Missoula County Explores New Water System Partnership At the Wye

Missoula, MT (KGVO-AM News) - One of the fast-growing areas in Missoula is the Wye, and there is so much interest in developing the area that Missoula County is considering entering into a partnership with Grass Valley Industrial to create a separate water system off I-90.

I spoke this week to Andrew Hagemeier, Community and Economic Development Director, about a public meeting on Thursday at the Missoula County Courthouse.

“On Thursday, the Missoula County Commissioners will consider the creation of a public water system out at the Wye,” began Hagemeier. “It's small at first, but it's going to be designed so it can be easily expandable to serve the greater area in the future. It's really the process of a lot of preparation and hard work by the county. It goes back to when we wrote the Missoula Area Land Use Element, which is the land use vision for how the county is going to manage growth and development in the Missoula Valley.”

Hagemeier said one of the companies is Grass Valley Industrial.

Meeting Thursday at the Courthouse Over Water System at the Wye

“We've got a couple of developers who are coming in with projects out at the Wye and they need a water supply system, and so they're willing to sit down and work with the county to develop this public water system,” he said. “They do not want to own and manage the water system, but they're willing to build the water system and then the county will buy that from them and then operate and manage it.”

County Must Approve $5.3 Million in Tax Increment Financing

Hagemeier said there are several steps involved in getting the project started.

“There are a couple of steps that need to happen to make this work,” he said. “The first step is the County Commissioners have to approve $5.3 million in tax increment financing that will be used to purchase the system. With tax increment financing, you actually get to use future tax revenues to pay for the bonds, so you don't have to raise taxes. So it's a neat mechanism, and it's an important step. We have to create a district to be able to do this, which we did a few years ago, and now we have enough money to help pay for it.”

Grass Valley Industrial Will Play a Major Part in the Development

Hagemeier described who will be involved at Thursday’s meeting at the Missoula County Courthouse.

“Myself and my staff will make a couple of presentations on the steps that the commissioners need to take, the representatives from the private sector, mainly Grass Valley Industrial also be present or online,” he said. “Then we'll have mostly the partners that will be presenting, which will be my department and Grass Valley Industrial.”

The meeting will be on Thursday at 2:00 p.m. in the Sophie Moiese Room in the Missoula County Courthouse.