Seeley Lake Community Council
SEELEY LAKE – At their March 14 meeting, the Seeley Lake Community Council reviewed the new template from Missoula County for community councils, received updates on the Seeley Lake Ranger District and discussed the next steps regarding the RV Dump Station at Clearwater Junction.
Missoula County Community and Planning Services Office Manager Laurie Hire presented the April 2021 by-laws template for community councils in Missoula County. She recommended the Council review these and update their by-laws since they have not been changed since the Council was formed in 1987. While there is nothing that the Council has done operationally that violates state law, there have been many changes and this will help them stay current.
While the template is pretty straightforward, Hire highlighted some of the big changes. The April 2021 revision removed the county policy section and instructs councils to refer to the Council Handbook where County policies will continue to be updated.
They have added the option for alternate council members, who would be elected members and removed term limits. On the Seeley Lake Community seven-member Council, there will no longer be a commissioner appointed position. They are now all elected.
They added a section on communications to provide more guidance on communications from the Council members and emails. Since Councils are only advisory to the Commissioners and have no authority to advise, they must provide all comments with outside agencies to the Commissioners for approval.
“Since you are a branch of county government, we want to make sure the Commissioners understand the position you are taking and can incorporate it into the position they are taking,” Hire said. “We’ve found that every now and then there is a difference of opinion that just get things very complicated from an agency end when they are getting mixed messages from the Council and the County Commissioners. That is something we need to avoid at all costs.”
The Council will discuss revising their by-laws at a future meeting. To review the template visit https://www.seeleylake.com/home/customer_files/article_documents/bylawstemplate2021.pdf
In his update, Seeley Lake District Ranger Quinn Carver reported the Lolo National Forest is hoping to start scoping for the Highway 83 logging project by the end of March. Prescribed burning this spring will focus on the West Side Bypass area.
The District is also gearing up for summer. They have full fire, trail and recreation crews that will be starting in a month. The local campgrounds are scheduled to open Friday, May 27 for the summer.
Council Secretary Tom Browder said there has been no response from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks on the RV Dump Site at Clearwater Junction. He feels that letters and calls from members of the public and businesses to FWP would be helpful. Following the meeting Browder identified reaching out to: Randy Arnold, FWP Regional Supervisor: rarnold@mt.gov, 406-542-5504; Loren Flynn, FWP Park Management Specialist: lflynn2@mt.gov, 406-542-5517 and Ryan Sokoloski, FWP Park Manager, rsokoloski@mt.gov, 406-677-6804
The Council will also invite Arnold to speak at next month’s Council meeting.
The Council will host a candidate forum at their April 11 meeting. They are inviting candidates for the Seeley Lake Fire District that is the only special District on the May 3 Mail-in ballot. They are also hoping to invite the Missoula County Commissioner candidates and other candidates that will appear on the ballot in the June 7 primary.
Visit the Seeley Lake Community Council Facebook page for the full recording.
The April meeting will be held at 6 p.m. April 11. Follow the Seeley Lake Community Council Facebook page for location, virtual access information and agendas.
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