Building permits and Good Neighbor Authority at next Council meeting

SEELEY LAKE - Like every month, the Seeley Lake Community Council meeting will feature a number of interesting topics Monday, June 10.

It will kick off with our State Rep, Mike Hopkins giving an overview of this year’s legislative session.

Next will be an update on the county’s efforts to rationalize the building permit process. The Community Council held a forum in January on that topic, with builders, an inspector and several county representatives attending. The main conclusion from the forum was that the permit process included bottlenecks, inefficiencies and duplications, which made applying for a permit considerably more difficult than it needed to be.

The county says it has initiated a number of changes as a result of that forum and Gayl Hann, Project Manager for Missoula County, will present the results. The Council is very pleased that its forum has apparently had such a positive impact.

 Following will be Kristin Baker-Dickinson, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation Clearwater Unit Manager and Quinn Carver, Seeley Lake District Ranger, who will introduce a new federal program, entitled “Good Neighbor Authority” (GNA). As a result of the Farm Bill, the GNA promises a new and creative tool to help measurably increase the pace and scale of restoration with the assistance of the USFS state partners.

According to Carver, the goal of the GNA is (1) to work across jurisdictional boundaries and treat the landscape in a mixed ownership setting, (2) to increase collaborative opportunities to address land management challenges, (3) to leverage state resources (and Federal funding  if available) to increase capacity to accomplish work and (4) to strengthen the federal/state partnership. USFS Region One and the state DNRC have collectively agreed to work towards the goal of producing three to five GNA sales per year, which may yield 15 to 30 million board feet per year up through the year 2022.

Council member Bruce Friede will then update the Council on the flashing speed signs envisioned for downtown Seeley Lake.

Like always, there will be an opportunity for public comments on non-agenda items.

The informal part of the meeting will start at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, June 10, at the Seeley Lake Historical Museum and Visitors Center, 2920 Highway 83, with pizza and water. The formal meeting begins at 6 p.m.

 For further information please contact Klaus von Stutterheim, SLCC Chair, at 406-210-8576 or kvs@kvs.org.