POCATELLO — The City Council will soon consider spending about $50,000 to study a possible means of funding a more than $10 million project to connect the Johnny Creek neighborhood to municipal sewer service.

City planning officials would like to consult with legal and financial teams on the logistics of creating a local improvement district for the neighborhood, located in the city’s southern end off of Bannock Highway.

The city would likely bond for the full cost of the project, and homeowners would pay a low-interest monthly assessment to repay the investment over the course of 20 to 30 years, officials said.

If homeowners were to shoulder the entire burden, the cost per hookup for the neighborhood’s 225 homes would be about $46,000, based on current estimates.

For decades, water quality experts have voiced concerns about effluent from Johnny Creek neighborhood septic tanks leaching into the community’s groundwater. More recently, many neighborhood residents have found themselves in a bind, as their septic drainfields are reaching the end of their usable lives but they have no additional land available for drainfield expansions.

Though the council must still vote on the study during a future meeting, there was a general consensus among members at a May 13 study session that further delays will only result in rising costs.

“At some point this is going to be a huge problem,” council member Christine Stevens, who lives in the Johnny Creek neighborhood, said during the study session. “I feel as though kicking the can down the road further is not a viable option.”

Stevens said her own property has ample space on which to build a second drainfield.

Public Works Director Jeff Mansfield said the project could be built in phases. He estimates extending the main sewer line up Johnny Creek would cost about $1.7 million. Extending sewer lines along connector streets would cost another $4.42 million. Connections to homes would cost about $3.9 million. Rights-of-way would also have to be acquired.

Mansfield said the narrow, winding roads and oddly shaped lots would make Johnny Creek challenging to connect. He explained manholes would be necessary at every bend in the sewer line. The lines might also need to be pressurized.

An LID can be approved either by a vote of the City Council or a petition signed by 60 percent of affected property owners.

“The city can determine what level we want to participate in it,” Mansfield said.

Council member Linda Leeuwrik argued that the city has an incentive to contribute to the project because of the potential environmental benefits to the overall community.

“We know at some point this will affect our water,” Leeuwrik said.

Council member Claudia Ortega noted during the study session prospective home buyers should be aware that homes serviced by septic systems and wells require special maintenance.

“People living there need to bear some of that heartache,” Ortega said.

Mansfield said the city plans to conduct an education campaign about septic system maintenance.

Council member Heidi Adamson referenced a recent analysis led by Sarah Godsey, an Idaho State University associate professor of geosciences, concluding septic systems in the South Fifth Avenue area actually pose a greater risk to city wells than Johnny Creek.

Mansfield explained the Johnny Creek project has been elevated as a priority due to the drainfield issues, but he said the city has plans in the works to address septic systems in both areas of town.