Mayor Shaud Schwarzbach reported another big infrastructure activity for the water improvement project will be taking place in Big Sandy.

"We are replacing a number of old water mains and a bunch of bad fire hydrants. Right now, there is a bunch of dead ends in the current system.

This will allow them to be connected to a loop system. Sometimes currently there is stale water out there towards the ends. This will increase the water flow and help with our fire hydrant flows as well."

"Our bulk water system is getting pretty ratty" too and is a part of this infrastructure activity. "The current bulk water system is also on BNSF right away, so when we replace it we need to move it to property we own. The new bulk tank will be out next to the fire hall."

C&C Excavation of Havre got the bid and will be starting August 13th. Curt Wood is the Project superintendent. They will be working four 10 hour days starting at 7:00 in the morning.

They will not be working weekends or holidays without KLJ Engineer's and the towns approval. C&C have 120 days to complete the project.

Approximately 11,000 linear feet of pipe will be laid and 12 fire hydrants will be replaced. The staging area will be located at the Fire Hall.

They will be starting at the school first hoping to get most of it done before school starts. They will then move to the paved sections, so hopefully they can repave before winter starts. If not, repavment might have to wait till spring.

The residents of Big Sandy will be notified by the contractor who will knock on the doors of affected homes when their water will be affected.

This project is required to use iron and steel made in the United States. The Big Sandy Project is the first Montana AIA (basically the Buy American Act) Construction Project through the USDA Rural Development.

The town of Big Sandy received two grants one from USDA Rural Development and one from Treasure Sate Endowment Program (TSEP) which requires matching funds.

They also have a loan to complete the necessary funds the town was required to contribute through the SRF which is a state loaning fund.