County commission approves funding for water filling station

At the end of June, the Lewis and Clark County Commission approved a $55,000 request from the Lincoln Rural Fire District to use funds allocated to the county through the American Rescue Plan Act to develop a water filling station at Hooper Park.

The proposal called for creating a pumping and filling station at the park, which has a wellhead near the main parking lot. The plan for the filling station, which Lewis and Clark County Public Works has the lead on implementing, would include a buried pressure tank and use the plumbing and boom from the Lincoln Fire District’s pumphouse behind the BVD/Rusty Relics building. The station would need to deliver 350-400 gallons per minute.

At Lincoln Government Day, Friday, Aug. 5, Lincoln Fire Chief Zach Muse explained that having the filling station at the park would ensure easy access not only for the Lincoln Fire Department, but also for agencies such as the Forest Service, DNRC, Public Works and the Montana Department of Transportation.

However, Muse said they are also working with the county engineer to explore whether or not they can redevelop and use the existing pumphouse.

“We already have a building there. If there’s a good aquifer down there we can get to, that would give the people within a thousand feet a lower insurance class,” Muse said.

The Fire District developed the pumphouse and well between 2012 and 2015. Originally expected to deliver up to 1500 gallons of water per minute, it produced only a small fraction of that. A second well drilled down to 120 feet next to the building also failed to produce the volume of water needed to make it viable. Muse said the aquifer appears to go right around the easement on which the building is located. He said they are working to figure out where the aquifer is actually running and whether they can reach good water there. If they can, the existing building is already plumbed and ready to go. If not, the equipment will be pulled out of the building and the new filling station will be developed at Hooper Park.

Muse thanked the commission and public works for their support of the project. Although nothing will happen on it this summer, he said it will be a huge benefit to the community to have an operational filling station in town. “When we do have a big fire, everybody can go right there.”