Water district petition moves to new judge

WALLACE — The dysfunctional situation at the Cataldo Water District is now in the hands of a Kootenai County judge.

Shoshone County Prosecuting Attorney Ben Allen filed an emergency judicial petition on behalf of the patrons of the CWD following the approved recall petitions and subsequent resignations of all five of the board’s members in December 2022.

Allen’s emergency petition, filed Jan. 19, gave Shoshone County District Judge Barbara Duggan the power to appoint new board members.

However, on Jan. 25, Duggan filed a motion to voluntarily disqualify herself from the proceedings.

The emergency judicial petition is now assigned to Kootenai County Judge Barry McHugh.

The CWD serves customers in both Shoshone and Kootenai counties, and McHugh is tasked with finding suitable replacements to fill the water district board’s vacancies.

McHugh, a former prosecuting attorney in Kootenai County, was elected to the bench in 2022.

In its current state, the water district can’t function outside of maintaining current basic business practices, including collecting payments and conducting basic maintenance.

“Usually these types of decisions are left up to the district in question’s board, including filling any vacancies on the board, but with no board members in place, there is no mechanism to exercise any authority," Allen said, in a previous news article.

With no board, it means no new business can be handled on behalf of the district, no management of any assets owned by the water district and no planning for the future of the district.

Both of the district’s clerks also resigned at the same time as the board members, as a rift grew between the board, its employees and several of the district’s customers.

The tensions hit a fever pitch in the fall of 2022 after customers received their first bills for the 2022-23 fiscal year.

The new budget included a steep rate increase — with base billing increasing from $28 per month to $45, plus an additional $1.50 for every 1,000 gallons of water used. This is a significant change for customers who had been paying the lesser base amount while also receiving their first 10,000 gallons of water per month free under previous budgets.

The district also announced it would be levying $20,000 — which is $8,000 more than proposed in the 2019-20 budget.

This raised the district's budget from $85,900 to $187,825, which fueled the recall efforts.

McHugh held a status conference via Zoom on Monday concerning the petition and is expected to issue an order in the near future.