Petition signatures needed to move RID chip seal projects forward

Two petitions to fund chip sealing on Lincoln’s hard surface streets continue to be available to residents living in the Lincoln and Lambkins Rural Improvement Districts.

If 20 percent or more of property owners in the RIDs sign the petitions, they will then be presented to the Lewis and Clark County Commissioners for a resolution of intention to take out loans to fund chip sealing.

At the July 20 Upper Blackfoot Valley Community Council meeting, the council discussed the low signature count on the current RID petitions located at the Lincoln Library. Additional petitions were requested for placement at the Lincoln Post Office and other businesses. Residents who would like to obtain a copy of the petition for review or to gather signatures may request a printout at the Lincoln Library.

The loan amount proposed for the Lambkins RID is $40,000 and $75,000 for the Lincoln RID. The Lambkins RID has 83 lots while the Lincoln RID has 337. The full loan amount for each RID will only cover the construction costs, so if the actual construction cost is lower, the amount of the loan will match that amount. The cost of the loan can’t exceed what is proposed in the petitions.

“We’re going to go through this loan process now if we can get the support. People still have the right to protest it, if that happens and the chip seals don’t get done, unfortunately that will impact the integrity of those roads long term. It is an important maintenance piece to keep those roads in shape and the longer it takes, the more it costs,” said Jessica Makus, special districts program coordinator for Lewis and Clark County.

The county aims to complete chip sealing on all hard surface streets about every seven years. Although the 2014 resolutions for chip sealing were expected to fund, at least in part, the current round of chip sealing, increases in costs have made that impossible.

“What probably should have been done, we should have looked at those budgets and planned a little bit more. The other issue we faced this year is the cost of everything went crazy. It’s gone up just a ton this year, so that was kind of unforeseen as well,” said Makus, adding, “It is my goal to keep an eye on these costs, and my hope is to avoid this loan process in the future.”

Unlike in Helena and the Helena Valley, Lincoln area RIDs are not used to cover costs associated with snow plowing and sweeping.

“What’s kind of unique about Lincoln and RIDs in Lincoln is the county does all the snow plowing and sweeping. The RID doesn’t have to pay for that. The county takes all that on at the expense of the county and not the residents. The county also maintains all of Stemple Pass Road and that is not included with the RIDs,” said Makus.

The county is planning a mailing to notify all RID property owners that the petition is available. In addition to individual residents, organizations, districts and non-profits that own property in the RIDs are also eligible to sign the petition.