Hailey water and sewer services may be extended outside city limits and in two directions.
That is, if the Hailey City Council follows recommendations by Hailey Public Works Manager Ray Hyde and is amenable to the development interests of Peregrine Ranch owner Harry Rinker or the goals of the Croy Canyon Foundation, which is looking to build a senior citizen housing facility west of Hailey.
Both entities are interested in paying the city of Hailey to hook up to the city for projects located in the county and not immediately adjacent to city borders, which would require an annexation application.
Any service extension would be limited to water and sewer, said Hailey Mayor Susan McBryant, who said she, like Hyde and City Councilman Rick Baird, is concerned about the impact of more county septic systems threatening Hailey's water resources.
"Blaine County has absolutely turned a blind eye," McBryant said, explaining why the city is now addressing the issue and responding to requests for service from outside the city. The move would not include offering other types of services like police or fire, McBryant added.
The city council feels a responsibility to address the risk of ground water contamination, she said.
As the city witnesses development pressure in the county, questions about how to best protect water quality have come to the table, McBryant added.
"We are not looking to grow the city's boundaries. But, a batch plant is not in the city's interest," McBryant said, identifying a compelling question about whether expanding city services does more to protect water resources or more to support sprawling development.
A batch plant is a small sewage treatment system like the one located at The Meadows mobile home park south of Ketchum.
Already showing some support for development in Croy Canyon, the city council voted unanimously, Monday, in favor of a resolution to apply for an Idaho Community Development Block Grant. If accepted it could fund construction of 5,000 linear feet of sewer and water service that would accommodate a senior housing facility.
The application to be filed by the city of Hailey includes a plan for public participation in the project and, if installed, infrastructure could also serve a future middle school. The Blaine County School District is partnering with Blaine Manor representatives and Hailey for the project. McBryant said she supports the senior residence project and a new school as amenities for the community in terms of services and jobs.
At the special meeting Monday, the city council began public discourse about expansion.
Rinker has a plan to develop some 380 lots, on his 160-acre Peregrine Ranch property, which is 1,500 feet from Hailey's border.
"It will be a place where anyone of us would be proud to live with our families," said Nick Purdy, who presented the plan on behalf of Rinker to the city council at the meeting. "We intend to build from 10 to 20 percent of the 380 homes as affordable community housing for the working people of the county that make the infrastructure and businesses of the county and cities function."
In a memo to McBryant and the city council earlier this month, Hyde said as requests come from developers to hook on to Hailey systems there is an environmental price to doing nothing and an exponential economic cost to expansion.
"The proliferation of septic systems or mismanaged cluster systems may jeopardize our ground water quality, leading to additional and costly treatment of drinking water," Hyde said. "It is environmentally sound to come to our system. There is a price to pay for that, but it should be no additional cost to the Hailey taxpayer."
Hyde said he recommends any project serving property in the county should be set up as a separate taxing district to cover costs.
"We have to pay more for expansion," Hyde said.
How the city proceeds will be a point of conversation at the second city council meeting Monday, Nov. 22.
McBryant said she wants the city council to decide then whether or not to go forward with Rinker's request.
