SEELEY LAKE - The next meeting of the Seeley Lake Community Council may be a bit shorter than usual.
It will start with Ben Schmidt, Air Quality Specialist from the Missoula Health Department talking about new proposed rules for wood stoves.
He will be followed by County Commissioner Josh Slotnick, who will outline the possibility for a Business Improvement District in Seeley Lake, assuming the businesses in town are interested in pursuing the idea.
The size of such a District would be decided by the property owners in the proposed district, who would also elect a Board of Trustees to manage it. The revenue collected from the included businesses could only be used to promote the health, safety, prosperity, security and general welfare of the inhabitants of the district or tourism, promotion and marketing within the district, according to state law. The legal background for Business Improvement Districts can be found at https://leg.mt.gov/bills/mca/title_0070/chapter_0120/part_0110/sections_index.html
Finally, a regular guest at the Council, Quinn Carver, USFS Seeley Lake District Ranger, will give an update on Forest Service activities.
Territorial Landworks (TL), the engineering firm that has been engaged to plan an RV Park south of the One-Stop, was invited by the Community Council to talk about the project. TL declined to appear before the Council and instead referred the Council to a “community” meeting on Friday, Oct. 18 at 9:30 a.m. at the proposed location. The purpose of the meeting, TL explained, was to “start the clock ticking.” In order to apply for a permit, the developer has to hold a neighborhood meeting one year before the permit can be considered.
Council Chair Klaus von Stutterheim commented that “this is the first time in memory that an organization has refused an invitation to visit with the Council.” In an e-mail to TL he expressed his disappointment at TL’s refusal to attend the meeting. He further wrote to TL that he was “unconvinced that a 9:30 a.m. workday outdoor meeting, which [TL has] scheduled for Oct. 18, qualifies as a ‘community meeting.’” He went on to say that “those are typically held in the evening when most people can attend at places like the Community Hall” and suggested that TL “might want to rethink [their] strategy for holding a [legally] required meeting.”
Von Stutterheim continued, “If I were a suspicious man, I might jump to the conclusion that TL scheduled its required meeting at the most inconvenient time and place to minimize the number of attendees who might object to the project.”
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. next Monday, Oct. 14, at the Seeley Lake Historical Museum and Visitor Center, 2920 Highway 83, with pizza and water. The formal meeting begins at 6 p.m.
For further information please contact von Stutterheim at 406-210-8576 or kvs@kvs.org.
Reader Comments(0)