Background
We have three County Commissioners:
- Bob Watne, Republican, the current Chairman
- Gary Hall, Republican
- Joe Brenneman, Democrat
Watne is not running for re-election, which will sadden the developers as he seems to always side with them. He seems to miss a lot of meetings as mentioned in this local newspaper article. He has had DUI issues in the past as mentioned in this web link.
Watne also got into trouble back in 2004 according to this local newspaper article:
Watne was charged with assault or, in the alternative, obstructing an officer, and entered a no-contest plea to obstructing. The charge arose after a dust-up on Panoramic Drive on April 5, 2004 at the home of his then-fiance, Beth Benjamin, when her barn burned. Firefighters called for law-enforcement help after a confrontation with Benjamin.Brenneman is the newest Commissioner. He seems to hold the developers a little more accountable and seems more concerned with managing the county's rapid growth in a smarter manner.
Hall is the swing vote, though I've been told he appears to side with the developers and Watne more often than not. People have told me that they feel Hall seems to sit on the fence to see which way the wind is blowing before committing himself.
The Meeting
Tony, the neighbor who borders the proposed subdivision and who has concerns about his road easement, and I rode together to the meeting. The room had plenty of people and Tony and I had to get chairs to sit on from a stack of chairs by the wall.
The 15 minute open comment period before the meeting was supposed to start at 10:45 am. It didn't start until 10:50 am. Because I seen a number of people who were there to speak, I jumped up first to speak when the open comment period started. I wasn't sure if the Commissioners would limit the comment period to 15 minutes.
I presented the Commissioners with more names on my petition about the traffic and road concerns. That made 52 people total who signed it. I mentioned one family's concern about a spring that crossed the road and how the gravel shoulder may affect it. I also mentioned people's concern about the commercial traffic on the road. I reiterated my comment from Wednesday's open comment period that people felt a road should be made from Trumble Creek Rd to Hwy 2. Tronstad Road lies to the west, west of Whitefish Stage Road, and would be the ideal road to continue east to Hwy 2. This road would be a better alternative for the subdivision traffic.
Once I spoke people lined up to speak. Most were opposed to the subdivision due to traffic, water and sewer concerns, schools, and density. Tony spoke about his road easement and said he has no agreement with the developer on how the proposed subdivision would protect his easement. Loyd spoke about perk tests, ground water and traffic. Darryl spoke about traffic on the bend in the road next to his trailer house. Emy spoke about density and the proximity to the airport. Linda C. spoke about protecting the ground water and the proposed level 2 sewer system.
Then the developer's hired hands spoke.
An engineer with the level 2 septic system spoke about how good the system is and reminded the Commissioners of an earlier meeting where he explained the system to him.
The property's former owner, Steve Streich, spoke why this was a great subdivision and he would be proud to live there. People in the audience snickered, "Then why did he sell his house next to the subdivision and move?"
This subdivision is part of the Two Rivers Master Plan amendment. One of the amendment's conditions was for high density development be hooked up to city water and sewer. The proposed subdivision will not meet that condition as it is the furthest Two Rivers development from the city, and the first one to come before the Commissioners. Streich said that if he thought he would have been held to the Two River's condition he would never have be part of the Two River's group. I guess whining works on the Commissioners as they didn't hold him to that condition.
Ken K., a lawyer, said he met in early May 2006 with Charlie Johnson, the county road department supervisor, and said Charlie felt the 2 ft gravel shoulder addition to Trumble Creek Road was the preferred alternative.
After Ken was done speaking I got up to say I spoke with Charlie this past Monday morning and Charlie said nothing was addressed concerning the bend in Trumble Creek Road, a Tronstad Road extension, or a road east to Hwy 2.
Erica the engineering company's mouthpiece spoke. She waits till after the opponents speak and cherry picks comments she can rebut giving the impression she answered all the opponent's concerns. Erica said it was her "understanding" the road easement issue was settled. Wrong.
Commissioner Gary Hall asked Erica if an extended Tronstad Road would pass through the subdivision as the map on the wall showed. Erica felt Tronstad Road would not pass through the subdivision but then asked Steve Streich to verify that. They all looked at the map on the wall and I got up to join them. Steve said Tronstad Road would pass south of the property, not through it.
Erica went on to spin for the developer. She said "it was her understanding" that Charlie Johnson believed Tronstad Road would never be extended down the ridge between Whitefish Stage Road and Trumble Creek Road due to the ridge's elevation. Hmmm.. then why did the county build the Rose Crossing and Birch Grove roads down the ridge? Erica had the floor so I wasn't able to rebut her claim or ask when it supposedly was made and why.
After Erica was finished speaking Commissioner Watne called for more comments. No one else spoke so I got up to address Tronstad Road again. Exasperated, Watne said this was the third time I spoke and to let others have a chance to speak. No one else was up to speak and I said I wanted to address comments made by others. I told the Commissioners that Streich felt Tronstad Road lay south of the property and I believe it ran through the property, as the map showed. I asked the Commissioners to verify Tronstad Road's future location before making a decision. I also said that even if Tronstad Road would not be built over the ridge in the near future, it could run from Trumble Creek Road to Hwy 2 to handle the traffic from the subdivision as that section of the road would be flat.
Bob Watne and Gary Hall didn't look like they were paying attention to me.
After I finished my comments the open comment period was closed. It had lasted more than 15 minutes. More like an hour or more. The Commissioners then opened their discussion on the Whitefish River Ranch South proposal. Erica, on behalf of the developer, got to make a presentation. She had some large maps and Gary Hall jumped up to set up the stand for her to place her maps.
The Commissioners and Erica then went over the objections the developer had to some of the conditions set by the Flathead Planning Board. One objection was to the requested 200 ft open space area along Whitefish River. The developers wanted only a 100 ft open space area. They claimed their trout ponds fell within the 200 ft area and they didn't want the public to be able to fish from the ponds. Commissioner Brenneman then said "200 ft except for the ponds". Erica then whined that they planned 4 housing lots in other parts of the 200 foot open space area and 200 ft would decrease the lots size.
Her request seemed to go nowhere and then the developer, Ben Franklin, stood up and said in speaking with Jeff Harris, the County Planning director, Jeff mentioned a need to do a study of a trail system for the County but there is a lack of money for a study. Mr. Franklin then pledged $10,000 towards a study since his subdivision's open space borders the river and in the path of such a trail system. Mr. Franklin said there were "no strings attached" to his pledge but asked that until the study was complete that the Commissioners only require a 100 ft open space corridor along the river and not 200 ft. Of course by the time the study is complete he will have built houses on those 4 housing lots and no one will take the lots' property to build a bicycle and equestrian trail.
Commissioner Gary Hall took the bait, thanked the developer for the "donation" and said he felt 100 ft was adequate. Bob Watne seems to always do what a developer asks, so Brenneman had to give up the fight for a 200 ft open space corridor along the river as two votes wins the day. Gary Hall made sure the $10,000 "donation" was written into the subdivision's final conditions.
Many of the people in the audience were incredulous. Everyone I have spoken with describe this as a bribe. I guess since it was out in the open in front of everyone, it is legal?
Gary Hall's daughter was due to give birth that afternoon in Missoula and he was in a hurry to leave. Brenneman tried to attach or modify a few conditions but got nowhere.
When it came time to vote Hall was the only person to try to explain his vote. He said that while members of the audience had raised concerns about the Level 2 septic system and water & aquifer issues, he wasn't an expert and therefore had to trust the experts (the Level 2 system's designers) on how well the system will work. He said he trusted that the DEQ (the MT Dept of Environmental Quality) would not let a bad system go through their process. You would think the Commissioners would require the DEQ to approve the design before the Commissioners approved the subdivision?
Well, in the week since this meeting, the Commissioners lost a lawsuit on another subdivision and it appears one of the points of the lawsuit they lost on was the Commissioners did not follow MT's subdivision's law where the Commissioners had to get the DEQ info/approval before approving subdivisions. Here is the newspaper article explaining the lawsuit and court's decision. I know one of the people behind the lawsuit and all I can say is: Way to go Linda J.!!!
Regarding traffic, Hall felt the proposed 2 ft gravel shoulder to be added to about 1.5 miles of a 22 ft wide Trumble Creek Road as a "safety improvement" was a good solution to handle the subdivision's increased traffic of 520 vehicle trips per day. Hall neglected to mention to mention he was involved in a meeting with the County road supervisor, the County planning director, the developer, the developer's engineer, and the developer's lawyer in coming up with this 2 ft gravel shoulder idea. I have seen the email correspondence documenting this meeting. Hall ignored the bend in the road around Trumble Creek and the idea of extending Tronstad road to provide an alternative route for the traffic. In this case, Hall apparently didn't want to get an expert opinion on where Tronstad Road would be located in regards to the subdivision. Funny how experts are only useful when you want to hide behind them.
With that the Commissioners voted. Hall and Watne voted to approve the subdivision and Brenneman was opposed.
So this is an overview on how our Commissioners handle subdivision requests. I am curious on what impact this recent court decision will have on our Commissioners.
And lastly, there was a woman sitting along the west wall towards the back of the room who appeared to be about 60 years old and who wore a pink miniskirt and could get away with it. When speaking I noticed out of the corner of my eye the flash of a camera. Later I seen this woman taking photos of some of the other speakers. I stared at her trying to figure out why she was taking the photos. She saw me looking at her and winked at me before turning her attention back to the speakers and Commissioners. ...odd!
No comments:
Post a Comment