Sorted by date Results 963 - 987 of 1183
SEELEY LAKE - I recall the U.S. Forest Service running fire camp operations from the Seeley Lake Elementary three times for local forest fires. The Forest Service pays a fee to rent the facility while the Seeley Lake Elementary School is not in operation. The school gets a little financial shot in the arm and the local school district taxpayer should see those funds go into the facility. Mr. Stout said in a past Pathfinder story that the school has been putting off projects to the facility for 15 years and the parking lot needs to be repaved....
SEELEY LAKE - The five business men on the Seeley Lake Sewer Board and their general manager Greg Robertson, henceforth called B/gm, have now conjured up at least three purposely twisted ways to try to get their sewer proposal past the constituents of the district! First, the B/gm plan to “SHOW SUPPORT” for the sewer by using a reverse technique of not actually proving any measurable support. Under their scheme for an up-coming “Notice and Protest” event, they are requiring a count on solely signed opponents to “prove” that the board has b...
SWAN VALLEY - I am grateful to the Seeley Swan Pathfinder for the opportunity to address a topic under discussion in Swan Valley Regional Planning Committee: the edits to the Swan Valley Regional Plan by Colleen Dowdall. I wish to emphasize that the edits to the Swan Valley Regional Plan by Colleen Dowdall, a Missoula attorney, represent the comments of a local resident. The fact that she rewrote the entire plan does not change the fact that these are the comments of one of the more than 60 written comments that were presented to the Swan...
SEELEY LAKE - Recent information misstated that a “once-in-a-lifetime” grant will pay two-thirds of sewer costs. It won’t. It is only for Phase 1. Later phases 2, 3, and 4 each need to re-apply for any grant money. This should especially concern anyone in Phases 2, 3, and 4. There is no guarantee grant money will be available in amounts large enough to allow construction and reasonable rates. Worse, there are indications to the contrary and a growing chance later phases may be without a sewer but forever ‘on the hook’ paying for Phase 1,...
I would like to extend my heartfelt appreciation and thanks to the Seeley Fire and Ambulance crews for their prompt, courteous and professional response in regard to my emergency call Saturday evening. They were a blessing. In fact, after the incident and I was calm, I was sorry to depart to Missoula to get put back together. I would have preferred to have had them in for dinner and drinks. They helped turn a serious injury into a light-hearted laugh session. Again, thank you to: Shelly, Bob and the other two fellas whose names I never got. I...
SEELEY LAKE - The letters last week on what to do about the proposed sewer project have stirred renewed interest from the community. This is wonderful. The more input from residents the better. Senator Tester just gave the Seeley Lake Sewer District $600,000 which is barely significant considering the overall cost. This will basically finance the political push for the Seeley Lake system and further negate the wishes of most residents. That money could be better spent cleaning up the lakes. One writer stated that the proposed sewer system...
SWAN VALLEY - As a resident of the beautiful Swan Valley, I am deeply disturbed by the Lake County Conservation District’s proposal to transfer the management of 60,000 acres of the Flathead National Forest. The proposal calls for the establishment of a “Conservation Forest” to produce timber revenue for LCCD. This proposal is a direct attack on our public lands and we cannot stand for it in our own backyard. Despite many legal and logistical holes, the lands earmarked for the potential Conservation Forest are disjointed and scattered throu...
SEELEY LAKE - For 28 years I’ve watched the Seeley Lake sewer project tossed around like a yo-yo! I have seen Sewer Board members quit their positions to be replaced with other dreamers. Because of lack of significant grants, the Board has to rely on assessments from the property owners to keep the dream going on. Please, Sewer District people, fight against all future Sewer Board proposals to create ways and schemes to gain funds for Board use. Seeley Lake is not a suitable place for a trial and error project....
SEELEY LAKE - People are asking what a new sewer system will cost the residents of Seeley Lake. Like my friends and neighbors here, I look forward to hearing those details when they’re available. In the meantime, I am writing to talk about the costs of not building a sewer system. As the owner of Rovero’s, I have the pleasure of serving our beautiful community cradled between two mountain wilderness areas and a stunning chain of lakes. As Seeley Lake has grown, so has Rovero’s. Two years ago, my engineers informed me that our heavily used...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer Board distributed a flyer from Lindey’s parking lot during the Fourth of July parade which contained some error in fact and some unsubstantiated assumptions. The Board must work harder to give us accurate information so we sewer district residents can make an intelligent decision. 1. The flyer states a sewer would reduce the cost of housing when in fact it would INCREASE substantially the cost of housing. How can the cost of housing decrease when expenses are increasing? Residents can expect monthly bills wel...
SEELEY LAKE – I think voters voted against the sewer because so many questions were not answered. Like how much would the monthly cost be to users? It was quoted from $50-$192 a month, that is a huge margin. We need definite numbers. Then we were told the other four districts or phases may never be added to the sewer. Then how much would a few of us be paying? I think everyone should be put on at the same time, that way a lot of people are helping to pay for it, not just a few. An even better idea is to have every household in the Seeley L...
It appears that our most recently elected Secretary of State has revised his job description to read, “Persecutor of perceived voter fraud in Missoula County, Montana – only Missoula County.” According to his letter in the Missoulian, Corey Stapleton thinks a single instance of possible fraud constitutes the need for him to make sarcastic, mis-leading statements about the Missoula County Elections Administration’s ability to run an election. Let’s put a few publicly available facts on the table (something Corey failed to do): First, there wer...
SEELEY LAKE - How often have you had someone offer to pay most of the cost for an improvement to your property that will increase property value and help avoid costly upgrades in the future? I’ve never had that experience, but the USDA’s Rural Development fund is offering to pay about two-thirds of the cost of building a sewer system in Seeley Lake. That’s an incredible opportunity for our community. We should take advantage of this large grant and help ensure we remain an extremely desirable place to live and play. Let’s welcome and celebra...
SEELEY LAKE - Seeley Lake is named that for a reason. The lake is a jewel and is the iconic symbol of the town, one of the most important driving forces of the local economy. This wonderful lake is now endangered by pollution from groundwater tainted by the town’s septic systems. There are two options to deal with this: 1. Ignore the problem or 2. Put in a sewer system. The first option is what’s been done so far and the results speak for themselves – expanding oxygen-free “dead zones” in the lake, decreased lake water clarity and restricte...
SEELEY LAKE - This business of the sewer system in Seeley Lake has gotten out of hand. Voters declined to finance it with a bond issue which pretty much indicated our wishes about the system as it stands. The people who are behind this are somehow attempting a financial end run which would accomplish the same thing for their purposes. It would no doubt still saddle property owners with the same financial burden. I own the carwash in Seeley and subsidize it for a significant part of the year. There is the question of how the gray water the...
SEELEY LAKE – Our family and friends have enjoyed living on Seeley Lake for more than 50 years. It is a beautiful location with so many opportunities for year-round recreation and relaxation. The townspeople, shops, churches, restaurants, celebrations and more have endeared us to the community. Eight of our family members have graduated from the University of Montana so living in Seeley Lake was perfect for Griz games and events. Seeley Lake definitely needs a reliable sewer system not only to save our lovely lake from contamination but to a...
SEELEY LAKE - That is the question. Ah…summer at Seeley; sun, sand, swimming, sailing, skiing, surfing and the….sewer. That’s right, all that fun and a big decision too. That is why I have decided to dedicate some of my time this summer to help sort out facts from fiction regarding this important topic. I hope you will do the same. If you are a property owner in the Sewer District, you will have the opportunity to seal the fate of this controversial issue during the month of October. In the meantime, there will be lots of information being...
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer Board continues to ignore district residents’ desire to not pursue a central sewer. It is beyond me how the Board can void a legal election in which we said NO to the sewer project last December. I thought we had to vote on any bond debt we assume...isn’t this taxation without representation? I live in Sub-district 2. That is mostly the lakeshore homes and businesses west of Highway 83N. But I live EAST of the elementary school in (what the Board decided) is one of the lowest income areas of the sewer dis...
SEELEY LAKE - Recent comments published in the Pathfinder were not factually correct regarding the background and future of Seeley Lake’s proposed sewer project. The vote that was held last December was not a referendum on whether there should be a sewer project in Seeley Lake. The vote was only to determine if the bonded debt for the sewer system ($4.488 million) could rely on a particular methodology to handle any default payments that might occur. The failure of that vote simply means that a different course of funding will have to be establ...
SEELEY LAKE - Like many people around here, I choose to live in Seeley Lake to enjoy the abundant outdoor recreation opportunities. Everything from hunting to bird watching is available close to home. I can hike a different trail each day and most often have the entire trail to myself. At the same time, I enjoy the benefits of a community full of small town charm. These values will be enhanced by the construction of a sewer system in Seeley Lake. Right now, the septic systems that lie beneath our homes and businesses are polluting our...
Seventy thousand Montanans would lose their health insurance, more than 20 million nationwide. The bill would be a disaster - especially for rural areas. Hospitals would not be able to recover the costs of emergency treatments for people without insurance and some may have to close. Many services that insurance companies are required to fund like maternal care, prescription coverage, annual physicals, etc. will face elimination from insurance plans. You won’t be able to change jobs if you’re sick, because insurance companies will no longer hav...
The Environmental Protection Agency was created to improve the way our nation dealt with by-products of an advancing culture. To produce the goods and services that we now believe to be necessities, certain waste products are also produced. The proper disposal of these wastes required the establishment of the EPA to level the playing field for all producers, as the added cost was and is significant. Change created the EPA and change is required to maintain its proper role. The Paris Accord was signed for the same reason but precautions to...
SEELEY LAKE - A review of the Sewer Board meeting minutes is revealing. District residents should take the time to Google and read them. Just Google “Seeley Lake Sewer District” and look in the left hand column. Among the revelations are board members, Missoula County Public Works Director Greg Robertson, Citizens Alliance Bank President Gary Miller and retired chemistry professor Walt Hill from Placid Lake all agree “selling” the sewer project to the district residents is their mission and getting the facts right is of paramount importa...
SEELEY LAKE - As most of you may know, the Seeley Lake Sewer Project was legally voted down in December. Why and who said this vote did not stand? However, at the present time, the Seeley Sewer District is still trying to shove this project down our throats. I also want to make it clear that no one in the December election voted more than once on the sewer project, as stated sometime this year in the Pathfinder. I personally talked to the election board in Missoula and they said they went through every ballot to make sure no one voted twice....
SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer Board continues its end-run effort to cancel last fall’s election results. After a solid majority voted “NO” on the $12 million bond issue last December, it is trying to circumvent the law by first shutting the public out of the meeting to discuss the $40 thousand sales effort by a PR firm and second allowing board members to advocate for the failed proposal. If any Sewer District dollars are spent on this new sales effort it should be a public meeting to discuss the strategy and if board members are permi...
