Sorted by date Results 976 - 1000 of 1188
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...
In response to Elizabeth K. (Betsy) Wood’s letter in the May 25 Pathfinder, the special election was held to replace Ryan Zinke who was in the U.S. House of Representatives not the U.S. Senate. Also, if she would rather have a U.S. Congressman charged with assault versus one who broke a music contract, it appears she got her wish....
The special election to replace Ryan Zinke has generated a lot of talk about what makes “Montana values” and which of the candidates best exemplifies them. This sort of thing opens the door to a multitude of opinions and interpretations, ranging from thoughtful and astute to downright goofy. Place of birth, financial status, religion, education and political philosophy are among the issues put forth as useful criteria. I believe there is a much simpler one. An old saying suggests that a person’s real self is shown not only by what they do bu...
SEELEY LAKE - The recent Blackfoot Clearwater legislation put together by Senator Tester protects some amazing roadless country such as the Monture Creek drainage and the Swan Face among other areas. However, the legislation could do more to benefit Seeley Lake if the proposed mountain biking and snowmobiling were closer to town. The Spread Creek Mountain biking area and the Otastsi snowmobile areas both are in the middle of a roadless area far from Seeley Lake. It’s like building an interstate that by-passes a community and doesn’t create an...
It is with a sense of civic obligation, due to the extremely important nature of the office of United States Senator from Montana, that I write this letter. My concern about the upcoming election to fill Ryan Zinke’s vacant seat centers on candidate Rob Quist. I have worked with a non-profit entertainment presentation group in the Flathead Valley for many years. While we have primarily secured our artists through a national booking agent, we have also always booked a few “local” artists. In the very early spring of 2016, we were conta...
Regarding Montana’s special election, May 25: “Native son” Rob Quist may have been born in Montana but his character hardly represents the qualities that are necessary to represent the majority of the citizens of the great state of Montana. He feels that it is necessary for the United States Government to register all our firearms. He has publicly stated, “If you register your car, why not your firearms?” If elected, he will fall in line with the liberal democrats’ goal of watering down our Second Amendment rights to nothing. It is no secret t...
A lot (perhaps too much) has been said, written and broadcast about the upcoming special race for Montana’s lone Congressional seat on May 25. While I disagree with some of Rob Quist’s positions, and even more so with Gianforte’s views, the race comes down to a single issue in my opinion. Rob Quist is a true Montanan, who has lived among us all his life and encountered many of the difficulties and challenges that the average Montanan faces. Gianforte, on the other hand, is a billionaire, moved from New Jersey, who is now on his second attem...
SEELEY LAKE – A quick “Thank You” to our church family for all the food, cards and visits. Also, we want to thank the community of Seeley Lake and my neighbors for being here for Jon and I. What a caring and thoughtful community we have. God has my life in His hands. Blessings to all of you....
So many people are extremely upset about Governor Bullock’ veto of Senator Regier’s SB97 “Prohibit Application of Foreign Laws in Montana Courts.” How can he veto a bill that passed both the Senate and the House of Representatives? Well, he can because he is the Governor of Montana. If all the Montanans who voted for President Trump would have voted for Greg Gianforte, we would have had Governor Gianforte and SB97 would now have been signed into Montana law. This, ladies and gentlemen, is another example of “Why Elections Matter and Have Cons...
