MISSOULA – At public hearing Sept. 5, the Missoula County Commissioners unanimously approved Resolution 2019-106 due to insufficient protest. The resolution changed the boundaries of the Rural Special Improvement District 282 around Lindbergh Lake and levied the RSID 282 property owners $73,176.29 to maintain the Lindbergh Lake bridge.
The RSID 282 was created Jan. 12, 1978 for the purpose of constructing a bridge across the Swan River at the outlet of Lindbergh Lake. There was no termination date set for RSID 282 and Missoula County owned the bridge infrastructure.
Although 73 percent of the landowners in RSID 282 petitioned the Commission to transfer the bridge ownership to the Lindbergh Lake Homeowners Association, their request was declined in February, 2018. The Commission also adopted Resolution 2018-024, resolving that the whole cost of maintaining, preserving and repairing the bridge should be paid by the owners of the property in RSID 282 and Missoula County Public Works Department would oversee and perform all maintenance and preservation of the bridge.
At their July 10, 2019 meeting, the Missoula County Commissioners adopted Resolution 2019-106 to maintain the bridge crossing the Swan River by assessing property owners in RSID 282 and changing the boundaries of the district to include properties that benefit from the bridge and remove others that do not.
Property owners within RSID 282 had until Aug. 20 to protest either the assessment and/or the boundary changes. Fifty percent of the landowners needed to protest to let the resolution fail.
Due to a recent subdivision there are now 116 lots. The County counted all the protest by tax parcels and all of those lots or parcels that were conveyable independently, if there were more than one property on one tax bill they counted it both ways.
The clerk received 45 protests, 39 percent, for the tax parcels and 54 protests, 42 percent, for the 129 conveyable parcels. After invalid protests were eliminated, the percentage dropped to 28 percent for both tax parcels and conveyable parcels.
At the Sept. 5 meeting Deputy County Attorney John Hart recommended changing the assessment method for the bridge improvements. Instead of paying by the square foot of property, which was how they were assessed in 1978, Hart spread the assessment equally across all parcels in the District. Each parcel will pay a one time assessment on their November 2020 tax bill of $636.22. This one time payment eliminates the need for a bond and subsequent interest payments.
Several Lindbergh Lake residents commented at the hearing. While all were in support of maintaining the bridge, concerns were expressed about the bridge ownership, notification of the protest and the deadline, and assessment method.
Many residents expressed concern that making it a public bridge may also confer public status of the road on the south side of the bridge.
Vice President of the Lindbergh Lake Homeowners Association Clark Taylor asked the commissioners to allow the LLHOA to repair the bridge and avoid language in the resolution that conveys ownership of the bridge.
Hart clarified that Resolution 2018-084 resolved that the bridge is a county bridge. However, there is not language in Resolution 2019-106 that addresses the ownership of the bridge.
Hart didn’t think that the status of the road on the south side of the bridge is relevant to the discussion about Resolution 2019-106. There is no requirement in the RSID statue to determine the status of the roads leading up to the bridge. The road leading to the bridge on the north is a county road.
Hart said the proper form for determining the status of the road is in District Court. He did not feel it was appropriate for Missoula County to speak for other stakeholders that have a vested interest in the South Lindbergh Lake Road for access to Jocko Trail 34.
Taylor restated his concern about having a county structure abut a private parcel. This could potentially overburden individual property owners’ easements should a significant subdivision or development occur. There are also ecological impacts since the area is in the grizzly lynx zone.
“It is the position of Missoula County, it is a county bridge,” said Commission Chair Dave Strohmaier. “The RSID resolution is separate from the earlier resolution that does talk about the ownership of the bridge. The resolution we are looking at today does not. We are not going to go back two years and amend some resolution that a previous commission adopted.”
One landowner said he felt that the assessment method is unfair, especially for the small lots with one dwelling and no potential to build. He felt the assessment should be against buildable lots not plated lots.
Hart said the RSID statue does not talk in buildable versus non-buildable lots. It talks in lots, tracts or parcels and those terms are not defined. He said they don’t have the capacity to assess each lot for its build-ability and he tried to be fair.
Strohmaier said the staff did “their level best to make this as equitable as possible, which is better than the square footage approach.”
Strohmaier and Commissioner Josh Slotnick recommended property owners should pursue determining the status of South Lindbergh Lake Road to gain some finality.
Missoula County Commissioners voted 3-0 to change the boundaries of RSID 282 and assess the landowners for the maintenance of the bridge.
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