City of Billings seeks land-use exemption for West End pump station; neighbor asks about dewatering

The Yellowstone County Board of County Commissioners on March 26 heard a public hearing on a land-use-contrary-to-zoning application from the City of Billings to construct a water pump station at 233150 Eighth Street West.

Karen Hosman of the City of Billings Planning Division told the board the application invokes state law allowing public agencies to proceed with projects that are contrary to local zoning while providing an opportunity for public comment. Hosman presented maps, site plans and elevations and said the board’s role at the hearing was to gather information and allow public input; the board cannot impose conditions or deny the project under the statute cited during the presentation.

Mac Vogelsang, City of Billings city engineer, said the pump station would provide redundancy and resiliency for the West End water system, helping keep multiple tanks full. “This will provide some redundancy to kind of the whole West End water system,” Vogelsang said, and he said the city expects construction to be complete by next summer.

A nearby resident, Tammy Cosgrove of 250850 Eighth Street, asked whether the project would require dewatering and how that might affect wells or foundations. Vogelsang responded that the work is a waterline project at roughly 5½ feet deep and that any dewatering would likely be isolated; if dewatering were necessary it would be addressed through a dewatering plan and related permitting requirements.

The hearing closed with no board action at that meeting; the record shows the session was intended to collect public comment for the applicant and to allow the board to ask questions and make comments to the agent.