SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Community Council (SLCC) finalized their proposal for safety improvements on Highway 83 and voted to submit it to the Missoula County Commissioners (MCC) for approval at their Oct. 12 meeting. The snow plowing on Grizzly Drive and the Missoula County Public Schools (MCPS) bond were also discussed.
The traffic safety proposal includes reducing speeds to as low as 25 mph downtown and expanding speed zones south to mile marker 11 (Poverty Flats) and north to the Base Camp Bar. Passing zones near Big Larch Campground, along the golf course and on Poverty Flats would be eliminated.
The proposal requests four crosswalks across Highway 83 with pedestrian activated flashing lights in addition to the standard markings. Four secondary street crosswalks are also included in the proposal.
A merge lane is included for the south-bound lane of Highway 83 for trucks entering from Boy Scout Road.
The full 119-page proposal can be found on the SLCC website: http://www.seeleylakecommunitycouncil.com/traffic.html
The council is hoping the commissioners will endorse the project and forward it to the Montana Department of Transportation.
In other business, the council discussed the end of county maintenance on Grizzly Drive and Cub Lane in Dogtown.
This summer the county announced that they could not legally spend road fund money on the roads without an easement from the state. The Department of Natural Resources & Conservation feels it cannot give the county easements without full market value being paid based on laws that govern the school trust lands.
The impasse has left residents facing the coming winter with no snowplowing.
Council member Klaus von Stutterheim announced that he and Council Chair Chris Stout took it upon themselves, as private citizens, to find the funding to pay the county for snowplowing for one year. They felt that a temporary fix was needed to take care of the residents until a permanent solution could be reached.
Stout and Von Stutterheim planned to ask the Seeley Lake Community Foundation for the $3,000 the county estimated for snowplowing.
Members of the public in attendance questioned why they were not going to put it out to bid for private contractors. Von Stutterheim explained that to get on the county road schedule they had to commit before the SLCC meeting. They made the decision to go with the county, who has been maintaining the roads for decades. The funding they were seeking is not public and there would be no bidding required.
Other members of the public were concerned that the county would end maintenance on other area roads if a precedent was set that private individuals would pick up the slack.
At their Oct. 13 meeting, the Seeley Lake Community Foundation (SLCF) committed partial funding of $2,000 to snowplowing. Von Stutterheim told the Pathfinder after the SLCF meeting that he had not talked to Stout about how they would come up with the remaining $1,000.
MCPS Superintendent Mark Thane was on hand to present information and answer questions on school bond that is up for election.
The $70 million MCPS high school bond is for facilities improvements. Seeley-Swan High School (SSHS) would receive $2.2 million in upgrades including roof repairs, new boiler, technology upgrades and a stage.
“Our parents, our grandparents invested in that school [SSHS] to make sure it was there and now its our turn to invest a little bit more to make sure that it is there for kids in the future,” said Missoula County Commissioner Jean Curtiss, speaking as a citizen.
Seeley Lake resident Ken Kronsperger expressed his concerns for fixed income residents and questioned the priorities of taxpayer dollars.
“We just passed a bond, I did not because I didn’t vote in favor of it, $42 million dollars prioritized by the county to build ball parks, to build soccer fields, to build Frisbee playing fields. Now all of a sudden you need all this money for the kids?” said Kronsperger.
Thane explained that the county’s recreational bond has nothing to do with the MCPS bond but that he understood that they were asking for a lot.
Kronsperger reminded Thane that the high school bond includes a million dollars in upgrades to the MCPS football and track field.
“You guys are talking real money to a retired guy, so please understand why I’m not tickled to death to say: Here take my money, you spend it better than I do anyway,” said Kronsperger.
“We have a lot of high dollar homes up here and you’re taxing us on the value of our homes. Is some of our money going to go on down to Missoula to improve those schools?” asked resident Carol White.
Thane was unable to answer the question directly but acknowledged that there are pockets of high value homes that will pay more than the average.
The Pathfinder has requested the tax values from the Department of Revenue for the school districts and will include a breakdown in next week’s edition.
The next SLCC meeting will be Nov. 9, 6 p.m. at the Seeley Lake Historical Museum & Visitors Center. Drinks and snacks will be provided starting at 5:30 p.m.
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