West Riverside developer to form water, sewer district

Martin Kidston

(Missoula Current) The owner of a West Riverside development has received thumbs up from Missoula County to form a water and sewer district that could set the foundation for a housing project aimed at attainability in the coming years.

Commissioners last week approved Blackfoot Crossing LLC's ability to create the district on roughly 107 acres near Bonner on what formerly served as the West Bonner Log Yard.

State law requires approval if the applicant has met all the legal steps, according to Andrew Hagemeier, director of planning services for the county.

“It complies with all the necessary statutes and it establishes an entity able to self-manage itself under a board of directors,” Hagemeier said of the district. “There is an application in with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality for the wastewater treatment system. It's for this property. It's the private side that determines when and why to create this.”

The county in March approved the subdivision but denied a request to permit a commercial business over 10,000 square feet, which could have included a travel plaza.

Now, property owner Gregory Morse is looking toward the project and exploring various financing options to develop the necessary infrastructure. Approval of the water and sewer district marks an initial step, he said.

“This opens up a number of avenues for us to be able to secure financing of many different types,” said Morse. “Delivering housing affordably is a very difficult process that I wake up with every day. We're going to use every vehicle and avenue that we can to deliver something that's desperately needed in Missoula County.”

Morse said the system could be expanded to the surrounding community if requested and financed. He said interest in doing so has come from both sides of the Blackfoot River.

He added that a single system would prove more sustainable than dozens of scattered septic systems.

“We've been approached by many members of the community who realize that's a problem,” he said. “We think this is really good infrastructure not only for our community but for the surrounding community should they desire that.”

With the travel plaza off the table, area residents over the past few months have expressed support for the project.

West Riverside resident Gary Matson described the developer as sincere in his effort to develop attainable housing, noting his board position on Family Promise, a program in Gallatin County that works on housing insecurity and homelessness.

“I have the greatest respect for what he's doing in that community,” said Matson. “He's a very sincere person in what he's doing.”

Still, some pushed back on the water and sewer district.

“I think it's opening the door for so many unknowns,” said Kevin Davis. “It seems to me a very disjointed process.”