Sewer Board Power Struggle Continues

SEELEY LAKE - The Seeley Lake Sewer District’s regular board meeting July 19 plunged in and out of chaos as Board President Mike Boltz duked it out with the three newly elected Directors Beth Hutchinson, Troy Spence and Juli Cole. The three accused Boltz of abusing his power as president and attempted to adjourn the meeting. Boltz hurled threats of legal action to remove them from the board and refused to allow them to add items to the agenda.

After 25 minutes of public comment Spence moved to adjourn the meeting. Cole seconded the motion and Hutchinson immediately “called the question.” She said that adjournment motions are not discussed, only voted on.

Boltz ended a short discussion on what “calling the question” meant by refusing to allow the motion to be voted on.

“I don’t believe you have the power to do it and so, no, I’m not going to stop this meeting. There is no reason to stop it,” said Boltz.

Boltz then threatened the three that if they didn’t move the sewer forward he would use the courts to remove them from the board.

Hutchinson asked if, since Boltz started discussing the adjournment, he would like to discuss it. Boltz refused reiterating that there was nothing to discuss because they were not going to vote on it or stop the meeting.

“Mike [Boltz], you are not god. There are rules and you have been ignoring them,” said Hutchinson.

Boltz replied that they didn’t have the power to adjourn the meeting and if Hutchinson didn’t like it she should hire a lawyer. Hutchinson said that, as elected representative of the district, they absolutely have the power to do it.

Hutchinson stood up and said she was excusing herself from the meeting. Missoula County Commissioner Jean Curtiss, who was in the audience, interrupted and asked Hutchinson to explain why she wanted to adjourn the meeting with so much left on the agenda. Hutchinson replied that she would be happy to. Boltz said he didn’t want to waste people’s time but didn’t interrupt a brief statement by Hutchinson before she left.

“I am not going to suffer abuse from an individual who won’t follow the law,” said Hutchinson

Hutchinson added that Boltz had refused to accept any items for the agenda that she had sent.

The agenda items that Hutchinson had sent were publicly posted earlier in the week and then were taken down and a new agenda was reposted as an “amended” agenda. Nine actions and discussion items requested by Hutchinson were removed from the agenda including revising by-laws, electing board officers, reviewing and updating construction schedule among others.

Cole said she though that all the Directors were able to contribute to the agenda. Boltz agreed. Spence questioned if that was so, why had the agenda been altered. Spence offered to read the email Boltz sent to Hutchinson stating otherwise. Boltz claimed that the letter was private and demanded that it not be read.

The email had been forwarded to the Pathfinder and starts out “Hi Beth, you have no right to set agenda for the meeting.”

In the email Boltz also accused Hutchinson, Spence and Cole of holding meetings in private, told Hutchinson she had no right to run the last board meeting and informed Hutchinson that she has no right to contact Rural Development (RD). Boltz ended the letter stating, “I have informed Greg [Robertson], Dan [Johnson of RD] and Kim [Myre] to disregard your requests.”

At last month’s meeting, RD gave the district 30 days to update the construction schedule that was already six months behind. Hutchinson contacted RD and requested an extension so that it could be discussed at the next board meeting.

Hutchinson wasn’t the only one Boltz took issue with contacting people outside meetings. He accused Spence of trying to cancel the health department attending the meeting. Spence said he called to ask who invited them, not cancel them. Boltz told Spence that he didn’t have the right to contact anyone.

Cole brought the discussion back to the agenda. She said she had received an email from Missoula County Public Works Seeley Lake Projects and Operations Coordinator Kim Myre requesting the Directors to email any agenda items they wanted to add.

Myre said that the procedure has been for years to send those requests directly to the Board President, Boltz. Cole was frustrated that agenda items were sent and posted and then removed. She questioned why nobody told the new board members of the procedure.

“There was a reason why most of this stuff was taken out of the [agenda], it was because it was irrelevant, it was illegal and it didn’t need to be addressed,” said Boltz

Cole didn’t think Boltz should get to pick and choose what he wanted.

In other business, the board voted to have a public hearing after the Aug. 16 regular meeting for the board to hear comment on the annual assessment. The proposed assessment for next year is the same as it has been for the last several years. The hearing will be at 6 p.m. at the Seeley Lake Community Hall.

Myre addressed RD’s request for a schedule saying that she thought District Manager Greg Robertson had taken care of the new construction schedule and sent it to RD already but a new schedule was not available at the meeting.

Missoula County Environmental Health Director Shannon Therriault delivered a letter from the Missoula City-County Board of Health urging the sewer board to move forward with the proposed sewer project.

The letter said the proposed sewer is an excellent way to address the elevated nitrates in the groundwater under town. Nitrates have been measured above or close to the state standard of 10mg/L. Nitrates can cause damage to the lake by causing rampant algae growth and can be harmful to drink.

The letter explains that due to the elevated nitrates a Special Management Area was formed and no new or increased septic use is permitted on property within the area. The letter states that if the sewer project does not move forward the Health Board will have to evaluate other measures to reduce the nitrates in the groundwater.

Possible solutions may require individual advanced treatment systems when existing systems fail, require working systems to be replaced by advanced systems or require the community hook to a centralized sewer. These other options may not have the funding levels that the currently proposed system has.

Curtiss, who also sits on the Health Board, said that the Linda Vista area in Missoula had water quality issues in the 1990s. The county worked to get them grants but the residents turned down the funding. When Linda Vista was forced to connect to a sewer they had to pay for it themselves.

Curtiss said the county has invested a lot into the Seeley sewer project including having a lobbyist in Washington D.C., lending the district Greg Robertson as a manager for $1 per year and providing other resources.

“You’ve got millions of dollars ready to serve this. It is for an engineered solution to your problem. It is not time to come in and say ‘What’s wrong with this and can we do it another way,’” said Curtiss.

Curtiss added that if the project moves forward, it will be several years before anyone starts getting billed for the sewer and in that time extra funding can be found to reduce the costs.

While several residents in the audience also urged the board to move the project forward, not everyone was supportive. Landowner Doug Hadnot said he supports the three new board members and their review of the project to see if there really is a problem and if the proposed sewer is the best solution.

Hadnot said that senior citizens and mill workers primarily occupy the rental property he owns in Seeley. They cannot afford $100 per month increase in rent. He also said that with the voters voting down the project in 2016 and then voting in three new board members in May, he felt that the community is supportive of them too.

Boltz argued that the elections have not been for or against the sewer project, but only for how to fund it. He stated that the sewer would be built.

Former sewer board member Bob Skiles added that during the notice and protest 60 percent of landowners supported the project by not protesting the assessment. He also said that rent shouldn’t go up a $100 per month on an apartment because the building would only be charged for one hookup. So to say that everyone in the building would be paying $100 more wasn’t right.

The next regular board meeting is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. Aug. 16 at the Seeley Lake Community Hall. The public hearing on the annual assessment will follow the regular meeting.