|
Wednesday, 27 June 2007 09:58 |
 FIXER-UPPER Looking back towards town, these are the sewer lagoons that will soon be upgraded to come into compliance with EPA and Montana Department of Environmental Quality mandated standards. The city will receive a $500,000 in funding to help renovate the wastewater treatment facility. I-O Photo by Barb Endler
The funding comes as part of the State and Tribal Assistance Grant Program (STAG), which will be matched with local and state funds to help Conrad pay for the project.
“Conrad’s current wastewater facility is more that 30 years old, so these funds couldn’t be arriving at a better time,” Rehberg said. A member of the House Appropriation Committee, he went on to add, “This is a project that will have a direct, positive impact on public health in the Conrad area.”
The project, which will replace and update the existing facility, will result in a new aerated lagoon treatment facility with ultraviolet disinfection, located within the current aerated lagoon cell.
Accumulated sludge will be removed, dried and managed and managed in-house.
Conrad Mayor John Shevlin commented to the I-O on Thursday, “We appreciate Congressman Rehberg and his staff who worked hard to procure these funds for the city.”
He went on to add, “This will go a long way in funding mandated updates to our wastewater facility.”
Current figures put the wastewater project at $3.382 million. The STAG grant secured by Rehberg is less than a third of the amount needed. Originally the project started out at $1.75 million.
The city is preparing a position paper for Senators Baucus and Tester explaining what a hardship this will be on the city without more funding.
The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) and the DEQ (Department of (Environmental Quality) are making mandated changes with no funding mechanism forcing the council to make a decision because the city is in violation of their discharge permit. The city is susceptible to fines from the DEQ.
Mayor Shevlin said the council is struggling with this, trying to find the best method to do this without hurting the taxpayer. |
|
|
Wednesday, 27 June 2007 09:54 |
 HOUSE ASSEMBLY Reid Stuart of Blue Sky Villa in Conrad came to the Boone and Crockett Conservation Center to assist with Blue Bird Trails building and assembly of Blue bird houses. Helping is Justin Fritz of the Ledger-East Brady area. Looking on is Dina Philipps of Conrad. Paul Rathsack of Conrad also helped with the bird houses.
The Boone and Crockett Club hosted the day as an open house and educational sampler. This event was well attended as nearly 77 people of all ages joined in a variety of activities.
The exposition started with pre-registered guests enjoying a pie social. 15 pies of several varieties were donated by the Golden West Lutheran Ladies from East Brady and Ledger, Montana. These pies were served by the Chair of the church group Becky Gollehon, her daughter Heidi Fritz and two 4-H community service boys, Justin Fritz and Garrett Fritz.
The social was followed by a presentation and brief history of the Boone and Crockett Club Conservation Center given by the education program director Dr. Lisa Flowers of Choteau, who also introduced education program staff and TRMR John Rappold ranch manager.
Following the introductions, guests moved to scheduled events. We had two groups mixed with the young and the old at the shooting range with range master Steve Hutton of Conrad.
There was a guided hike and wildlife viewing on the Watchable Wildlife Trail led by Flowers. Bob Neibuhr, from Great Falls offered a movie and information on learning about the bluebirds and bluebird trails. His program was featured in the main hall of the RWCC. There were folks building nesting boxes for the bluebirds with Reid Stuart and Paul Rathsack in the education lab/classroom.
|
|
Read more... [Boone and Crockett hosts open house]
|
|
|
Wednesday, 27 June 2007 09:51 |
 CAMPERS Range Days participants camp out on the playground at Meadowlark School. I-O Photo by Buck Traxler
“When I walk up and down the street, everyone asks me “Are you here for Range Days? We’re glad you came,” said Taylor Brown, renowned radio broadcaster for the Northern Ag Network and a co-sponsor of the premier event.
“We appreciate all the local sponsors and all the different ways Conrad helped to make Range Days a success. Everyone stepped up to the plate,” said Paul Jones, a supervisor on the Pondera County Conservation District, which co-hosted Range Days.
Four-year-olds and 40-year-olds from as far away as Alzada and as close as Conrad took ribbons, prizes and more knowledge home from the 31st annual Montana Range Days in Conrad this week.
Local and state sponsors awarded more than 90 honors to Buckaroos,
Super Starters, Wranglers, youth and adults at the end of the three-day celebration of Montana’s largest, most enduring natural resource.
Conrad’s Justin Ratzburg took fifth place in the Wrangler division of the range utilization competition.
More than 200 teens and elementary age children -- and their parents -- learned how and why our grasslands feed and clothe people, offer open space for more than 50 species of big game and other wildlife, filter our water and reduce carbon dioxide.
|
|
Read more... [Range Days offered food, fun, fodder for thought]
|
|
|
|
|
<< Start < Prev 271 272 273 274 275 276 277 278 279 280 Next > End >>
|
|
Page 278 of 329 |
