Sorted by date Results 276 - 300 of 455
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Elementary School Board approved the temporary ice rink on the SLE fields for three years. Superintendent Chris Stout also provided several updates on the new school year. The Board received no more comments on the proposed ice rink. Ice Rink Committee member Gary Swain had no new information about the ice rink to present to the board. He confirmed that all the group was asking for this year was a location that would require a little leveling, sand and temporary boards installed as forms for the rink. Board C...
SEELEY LAKE – At the Sept. 20 meeting, Seeley Lake Sewer District Board President Beth Hutchinson announced the District doesn’t have insurance to cover the lawsuit spearheaded by Don Larson against the District. The board also discussed the uses for a recently received grant, the inter-local agreement with the county and filling the vacancy on the board. The District’s attorney informed the directors that the 17-year-old insurance policy would not be covering the lawsuit. The District has approximately $179,000 in reserves but several thing...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Fire District discussed issues with the billing company and vendors at their Sept. 18 meeting. They also approved a $5,000 raise for Fire Chief Dave Lane. Lane said the District is down 60 calls from last year. This is good because it cuts down on the wear and tear on the vehicles and cuts expenses, however it is a loss of revenue for the District. Lane said he is working on increasing the revenue. He added there are things coming to light with the billing company that need to be addressed to improve the billing ou...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council voted to form a committee to study the future of the Council’s trails committee at the Sept. 10 Council meeting. In June the Council voted to disband the trails committee and hand over responsibility to trail maintenance and improvements to Seeley Lake Regional Outdoor Center for Kinetic Sports (ROCKS) but there is still confusion over what that actually looks like in practice. “Right now there are far more questions than answers,” said ROCKS board president Jim McLean. McLean said one of the b...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board held a public hearing on updating the Preliminary Engineering Report (PER) and Environmental Assessment (EA) for Phase 2 of the collection system Sept. 6. The district is in the process of applying for funding for Phase 2. The hearing was a repeat of a May 3 hearing because one of the funding agencies did not accept how the May hearing was publically noticed. Great West Engineering submitted an application this spring for funds from the Treasure State Endowment Project (TSEP) through...
SEELEY LAKE – The discussion at the Seeley Lake Elementary School Board meeting focused on the proposed ice skating rink and staff changes at their Aug. 21 meeting. The Board will vote on whether to allow a temporary ice rink for this winter at their September meeting. The board received eight letters in favor of the proposed ice rink. Chair Todd Johnson said the only negative comments the board has received is from SLE staff. Organizers for the proposed rink Scott Eggeman and Gary Swain offered more information and answered questions. Swain s...
SWAN VALLEY - Flathead National Forest, Swan Lake District Ranger Chris Dowling was introduced at the Swan Valley Council monthly meeting Aug. 21. Dowling recently replaced newly retired Ranger Rich Kehr. He named ongoing projects in the Swan Valley and answered questions from those in attendance. Dowling discussed four main projects in the Swan: Cold-Jim, Glacier Loon, Beaver Creek and Mid Swan. Based on the objectives for different projects, activities include restoration for forest health, fuel reductions, precommercial thinning and tree...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Fire Board approved the 2018-2019 budget and a pay raise for District Administrator Lynn Richards at their Aug. 21 meeting. Seeley Lake Fire Chief Dave Lane presented the board with next year’s budget. Last year’s budget was $45,000 over in total expenses. They had a surplus of $128,000 and used $45,669 to make up the difference. Lane explained that the District overspent two-thirds of the line items. He eliminated that problem for this year but couldn’t tell the board why it was overspent last year since he was...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District board passed the annual levy of assessments at the Aug. 16 regular board meeting and assessment hearing. In other business, they set a public hearing to correct an issue with a Phase 2 grant application, discussed the resolution the board has been told requires the sewer be constructed and discussed “holes in essential information.” Public comment centered on the project’s schedule and the perception that the board is holding the project up as well as questioning what the voters and landowners had p...
SEELEY LAKE – At a special meeting Aug. 13, the Seeley Lake Sewer District board elected new officers. They also voted to retain Beal Law Firm to defend the district from a lawsuit filed by Seeley Lake resident Don Larson. Beth Hutchinson was elected President and Troy Spence was elected Vice President. The vote on the officers was split with Davy Good going against the nominations while Hutchinson, Spence and Juli Cole voted for the nominations. Director Mike Boltz was not in attendance. Attorney Jon Beal explained the predicament the d...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Elementary School Board hired Robin Gaither as the new kindergarten teacher and Rachael Bemis as the new second grade teacher to teach the split class for the 2018-2019 school year at a special meeting Aug. 2. Last year’s kindergarten teacher Sheila Devins moved into the open first grade position. “This was probably one of the strongest candidate pools that we have had in the [nearly 11] years I’ve been doing it,” said SLE Superintendent Chris Stout. “I think the interview committee can attest to the fact that w...
SWAN VALLEY - At their regular meeting July 17, the Swan Valley Community Council heard discussion about where and how to go about securing a suitable location for a local shooting range. The council also considered public comments on the final draft plan. They finished with Element One entitled Natural Resources and Environment and nearly all of Element Two entitled Economic Opportunity. Chair Ken Donovan told those present that he heard complaints from those living near Cold Creek Road that people were firing guns close to their living...
SEELEY LAKE – The Staffing for Adequate Fire & Emergency Response (SAFER) Grant and hiring of interim maintenance position were the main topics of discussion at the Seeley Lake Fire Board meeting July 17. Chief Dave Lane informed the board that President Trump did not approve the SAFER Grant for this year. The grant was created to provide funding directly to fire departments and volunteer firefighter interest organizations to help them increase or maintain the number of trained, “front line” firefighters available in their communities. The g...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council considered revisiting the speed limits on Highway 83 as it passes through town and voted to endorse the proposed Seeley Lake sewer project at its July 9 meeting. Council member Bruce Friede made a motion for the council to consider requesting the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) to reinstate the previous speed limits through Seeley Lake and instead take different measures to deal with speed and pedestrian issues. The speed limits were lowered based on the council’s recommendations in t...
SEELEY LAKE - There are consequences to inaction as well as action. In Seeley Lake we know we have a problem. Chemicals harmful to our health are just under our feet, in the groundwater under our town. Our wells are there too. A lake is next door. So far, it’s been left up to us to do something about it. People who work for us, mostly county employees, have helped us understand the size and scope of the problem and reviewed options. To slow the growth of the problem, those hired to protect us, in this case the County Health Department, have s...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District held its regular board meeting June 21 where three newly elected Directors started laying out their vision for the district's direction. They received a manager's report, took care of regular monthly business of approving minutes and paying the bills and learned of a new $500,000 grant the district has received. The meeting began with a short-lived power struggle. Board President Mike Boltz was absent and the vice president position was left vacant after the May election. Director Beth Hutchinson...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District received an ultimatum June 21 from Rural Development (RD): Update the district’s construction schedule within 30 days or RD will “very pointedly assign a schedule.” The meeting was the first regular meeting where three newly elected directors were seated. The district received a letter from RD outlining a couple of concerns including change to the overall budget and scheduling of the proposed sewer and collection system. RD Area Specialist Dan Johnson was in attendance to help answer questions regard...
SEELEY LAKE- The Seeley Lake Elementary School Board met Thursday, June 21 to discuss the proposed ice skating rink location as well as changes being made over the summer to make the school a safer place during emergencies. Gary Swain, member of the ice rink committee, and Jim McLean, president of the Seeley Lake Regional Outdoor Center for Kinetic Sports (ROCKS), asked the board to make a decision regarding their proposal for an ice rink on the grounds of Seeley Lake Elementary school. The first phase of the project would be to construct a sma...
SWAN VALLEY - The Swan Valley Community Council considered public comments and voted to accept minor changes to the Swan Valley Draft Plan at their regular meeting June 19. In attendance was Missoula County Commissioner Dave Strohmaier who offered suggestions and assistance to the SVCC. SVCC members voted to keep the original wording in several sections of the first element, Natural Resources and Environment, after considering public comments. However, they voted to eliminate section 1.13 entitled Noise from the draft plan and retained only...
SEELEY LAKE - A special meeting for the Seeley Lake Sewer District, June 19, was thrown into disarray with a mistake made in the agenda and further confusion created by the district’s outdated bylaws. The first item on the agenda was “District Election.” Newly elected Director Beth Hutchinson explained that the purpose of that item was to elect the board’s president and vice president. District Secretary Felicity Derry apologized, saying that she thought the agenda item was to swear in the new directors and therefore labeled it “Distri...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Fire Board learned about the new Type 6 Fire Engine purchase and others by the District at their June 19 meeting. They also approved full payment for employees' health insurance premium and considered a new insurance agent. Fire Chief Dave Lane purchased a new Type 6 fire engine for $48,995. It is a 2007 Ford F-550 two-ton, six-speed manual transmission with four doors. The truck has 98,000 miles. It also has a 225-gallon water tank with foam capability. Lane d...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council moved on June 11 to award the responsibility of trail maintenance and improvements to Seeley Lake Regional Outdoor Center for Kinetic Sports (ROCKS) and disband the council’s trail committee. Council member Lee Boman was asked to see if any local organizations had an interest in taking over the work of the trails committee. Boman said that of the three organizations with whom he communicated, all expressed support for the project but only ROCKS expressed interest in taking a leadership role. ...
SEELEY LAKE – The Seeley Lake Fire Board approved $50,000 for the purchase of a used Type 6 Wildland Fire Engine at a special meeting June 13. Fire Chief Dave Lane took the Department’s Type 6 engine 716 out of service earlier this spring after noticing it had several fractures in the frame. One of the fractures was at the rear shackle. “That is a huge safety issue,” said Lane. He said the frame would need to be replaced, making it not cost effective to fix. Vice Chair Gary Lewis said that the frame can be welded but then it will not meet th...
POTOMAC - Resignations, the contract with the Potomac Greenough Community Center (PGCC) and Explorers funding were the main topics of discussion at the Potomac School Board meeting June 11. With five resignations at the end of this school year, Potomac School administration is filling staff positions. Custodian Randy Ruff, Explorers Coordinator and Supervisor Crissina Quinn and teachers Raynee Pace, Starla Dugger and Kristy Pohlman resigned. Pace accepted a teaching position near Bozeman and Pohlman and Quinn accepted teaching positions in Seel...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District Board held a special meeting May 24 where board President Mike Boltz threatened to file for an injunction to keep newly elected board members from derailing the sewer project. In other business, the board passed a resolution to accept an Environmental Assessment instead of having to go through a full Environmental Impact Statement. The assessment was required for the district to apply for funding from the Treasure State Endowment Program (TSEP) for Phase 2 of the collection system. In the May 8...
