Sorted by date Results 151 - 175 of 404
SEELEY LAKE - It’s great to be able to call beautiful Seeley Lake my home. But I also see a community severely impacted by COVID-19 and I am afraid that it may be years before we are able to recover economically. Yet the Sewer Board continues to move forward with a very expensive plan to implement the sewer system. This proposal impacts only a small percentage of the Valley’s human population that are contributing nitrates to our ground water and does nothing to address the tons of nitrates contributed by environmental factors such as ani...
Now our community, as well as the rest of the nation, is deeply affected by severe economic conditions brought on by a pandemic. Prior to this, many of us couldn’t afford the proposed sewer system that is being, for lack of a better term, “shoved down our throats.” This system has been touted as a way to cleanup Seeley Lake. Will it have a positive effect on the nitrate level of the lake? Quite possibly, but so small as to be all but immeasurable. Seeley Lake’s nitrate problems are, for the most part, a result of stripped watershed upstrea...
SEELEY LAKE - I am writing to recommend Tom Morris and Jason Gilpin for election to the Seeley Lake Sewer District board. Here is why. With only one recent exception, current board members have blindly pursued an exorbitantly expensive sewage treatment solution which will not clean up or protect our watershed. Tom and Jason will respect our constitutional rights to know and participate in this important process. With the direct aid of Missoula County officials, the Board did an end run around our 2016 vote to NOT pursue this proposal and has...
Voter Information: There are five candidates for the two open director positions on the Seeley Lake - Missoula County Sewer District. Candidates are listed in the order they filed. Candidates' responses were based on the following questions: • Biography • Qualifying experience • Why do you want to be a director? • What challenges do you see facing the Sewer Board and District in the near future? • Are there things you would like to see changed or what issues would you address if elected? • What...
SEELEY LAKE - As I sit here waiting out the coronavirus to pass, I realize the only other thing that will kill you is the cost of a sewer in Seeley Lake. The people of Seeley need Tom Morris and Jason Gilpin on the board to clean up the corruption from the lawyer and manager who say they represent the citizens of the town. The lawyer and the manager do not care about the non-supporters and refuse to work for a system that is affordable. I sit and think all they are for is a paycheck paid by everyone in the district. This is the reason why the...
Death Notice, James “Jim” Calvin Webb SWAN VALLEY - James “Jim” Calvin Webb, age 86, of Condon passed away on Monday, March 23. Services for James will be held at a later date and will be announced when arrangements are complete. Please visit www.buttefuneralhome.com to offer the family a condolence or to share a memory of James. Axelson Funeral and Cremation Services has been privileged to care for James and his family. Community invited to go on a bear hunt SEELEY LAKE – During this time of social distancing, locals Mark and Alicia Kues start...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District (SLSD) held its March 19 meeting via teleconference call to avoid congregating people per recommendations to limit the spread of coronavirus. The District finally received a bill from their attorney for regular Board business for ten months of work in 2019. In other business the District received word that a grant for Phase 2 is no longer available and the Board voted to reapply. The 42-page invoice from Beal Law Firm covered charges from March - December 2019 and totaled $47,860.57. The D...
SEELEY LAKE – According to the Missoula County Elections Office, there are a handful of changes to the voter registration process for property owners in the Seeley Lake Sewer District for the upcoming board election. The May 5 election will be conducted by mail with ballots being mailed out April 15. While any active registered voter residing within the Sewer District is eligible, there are also several ways in which landowners may be eligible to vote. How they register depends on how they own their property. Residents, either renters or l...
In reference to Don Larson’s letter about selecting the next two new Sewer Board members and to do your homework. Well, I did some investigating for the citizens of the town and here are my findings: 1. Tom Morris is a past sewer board member who protested the sewer and has years of experience on the board and will fight for the alternative solution. 2. Jason Gilpin is related to Tom and knows the facts and state laws on this matter. Jason has been well educated by Tom on this project and also protested. 3. Of the two other guys, one isn’t even...
MISSOULA – Two landowners in the Seeley Lake Sewer District (SLSD) have petitioned the Fourth Judicial District Court in Missoula for a Writ of Mandamus regarding the Missoula County Elections office’s denial of a pair of citizens’ petitions. Attorney Colleen Dowdall filed the Petition for Writ of Mandamus on behalf of Don Larson and Tom Morris. If the Writ is issued the Court would order the SLSD attorney to complete the ballot language as laid out in state law and force the Missoula County Elections Administrator to approve the pair of previo...
SEELEY LAKE - U.S. Senator Jon Tester announced that the Seeley Lake Sewer District will receive a grant for $660,000. SLSD Manager Jean Curtiss said the grant will be applied toward Phase 2 of the collection system and reduce the cost to landowners by $4,853 per lot. The grant funding comes from the Water Resources Development Act and will cover about 10 percent of the cost of constructing Phase 2’s collection system. A complete funding package has not been secured for Phase 2 but grants from Montana’s Renewable Resource Grant and Loan Pro...
SEELEY LAKE - Next Monday’s meeting of the Seeley Lake Community Council promises to be quite lively: Sewer Board candidates will talk about their views on the project as part of a Sewer Candidates Forum. There are two vacancies on the Board and five candidates running: Tom Morris, Jason Gilpin, Carleen Gonder, Duane Anderson and Kyle Zumwalt. All candidates have indicated that they will attend the Forum, with the exception of Tom Morris, who has a prior engagement. Morris also commented that while he has no problems stating his position, ...
SEELEY LAKE - Missoula County officials have spent more than a half-million taxpayer dollars in the past decade trying to sell a community sewer here in Seeley Lake. Unfortunately, the proposal the sewer board settled on stinks. It does not clean up the shore dwellers’ waste effluent (less than 25 percent of the waterfront properties on the lake and the Clearwater are in the sewer district). It does not protect the watershed. It is REALLY expensive. And it may very well pollute nearly 100 drinking water wells up near the airport where the t...
Following the close of the Special District filing deadline Feb. 10, Seeley Lake Sewer Board is currently the only Special District election that will appear on the May 5 mail-in ballot. However, citizens can apply to be a write-in candidate until March 2. If someone does apply as a write-in candidate, this could trigger an election if there are more candidates than positions. However, their name would not appear on the ballot. The School District filings remain open until March 26. Current candidates for Special Districts (Filing to be listed...
There is a lot riding on upcoming local elections with many opinions being shared on different sides of issues. However there is a lack of candidates. With nearly 30 positions up for election there is currently only eight candidates signed up. If there are not enough candidates most of these positions will be filled either through acclimation or the boards will have to try and find people to appoint to remaining vacancies. That is not a good thing as elections are critical in our system of government. Without elections, boards are often left to...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board had another light agenda Jan. 16 as the District works on final details leading up to the proposed project going to bid. In other business, temporary construction easements were discussed, the Board approved moving three properties to adjacent sub-districts and the Board voted on another section of the District’s by-laws. District Manager Jean Curtiss said the plans for the proposed sewer project are currently waiting for approval from Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ). Uni...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board pushed their final by-laws amendment out another month and spent a significant amount of their Dec. 19 meeting hearing and responding to public comment on a variety of issues. Last month the Board approved the bulk of the updates to their by-laws but excluded an updated section on Duties of the Board. The Board agreed to send that section back to the committee to rework it. District Manager Jean Curtiss provided the board with another draft Duties section for consideration. The committee h...
SEELEY LAKE - This article is to address the common questions the Seeley Lake Sewer District Board has heard regarding the recent mailing. 1. Why did I receive this letter requesting I sign a temporary right of entry for construction? The project is almost ready to go to bid and the Board wanted to get construction easements in place before the contract is awarded. They will bid to connect all existing properties that generate wastewater but will not be able to do the work on personal property without notarized permission. 2. I have more than...
SEELEY LAKE - The so-called “worst case scenario” monthly estimate for the sewer project? Yes, that is the worst case scenario for me, a resident in Phase 1. The following is part of a letter I sent to the Seeley Lake Sewer District Board Sept. 22, 2019. My comments for the Phase 1 sewer proposal: 1. I am not opposed to a sewer system for the business areas. I am opposed to making it mandatory for residences in Phase 1. 2. There must be an equitable way to address residences in Phase 1. 3. I am a single, 73-year-old woman living in a 500 squ...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board hammered out the final details of the Rules and Regulations, approved an opinion of probable cost for operating the system, adopted most of their bylaws revision and discussed a variety of other business at their four and a half hour long Nov. 21 meeting. The new “worst case scenario” monthly estimate is $130.58 plus $2 per 1,000 gallons used for properties assigned one Volume Ratio Unit (VRU), equivalent to a single family house. Rules and Regulations Hearing The Board made minor edits to th...
MISSOULA – District Court Judge Leslie Halligan ruled on a pair of motions from Missoula County and the Seeley Lake Sewer District seeking to dismiss the lawsuit originally filed by Don Larson. The Court Orders granted the County’s request to be dismissed and granted parts of the District’s motion but denied dismissing the entire case against the District. Larson filed the original complaint in June of 2018 and was joined by more than 50 landowners and residents as Plaintiffs in an amended complaint filed on Aug. 31, 2018. The lawsuit makes...
SEELEY LAKE - Sewer District residents have an opportunity to again protest against the proposed sewer project. The District’s engineering firm is asking to schedule meetings with residents to identify septic and line locations assuming incorrectly it has passed muster with residents. If you are opposed to the project DO NOT SCHEDULE an appointment with Great West Engineering. Let the Sewer Board know it needs to look at the alternatives....
Commissioner Josh Slotniks’ suggestion that Seeley Lake create a Business Improvement District suggests a certain naivete, or to use a football metaphor, a rookie mistake. Seeley’s business community seems fine. That we have to commute to Missoula for better prices and cheaper gas is another subject. Mr. Slotnik does not appear to understand the underpinnings of a healthy a rural community. First, most rural residents reside where they live by choice. They do not want the hustle and bustle of a Missoula. Second, any community to prosper needs a...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board discussed their by-laws update, Rules and Regulations and alternatives at their Oct. 17 meeting. By-Laws update Director Beth Hutchinson said she was still frustrated with the edits made by the board’s attorney to the proposed by-laws. She served on a committee with Director Walt Hill and a District resident Rachelle Harman to draft the amendments to the by-laws. She felt that the committee was very careful on how they worded the parts on the purpose of the District, the duties of the boa...
SEELEY LAKE – Workers in orange vests with the letters “BID” on them picking up litter in downtown Missoula prompted Missoula County Commissioner Josh Slotnick to learn a little about Business Improvement Districts (BID). It also led him to ask the question, could a BID be used to benefit Seeley Lake? Slotnick reached out to Seeley Lake Community Council Chair Klaus von Sutterheim who invited him to present the idea at the Oct. 14 Council meeting. While the idea came from a commissioner, forming a BID is entirely a decision of the local prope...
