Infrastructure hot topic for 2017, but is it enough?

In Cascade County, people need only to look down to see infrastructure needs.

In the past few years, the county has returned portions of several roads from asphalt to gravel to stave off funding shortages.

Cascade County Commissioner Jane Weber said county officials have made a conscious effort to take up asphalt on some roads and convert them back to gravel.

She said it was one reason that she took the defeat of Senate Bill 416 so hard, which would have provided $150 million for infrastructure, by one vote in the 2015 Legislature, saying it would have provided funding for projects.

But infrastructure, while knocked to the mat for a nine-count, is back, seven months from the start of the 2017 legislative session. There are more players in the game and it has already surfaced as the hot-button issue with as much as $200 million being proposed by Gov. Steve Bullock as part of his “Build Montana Plan.”

But while it’s not nearly enough, officials do say it’s a start.

Montana’s infrastructure needs have been estimated in the billions, more than $14.8 billion in roads alone, according to a 2014 report by the American Society of County Engineers.

The report, often quoted on the campaign trail, gives Montana’s infrastructure a C-. That’s an assessment of the Treasure State’s roads, schools, drinking water, dams, wastewater, transports, transit, irrigation canals and solid waste.

In April, Bullock called for a $200 million investment of cash and bonds during the 2017 Legislature to fund infrastructure needs.

At a recent news conference in which GOP gubernatorial candidate Greg Gianforte criticized the governor over his infrastructure proposal, Sen. John Brenden, R-Scobey, said he believed $100 million would not cover Daniels County, which is in his district.

Brenden said there’s a good chance that some kind of infrastructure bill will be passed by the 2017 state Legislature that will be a beginning for the state in dealing with much-needed repairs to essential services.

“Rome was not built in a day, but you have to start somewhere,” he said.

Bullock also proposed a long-term funding mechanism for the infrastructure needs that included using 75 percent of the revenue coming in to the Coal Tax Severance Fund to create the Build Montana Trust. According to a news release from the governor, the two of the previous sub-trusts that fund the Treasure State Endowment Program and Rural Water Projects will mature in 2017 and be fully funded, meaning that while no additional revenue will flow into the trusts, the corpus will generate enough interest to fund projects in perpetuity.

Dan Villa, the state budget director, said the state acknowledges it can’t solve Montana’s infrastructure needs at once.

“The $200 million in the governor’s Build Montana plan is $50 million more than what was negotiated in the last legislative session ...” he said via email.

He said the governor’s proposal would “ensure that this and future generations of Montanans are able to invest in infrastructure, create jobs and continue to grow Montana’s economy.”

Rep. Randall Pinocci, R-Sun River, was reportedly the only northcentral Montana representative to vote against the bill.

In a May 15 election section put out by this newspaper, he said he would improve the state’s infrastructure through opening up “the timber industry to process every dead pine beetle tree, we can make money processing these trees to make tax money ...”

Democrats point to Republicans for SB 416’s failure in 2015 while Republicans said the bill contained unnecessary items such as money for the Historical Society and repairs to Romney Hall at Montana State University.

Gianforte said more effective leadership by the governor would have gotten an infrastructure plan through the 2015 Legislature.

But both sides said there is plenty of blame to go around and that infrastructure was a casualty of politicking.

“I can tell you how important it is to have good roads. I can tell you important it is to have good bridges, infrastructure has been plagued by political football too damn long,” Brenden said.

Brendan said his approach to infrastructure repairs is similar to fixing a house, a matter of priority.

“If the whole house is going to heck you have to protect the roof first and first the rest later,” he said.

In the meantime, the Montana Infrastructure Coalition, a nonpartisan organization, surfaced to drive the issue.

The nonprofit organization is made up of representatives from more than 50 industry, labor and trade groups, local governments and business entities.

“It’s certainly been one of the main issues in the last couple (legislative) cycles,” said Darryl James, the Helena-based group’s executive director.

Webb Brown of the Montana Chamber of Commerce serves as the coalition’s president.

“We’ve got work to do,” he said in a news release announcing the organization. “We want to chart a new course for infrastructure investment that will spur additional growth and reinvestment in communities across Montana.”

James said the ASCE report card is the best “high-level” information on the state’s numbers. But he said it raises a question of how much those improvements need immediate attention.

He said the group is not at the point of making recommendations or a detailed plan.

“We are trying to find out what the priorities are and the most desperate need,” James said.

“We don’t have to come up with the silver bullet in the next five to seven months to cure all infrastructure,” he said. “We have to have a creative dialogue to get the ball rolling and to fund new infrastructure.”

Candidates for top state seats say they are hearing about infrastructure on the campaign trail.

Both Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney, who is running for re-election with Bullock, and Lesley Robinson, who is running with Gianforte, said people ask them about it.

“It’s an issue that is on everybody’s mind,” Cooney said in an earlier interview, adding it’s not just Montana as neighboring states are having trouble as well.

Robinson said eastern Montana has been left out in the cold when it comes to infrastructure.

“Eastern Montana needed immediate help, and it didn’t come,” she said.

Shoots Veis, a region B governor of the ASCE and past president of the Montana section, said infrastructure needs have probably stayed the course since the 2014 report was released.

But he said he is hearing more and more people talk about it.

“It’s a problem that has been going on for several years and something that will take several years to fix,” he said.

Veis said what sometimes gets lost in the discussion is there are other parties involved.

“What often gets missed is that we talk only about the responsibility of the state of Montana,” he said, adding some of the work falls under the responsibility of the federal and local governments as well.

“To think the state is going to fix the problems misses the fact that all levels of government have to take responsibility as to how it gets fixed,” he said.

He said you will find some local governments that do a “wonderful” job investing in water and wastewater systems.

“We did not want to pit projects and communities against each other,” he said.

He said Montana’s overall grade of C- was in line with much of the rest of the country, with most grades either C+, C and C-.

Veis said there are no problems he is aware of that keep him awake at night saying “Oh my God, I am just waiting for this shoe to drop.”

“But we would be remiss if we did not talk about the issues, if we just ignore that bridge until until it gets to the point of where it did fall down,” he said.

“I can tell you for sure that it is cheaper to deal with a problem now than when it collapses,” Veis said.

Veis said he offers to speak about infrastructure to any group that will listen and over the years he has noticed more people are willing to listen.

“All I can say is that I glad it is something we are talking about it,” he said. “I don’t know what kind of role the report card played, but I hope it’s a lot.”

The report cards are done every four years; he said he’d like to add airports and electrical transmission in the next one.

Brenden, who is optimistic an infrastructure bill will pass in the 2017 legislative session, said it needs to be focused and for the greater good.

“I don’t think I should have to pay for Great Falls school buildings or heating (plants),” he said, adding it should be roads, sewer and water, services that help the general populace of Montana.

In terms of funds for the Historical Society, he believes Helena should for pay for it, adding it benefits Lewis and Clark County and the city of Helena.

“Where is it going to end?” he asks.

Weber called infrastructure a nationwide issue.

She said likely any county commissioner in Montana would say that roads are the biggest complaint. She said other needs in Cascade County are repairs to Montana ExpoPark, the courthouse roof and water and sewer repairs.

“We need help, sometimes,” she said. “Cascade County has needs. We have roads we want to repair and can’t get to.”

Brian Clifton, Cascade County’s public works director, said the county has 168 miles of paved roads and 1,250 miles of gravel roads.

Within the past few years, the county has pulled up pavement on three asphalt roads and converted portions of them back to gravel.

“We have more paved roads than funding available,” he said, adding that prompts officials to determine if there are roads that can be reduced to a gravel state.

Those include 10 Mile Road in 2015, Birdtail Creek Road in 2011 and River Road in 2016. Goon Hill Road will be done in June.

Clifton said Cascade County’s pavement plans come through state gas tax funds and money through local road taxes.

Criteria and priorities are based on average annual daily traffic, whether the road is a school bus route or a primary military route for Malmstrom Air Force Base.

Also tossed into the mix is the current cost per mile to maintain.

“It’s a mixed bag with residents,” he said, noting everyone would love to have nice paved roadways.

However, some residents say the new gravel roads are better, do not have potholes and are wider.

Weber believes state lawmakers have seen the error of their ways during the last legislative session.

“It was the Legislature’s fault for not putting the money forward,” she said. “They made a mistake and now they are trying to rectify that.”

Report card

The following is from the 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers report card for Montana’s infrastructure. Overall, the state received a C-. You can read the full report at http://bit.ly/1Wjfk9V:

Transportation: C. The report estimates that $14.8 billion is needed to take care of the state’s roads. It finds 46 percent of the roads in poor to mediocre condition and 40 percent of the gravel roads in poor or failed condition. However, it finds the state’s highways are in good condition and 92 percent of the state’s bridges are in good condition.

Wastewater: D+. The report notes Montana has 180 wastewater treatment systems. It says 20 percent have “significant effluent violations” and another 20 percent were, as of 2014, directed to correct system deficiencies. The report notes it could take 70 to 90 years to replace the water and wastewater infrastructure. Price tag: $12 billion-$15 billion.

Dams: C-. The state has 3,316 dams and 34.5 million acre-feet of water. The report states the overall condition is tough to track as 75 percent of the dams do not have periodic engineering inspections. No price tag.

Drinking water: C. Montana has more than 5,300 miles of water distribution and transmission piping, longer than driving round trip from Billings to Miami. The state has nearly 700 public water systems, with 60 of those serving communities larger than 1,500 people. Some systems, according to the report, date back to the late 1800s and early 1900s. In 2011, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality stated a financial need of $885 million.

Source: American Society of Civil Engineers