Sorted by date Results 351 - 375 of 455
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee edited the Public Facilities and Services, the sixth element, and reviewed the final Implementation element of the draft growth plan at their Oct. 18 and Oct. 25 meetings. At the Oct. 25 meeting, the committee accepted edits to the remaining sections of the sixth elements except for the section entitled Parks and Recreation, pending edits from appropriate sources in Missoula County. They also addressed the goals, policies and actions of the sixth element. The Public Facilities and Servic...
SEELEY LAKE – After the Seeley Lake Fire District Board heard accolades from those that worked with Seeley Lake Fire Chief Bob Vanden Heuvel and district volunteers during the Rice Ridge Fire, Vanden Heuvel resigned effective immediately at the board meeting Oct. 17. The board will meet with the county attorney and human resources staff to determine the next steps since several questions on the agenda were left unanswered. During public comment, Missoula County Commissioner Jean Curtiss, District Board Member Rita Rossi and Greenough/Potomac V...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board was informed at their Oct. 19 board meeting that the assessment methodology was changed to using equal assessments. The timeline for the notice and protest period has been set. In other business the board accepted a new inter-local agreement with the county and was updated on water testing results. District Manager Greg Robertson said he reevaluated the assessment methodology after the last meeting. Previously he had been instructed to come up with a method that would charge businesses a...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council got back on schedule with their meeting Oct. 9. It was the first meeting since the spring after all of the summer meetings were canceled due to lack of quorum or the Rice Ridge Fire. The council was given an update on county activities from Missoula County Commissioner Jean Curtiss. Sheriff T.J. McDermott discussed the departure of Deputy Mike Sunderland from Seeley Lake and the search for his replacement. Two new members were sworn onto the council and the council reorganized its leadership....
POTOMAC – The Potomac School Board heard public concerns and addressed regular items including reports and the principal’s plan at their Oct. 9 meeting. During public comment a letter from a community member was read raising concerns about volunteer positions at the school and sport policies. In some sports, volunteer coaches have been told they are not to coach anymore because staff will be used as coaches. Other concerns included the new bus policy where parents and siblings are not to ride to or from games anymore on the busses due to liabil...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board refused to answer questions brought by the public at their Sept. 21 meeting. Also at the meeting the board was updated by their manager on the status of funding and progress toward the next step. The district also voted to retain an attorney and discussed their inter-local agreement with the county and the health department’s refusal to pay for water testing. During “Public Comment,” Don Larson asked who made the decision and what the rational was behind using the Seeley Lake Regional Plan...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Elementary School Board of Trustees discussed how to make up the four days of school missed due to the Rice Ridge Fire, teacher bonuses and enrollment at their Sept. 19 meeting. Superintendent Chris Stout said that most of the people he talked to felt it would be easier to tack the four days on the end of the year rather than trying to make up days throughout the year or adding time to each day. If days were added throughout the year it would most likely cut into teacher training days and/or spring break. Adding...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board voted at a special board meeting Sept. 14 to accept Rural Development’s (RD) new conditions for funding that includes an extra $1 million in grants and $1.3 million in loans. The extra funding to cover the increase in construction estimates for Phase I of the collection system and the treatment plant brings the funding package to a total of $15.6 million. Board member Bob Skiles questioned if Manager Greg Robertson had reviewed the letter. Robertson was not at the meeting but Robertson had s...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee worked through the final sections of the Housing Element and completed the Transportation Element of the Growth Plan at their meeting Sept. 13. The SVRPC addressed the goals, policies and actions of the fourth element entitled Housing. The committee voted to change the word “ensure” to “support” having adequate housing now and in the future in the first goal. They voted to accept the edit to the second goal which referred to adding affordable housing in the new development review...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board held their annual assessment hearing after their board meeting Aug. 17. The assessment uses the same methodology as the previous year and charges commercial and vacant property based on square footage of the lots while properties with dwelling units are charged a flat rate of $79.85. Don Larson, representing the Committee for Sensible Wastewater Solutions, presented a petition protesting the annual assessment. Larson said that in just couple of hours he had collected around 50 signatures protes...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board was informed at their monthly meeting, Aug. 17 that this fall’s planned notice and protest might be delayed. The Board’s public outreach meetings scheduled for Aug. 23 and Sept. 21 will go on as planned. Residents at the meeting took the opportunity to ask questions during public comment. District Manager Greg Robertson explained that the notice and protest period cannot happen until they receive a status on the district’s most recent application for additional funding. The application to Rural...
SWAN VALLEY - The Housing Element, the fourth of seven elements of the Swan Valley Growth Plan, was addressed and edited at the Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee meeting Aug. 16. The committee completed six sections of the element. The committee discussed the addition to the opening paragraph of the fourth element. The original wording said that the market price of housing has surpassed the ability of many residents to own or rent. Many communities have established programs to help close the gap which can be important to the economic deve...
SEELEY LAKE- The Seeley Lake Elementary School Board of Trustees hired a teacher and approved the 2017-18 budget at their Aug. 16 meeting. They were also updated on several topics ranging from preschool funding and the SLE Outside store, to firefighters using the school, a new website and resurfacing of the parking lot. Stout said the Rice Ridge Fire incident management team using the school will be moved out around Aug. 23. That should give the school time to get ready for the students to return Sept. 5. The school parking lot resurfacing has...
SWAN VALLEY - The Land Use Element was completed at the Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee meeting Aug. 2. The committee deleted and reworded text in the Goals, Policies and Actions sections of the third of the seven elements to the draft Swan Valley Regional Growth Plan. The committee began with four through seven statements of the Goals section. They accepted them as originally written. In the Policies section, the SVRPC voted to accept the seven policies with a change in verbiage to number three. The committee wanted the third policy...
SEELEY LAKE - Residents bombarded the Seeley Lake Sewer District (SLSD) Board with questions and comments at the board’s July 20 meeting. The “public comment” period dominated the meeting taking up three quarters of the 80-minute meeting. Topics ranged from the pending protest period to goose poop in the lake to McDonald’s coming to town. The meeting got off to a tense start when resident Don Larson asked Board President Mike Boltz when the letter of intent to incur indebtedness would be sent out. District Manager Greg Robertson started...
SWAN VALLEY - Jim Nave, Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation deputy regional manager, provided information about how to file a claim for exempt water rights filed before July 1, 1973 at the July 18 Swan Valley Community Council. Swan Lake District Ranger Rich Kehr also gave an update on the Flathead National Forest Plan and other district activities. According to the DNRC website, House Bill 110, passed in the 2017 session of the 65th Legislature, requires the DNRC to notify all property owners in Montana about their...
SEELEY LAKE- The Seeley Lake Elementary School Board of Trustees received several updates regarding staff changes, SLE Outside, the new scoreboard, parking lot paving and preschool funding at their meeting July 18. One of the first orders of business was a letter of resignation from Andrew Wyatt. Superintendent Chris Stout will make his replacement recommendations at the next meeting. At the next meeting, Stout will also provide an update on the SLE Outside store. Stout stated that it is his tentative plan for the store to vacate its current...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee continued to work through the Land Use element of the draft growth plan. They also agreed to have the document ready to submit to the Missoula County Commissioners by Nov. 1 at their meeting July 12. The SVRPC agreed to review the numbers and charts included in the first two paragraphs of the Land Use Element’s section entitled Vacant, Unencumbered Parcels by Acreage at a later date. The chart refers to the number of vacant lots that vary from less than one acre to more than 80 acres. T...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Elementary School board accepted principal Chris Stout and his committee’s recommendation for new hires to fill the open third-fifth grade and junior high teaching positions for the 2017-2018 school year. They also voted to hire a secretary to replace Karen Anderson who retires in August and contract with Seeley Lake Elementary for the district clerk and business manager positions for one year at their meeting June 29. Stout read three letters he received in reference to the hiring committee’s recommendation to...
SWAN VALLEY – What started as a conversation about the economy among Swan Valley residents ended with nearly a dozen people focusing on restoration and renovation of the arena grounds. This was one of the three action teams that started taking small steps towards a sustainable economy for the valley. The Swan Valley First, hosted by the Swan Valley Community Foundation, brought more than 50 people from the area together for the meeting. Dan Clark and Blake Christensen from the Local Government Center at Montana State University led the m...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee voted to add appendices to the draft growth plan at their meeting June 14. The committee also discussed and edited three sections of the Land Use Element. Despite Chair Ken Donovan’s objection to including appendices in the draft plan, he and the rest of the committee voted to include appendices. Donovan was concerned it would make the document redundant. Committee member Diann Ericson compiled the additions to the appendices from text the committee eliminated from the draft plan. E...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee (SVRPC) addressed the remaining paragraphs of the Asset Based Approach to Future Development section of the Land Use Element in the draft growth plan May 24. They tabled the final paragraph of the section until the next meeting which deals with natural resources and residential densities. Residents also shared their thoughts about the process of editing the draft plan. The committee unanimously accepted Colleen Dowdall’s edits to the third paragraph of the section. They agreed to r...
POTOMAC - The Potomac School Board discussed school operations, curriculum, safety, staff and technology at their May 8 meeting. John Rouse was hired as the new principal replacing Angie Williams. Starla Dugger will start next year as the special education teacher replacing Kristina Burtch. Eighth grade teacher Damian Gaglia reported on graduation, June 7. The students are planning the majority of the evening, according to Gaglia. “This is their last say on their Potomac legacy,” he said. During the meeting, student Buzzy Bennett reported on...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee (SVRPC) made a little progress editing two paragraphs in the Land Use element of the draft document at the May 10 meeting. Committee members also discussed adding an appendix to the document to supply further information and decided on officers for the coming year. The committee finished the section entitled Regulatory Framework with all committee members but one accepting two sentences in the last paragraph of the original draft. It reads “As set forth in the judgment handed down by t...
SEELEY LAKE – The Missoula County Public Schools (MCPS) Board of Trustees recognized trustee Debbie Dupree for her 15 years of service at their April 25 board meeting at Seeley-Swan High School (SSHS). They also took public comment that included a request for drivers’ education in Seeley Lake. MCPS Board Chair Marcia Holland and MCPS Superintendent Mark Thane recognized Dupree for her service on the board on behalf of the board, the community and the students of SSHS. She received a gift from the board and everyone in attendance enjoyed cak...
