With two dissenting votes, the Billings City Council approved, on Monday, an amendment to the agreement the city has with Lockwood Water and Sewer District (LWSD) that paves the way for the LWSD to expand its sewer district boundaries to provide service to property owners in the TEDD in Lockwood. The amendment allows the expansion without requiring the property owners to sign waivers to protest any future annexation proposals, which became a point of contention over a year ago.

The agreement imposes an 18 percent surcharge for the property owners of the TEDD (Targeted Economic Development District) for any treatment of sewage they get from the city, and makes clear that the agreement in no way impacts negotiations for any future need for water that Lockwood might have. It was also accompanied by a letter from Yellowstone County Commissioners committing themselves to cooperation with the City of Billings in planning future land use restrictions at the city boundaries, said City Administrator Chris Kukulski.

The action paves the way for the development of the TEDD in the most environmentally desirable manner possible, as an industrial park which it is hoped will entice new businesses to the area. That Billings providing sewage treatment is the most desirable way for development to happen — which is sure to happen with or without the agreement — was mentioned as a significant reason for their supportive vote by some of the council members, while others in opposition said they believed that the city was being short changed, since the 18 percent surcharge will generate only $24,000 annually in extra revenue, according to Kukulski. City staff said that the justification for the surcharge is for the additional risk the city faces in meeting regulatory requirements of the Department of Environmental Quality.

LWSD Manager, Mike Ariztia, explained that the next steps involve getting approval of the LWSD board, which earlier rejected a draft proposal because of changes it made to the basic contract they have had with the city for the past 12 years. Ariztia noted that the board had questioned why the issue of future water supplies should be included in an agreement about sewage. LWSD functions as two districts – -a sewer district and a water district. Kukulski said that he thought that mention of it was important because in the past there seemed to be people who believed that promises had been made about future agreements that were not written down. He wants to make sure that no such confusion exists in the future.

Ariztia further explained that once the LWSD board accepted the amendment, a process would be initiated to legally include, within its boundaries, the area which was analyzed for the establishment of the TEDD, which would include properties that are not currently part of the TEDD but could be in the future. That process requires the approval of a majority of the TEDD property owners and the acceptance of the LWSD board.

The agreement with the city also reduces by half, a million dollar bond that the city required of LWSD 12 year ago when they entered into their agreement to guarantee performance. Kukulski said that he believed that the district has demonstrated their viability and the reduction is appropriate.