{"id":106467,"date":"2024-07-21T00:04:04","date_gmt":"2024-07-21T00:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/montana-towns-economy-withers-due-to-lack-of-affordable-housing\/"},"modified":"2024-07-21T00:04:04","modified_gmt":"2024-07-21T00:04:04","slug":"montana-towns-economy-withers-due-to-lack-of-affordable-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/montana-towns-economy-withers-due-to-lack-of-affordable-housing\/","title":{"rendered":"Montana town\u2019s economy withers due to lack of affordable housing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
ABC News<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

(SEELEY LAKE, Mo.) — A slice of paradise in Montana is suffering economic disruption, but it isn\u2019t a result of any political battles or environmental change. Instead, Seeley Lake\u2019s problem lies in its lack of a centralized sewer system.<\/p>\n

The Missoula County community\u2019s reluctance to come up with a plan to replace its septic system means no affordable housing can be built for working people. While high-end septic systems can service multi-family dwellings, local officials explain that they\u2019re not cost effective for the type of housing developers would seek to build in the area. The solution? Only a sewer system will do.<\/p>\n

That lack of accommodation means Seeley Lake\u2019s biggest employer — Pyramid Mountain Lumber — can\u2019t attract enough workers to continue, and is closing the family-owned business which has been operating for 75 years.<\/p>\n

“To make the announcement to the crew was probably the toughest thing; I’ve got friends, family, you know, generations, good friends that work here. I had to tell them we’re going to shut the doors,” Todd Johnson, a third-generation lumber mill worker whose grandfather started the mill in 1948, told ABC News.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve never drawn a paycheck from any other business in my whole life. I started here in sixth grade,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cThis is all I’ve ever known.\u201d Johnson has since worked his way up to become general manager.<\/p>\n

Missoula County was once home to multiple sawmills and a thriving lumber industry. Pyramid Mountain Lumber is the last one, so its shuttering will mark the industry\u2019s end in the area.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere hasn’t been an apartment, duplex or fourplex built in this town in over 30 years,\u201d Johnson said. \u201cWhen you’re talking about entry-level housing for more blue collar workers\u2026it’s not available.”<\/p>\n

Pyramid isn\u2019t the only local business affected by the worker shortage. Rovero\u2019s Hardware is \u201crunning on a skeleton crew\u201d as its busiest season approaches, general manager Kyle Marx noted.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo affordable housing here,\u201d he said. \u201cRentals have diminished since COVID hit, and everybody came up here, bought every rental darn near that was available and turned them into vacation rentals or moved up here themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dee Baker, who owns antique store Grizzly Claw Trading Company, said it\u2019s a long-term issue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere could be low-income housing built, but the people in the town cannot come to an agreement [for a sewer system] with Missoula County,\u201d Baker said. \u201cAnd it’s been going on for years and years.\u201d<\/p>\n

The situation was borne from local reluctance to pay for a centralized sewer system that would allow Seeley Lake to expand, and a fear that such a major infrastructure change would alter the community\u2019s character, according to Missoula Board of County Commissioners chair Dave Strohmaier.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe irony is that the lack of the infrastructure is \u2026 a big reason why Pyramid Mountain Lumber cannot find the housing for their employees and the employees to keep it going, and hence change is upon us,\u201d Strohmaier said.<\/p>\n

Johnson offered a glimpse of how much the town would lose once the lumber business closed.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur payroll just here to our employees is over $6 million a year,\u201d he said. \u201cYou take that out of this economy, it’ll change the fabric of the town. There’s no doubt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

ABC News (SEELEY LAKE, Mo.) — A slice of paradise in Montana is suffering economic disruption, but it isn\u2019t a result of any political battles or environmental change. Instead, Seeley Lake\u2019s problem lies in its lack of a centralized sewer system. The Missoula County community\u2019s reluctance to come up withRead More →<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[156,31,2],"tags":[273,271,276,274,270,123,275,133,124,272,102,103],"yoast_head":"\nMontana town\u2019s economy withers due to lack of affordable housing - FM News Talk 92.7 \/ 1450AM KOBE<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"TALK, DONE RIGHT\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lascrucestoday.com\/newstalklc\/montana-towns-economy-withers-due-to-lack-of-affordable-housing\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Montana town\u2019s economy withers due to lack of affordable housing - 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