Strohmaier Aids with Comment Decisions -Questions Clarified

SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Community Council considered public comments and voted to accept minor changes to the Swan Valley Draft Plan at their regular meeting June 19. In attendance was Missoula County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier who offered suggestions and assistance to the SVCC.

SVCC members voted to keep the original wording in several sections of the first element, Natural Resources and Environment, after considering public comments. However, they voted to eliminate section 1.13 entitled Noise from the draft plan and retained only the introductory sentence in 1.14 Light Pollution. The discussion drew comments from Strohmaier which led to the council’s actions.

Strohmaier said that the county had no authority to create regulations pertaining to noise levels. The deleted section contained a recommendation of a maximum sound pressure limit of 72 dBA of sustained noise in the Swan Valley.

Strohmaier said that he didn’t think some statements in the Light Pollution section were accurate. The deleted sentences said that subdivision approval may require down cast light fixture and full cut-off luminaries that do not allow visible glare or spillover from off site.

Swan Valley resident and former Forest Service employee Barb Raible clarified for those present the Upper Swan Valley Landscape Assessment found in the first element entitled Natural Resources and Environment. Raible spoke to clear up some questions from the previous meeting about who was involved with and what was entailed in the assessment found in the first element.

Raible said she had worked for the Forest Service in the Swan for 10 years and the BLM in Oregon when she was employed by the formerly named Swan Ecosystems Center, now Swan Valley Connections, to lead a team of volunteers who were familiar with the various areas and wildlife of the valley. They took the information and created the maps for the assessment in 2002 to 2004.

When asked if this document is different than the Flathead National Forest plan Raible said that the assessment was not based on surveys and not a planning document. She said it is a look at the environment and watershed of the valley. It would be useful information for potential and current landowners here she said. She added that the information has not changed much in the 14 years since it was written.

The document is available for perusal at Swan Valley Connections and at the Swan Valley Library.

In other business, Chair Ken Donovan said that Missoula County has a new policy that councils in the county will be given funds each year to bring the budget to $1,000. In the past that amount was given each year and some councils in the county who didn’t spend it were amassing large sums. Donovan said that the year has passed and SVCC budget was not brought up to the $1,000 level. Strohmaier told the council that he would see what he could do to remedy the situation.

The SVCC will begin with Element One, Goals, Policies and Actions at the next meeting July 17 held at the Swan Valley Community Hall at 7 p.m.