City spends $2 million to buy land for wastewater disposal

What city officials described as a "wastewater disposal crisis" was averted Monday, when the Mountain Home City Council voted to spend $2 million for 400 acres of farmland adjacent to the city's sewer lagoons.

Without the purchase by the city the land was slated for housing development and would no longer have been available for wastewater irrigation.

The money for the purchase came primarily from a balance of contingency funds accumulated from connection and user fees, mainly on new development. Mayor Tom Rist noted that since the city cannot indebt itself on any transaction for more than a year, under state law, using the contingency fund meant the city did not have to go to the voters for a bond (and no interest charges had to be paid).

The city currently uses a 30-acre lagoon system for treatment of wastewater, followed by land application, under a permit issued by the Department of Environmental Quality. The lagoons are large enough to store the wastewater through the winter season and are able to provide primary biologic treatment as the wastewater travels through the lagoon system.

Some water is lost to evaporation but since the lagoons are sealed, most of the wastewater is available for use for crop production during the irrigation season. The treated wastewater is disinfected prior to irrigation and is restricted to watering crops, which are of types not for direct human consumption. The nutrients in the treated wastewater are taken up in the crops and removed from the farmland when the crops are harvested.

That treatment strategy creates a long-term cycle where harmful nutrients are removed and not able to leach into the ground water. According to Public Works Director Wayne Shepherd, it is also the "most cost-effective and practical treatment method by far."

Without the ability to use excess wastewater for irrigation, the city could have quickly faced violations of its land application permit, Shepherd explained, and that could have forced the city into expensive treatment systems.

"We don't have enough storage to get through more than a year if we aren't able to spread it on farmland. If you spread it on the farmland the excess nutrients are taken up into the crop and then removed and the groundwater is protected," Shepherd said.

"We investigated building a treatment plant or piping the wastewater elsewhere. But those alternatives could have more than tripled customers' monthly bills. The current method is environmentally sound and is also extremely cost effective."

A&A Development, the owners of the property, originally negotiated with buyers who intended to develop the land for housing, which would no longer allow the land to be used for wastewater irrigation.

The city has had a contract to use the land for wastewater irrigation for years. The previous owners of the land had purchased the wastewater for nutrient irrigation, but if sold to the developers the land would be unavailable to dispose of the wastewater.

A large number of options had been looked at to deal with the wastewater, but costs for most of the alternatives ranged from $25-$40 million, and most would have required expensive and time-consuming permitting processes.

When the sale of the land to the housing developers fell through, Mayor Rist and the city council immediately acted to purchase the property for the city. Jerry and Brian Anderson from A&A Development were willing and interested in selling to the city. "It's a wise decision on the city's part. The value for the property will definitely increase from this purchase (and) provide income for the city," said Jerry Anderson.

According to Mayor Rist, the sale price negotiated over the past few weeks was "very fair."

"Even though it was potential development property, we were able to acquire the land and its water rights at the agricultural rate. We paid approximately $5,000 an acre. Development property (in that area at present) is going for $10,000 per acre without water rights."

The mayor explained, "because we've increased the property under the city's control and available for irrigation of wastewater to 400 acres, we have taken care of the sewer disposal needs for the next 15 years. We have prevented the need to expand the lagoon and that alone pays for the cost of the farm. This was the best option on the table and is a great deal for the community's future. Fortunately we had the money without going into debt."

The mayor noted the $2 million came from a city contingency fund balance that could only be used for water and wastewater infrastructure. It could not be used for other city services.

After the sale was approved, Councilman Russ Anderson thanked previous city councils "for having the foresight to make growth pay for itself."

Councilman Geoff Schroeder noted "this purchase will save future city administrations from having to face millions more in expenditures if the application property were to be lost."

Councilman Alain Isaac added, "we had an opportunity we could not pass up that will take us into the future."

The council approved a motion for the mayor to sign the real estate purchase with A& A Development for a check in the value of $1,990,000 with one more check for a closing cost of $825. Rist signed the check and handed it to Jerry Anderson at the special Monday night meeting.