State environmental regulators are offering the city of Billings millions of dollars to connect a county mobile home park and around 200 residences to the city water system, but the city is still far from a decision.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality would provide roughly $2 million to cover costs to connect the Meadowlark mobile home park to city drinking water if the city of Billings agrees.
Residents sued the land owners in 2022 and settled out of court in 2023. One of the plaintiffs, Steve Woodard, still lives at Meadowlark. He said he’d be in favor of connecting to city water and doesn’t trust that his water is clean.
“We wash our clothes and bathe in it, but I wouldn’t drink it,” said Woodard.
Meadowlark is by the Billings city landfill just outside of city limits. It runs on a private well system with a history of water quality issues. The owners, Utah-based Havenpark Communities, say it also serves a neighboring marijuana business.
Jay Van Tassell with Havenpark attended a city council meeting on December 15. He said the Department of Environmental Quality reached out about the grant a few years ago. While he said Havenpark is treating the water at Meadowlark, he’s in support of hooking into the city with a waiver to allow the property to remain county land.
“The problem is definitely solved for now, but it’s gonna continue to require that investment and making sure that we’re always tracking on providing good quality water to our residents. So it’s definitely improved. It’s better than it was in the past,” said Van Tassell.
Multiple city council members including Mike Boyett said this is the first time they’ve heard about the grant and the city’s potential role in it.
“It sounds like this is a moving target, there keeps being more information. I’m disappointed that we didn’t see this sooner as the council. If it comes back,
This was the last meeting of the current city council. Newly elected council members take their seats next month.
