ongoing
efforts on the North Side tank.
Said Mayor Anderson: "There are demands coming
at you from all directions. . . you set a
priority and hope for the best, and in this case
it didn't happen. In this case we've got a
structure that just doesn't hold up, it's not
going to hold rodents out, and yes, we're at the
point where it's going to have to be fixed no
matter what it costs."
That cost may be in the neighborhood of
$100,000, said city water officials in
attendance at the meeting. It appears the main
fix would be putting a new cap on top of the
tank, along with any other tank work and
structural beefing up that would be necessary to
install the new cap.
City Council member Connie Wells pointed out
that in spite of the problem, the water from
that tank is tested very frequently, and has
always been found to fall within state
requirements for water quality and sanitation,
stressing that the drinking water has been safe.
Not Just a Health Issue
Council member Ron Smith said that he and his
family live on the North Side, and added, "I
don't want rodents in the water that comes out
of the spigot in my house, whether that's a
safety issue or not a safety issue."
Mr. Smith stated further: "I think there needs
to be something go out so that the people on all
the city water are assured that we're not going
to have mice running through our water, I don't
care whether it's a health hazard or a
non-health hazard. I don't want mice, or
rodents, or whatever you want to call the
critters, in the system. And it sounds to me
like whatever you're talking about now [to solve
the problem] should have been started a long
time ago to keep that from happening."
Special Meeting Set
Mayor Anderson recommended that a special public
meeting be held to allow for full citizen
discussion and to provide complete information
on this issue. This would be the only topic of
discussion at that meeting. City officials
attending the meeting could hear concerns from
Bonners Ferry residents, answer questions, and
outline what the city is now doing along with
upcoming plans to resolve this North Side water
issue.
The council concurred with the Mayor's
recommendation, and the meeting was scheduled
for next week, Tuesday, July 22, at 7:00 p.m.,
at City Hall. The public is invited to attend
that meeting to express their thoughts and hear
the city's plans for the problem. |
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