Page 14 - Flathead Beacon // 4.13.16

NEWS
CITY BEAT
KALISPELL
Steering Committee to Recommend Three New Schools, $61 Million Bond
After nine months of studying and debating an array of options, a commit- tee of school teachers, sta and commu- nity members has arrived at a solution for Kalispell’s crowded and outdated ele- mentary district.
The planning committee last week reached a consensus recommendation to build two new elementary schools and a new middle school, along with addi- tional maintenance and remodeling that would cost all together an estimated $61.2
million. Committee members will present their recommendation to the Kalispell School District 5 Board of Trustees at a meeting in May or June, according to Mark Flatau, Kalispell schools superintendent.
The school board will vote whether to follow the recommendation and seek voter approval of a bond in the fall.
If approved, the district would build one of the elementary schools and the middle school at a 25-acre property on Airport Road on the south end of Kalis- pell. The district purchased the prop- erty in 2014 after voters approved the $420,000 acquisition, which was made
with funds from a savings account.
The other elementary school would be built on a new piece of property the dis- trict is seeking to acquire o White sh
Stage Road.
By building two new elementary sites
and a middle school, the district would address a swelling student population that hit a record 3,018 kids at ve schools this fall. Kalispell Middle School, with nearly 1,100 students, is the lone middle school in town and the largest in Montana.
Administrators in the Somers-Lake- side district are still deciding whether they would send an estimated 160-180
“It’s part of the community and we’ve received a lot of comments about its importance to the citizens of Bigfork,” he said. “Those will absolutely be taken into consideration during this study.”
For more information, visit www.mdt. m t . g o v/ p u b i n v o l v e / b i g f o r k b r i d g e /
FLATHEAD
County Finalizes White sh-area Doughnut Zoning
After nearly a decade of meetings, confrontations, litigation, mailings, and countless conversations, the area of land around White sh known as the doughnut is o cially under Flathead County’s zon- ing control.
The Flathead County Commission voted on April 7 to nalize its decision to create the rural White sh zoning district, along with the adoption of new texts amendments to the county’s zoning regulations.
The doughnut came under county con- trol after a state Supreme Court decision in 2014. Not long after the court decision, the county enacted interim zoning for the land that was previously zoned under White sh regulations.
Under emergency zoning, the county put in place the zones that matched most closely to those that White sh had put in place while drawing up a new zoning map and text amendments for the area.
During the April 7 hearing, the county planning sta reported that 3,019 land- owners live in the doughnut area, and of those, 55 wrote in to oppose the new zon- ing district.
The commissioners said they were pleased to know a majority of the land- owners approved.
“We’ve done a really good job and a majority of the people up there are ne with what we’re doing,” Commissioner Pam Holmquist said.
Holmquist also touched on the num- ber of hours former Commissioner Jim Dupont spent on the doughnut issue before his death in 2012.
Holmquist said the opposition letters she read did not o er new material, and many were of the copy-and-paste variety.
middle school students to the new site in south Kalispell if it were built. The dis- trict would provide roughly $1 million in state funding to Kalispell for those students.
If voters approve a bond request in fall, the new schools would be the rst elementary sites built in Kalispell since 1987, when Edgerton was established.
Flatau said the district would hold community meetings in the coming months to explain the need for the school additions and remodels.
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She also said the City of White sh sent a “nice letter” about the new zoning dis- trict, with an open o er to set aside di er- ences and work together as both the city and the county move forward.
“We as a board work with anybody who comes before us,” Holmquist said. “We’re open to working with individuals and communities.”
Commissioner Phil Mitchell o ered his thanks for all the work that has been put into this issue in the last eight years, and said the current product with its ve new zoning districts may not be entirely perfect, but everyone involved has done “a hell of a good job changing it over” to the county’s control.
FLATHEAD
Pachyderm Club Spearheads E ort to Draft Public Safety Plan
A community group is working with local law enforcement and justice system representatives to create a public safety plan that will be shared with elected o cials. Pachyderm Club board mem- ber, former Kalispell Police Chief and local state representative Frank Garner said the idea for the plan emerged from a series of public safety presentations the club hosted this year.
The series has included talks from law enforcement, court system representa- tives and even local drug councilors. The series wrap up is being held on April 14 at the Red Lion Inn from 6 to 8 p.m. The evening will feature an hour-long panel discussion with local experts before attendees will be asked to share what they believe are the biggest safety issues in the community. That feedback will then be turned into a public safety plan.
“We don’t want to just be witnesses to what’s happening in our community we want to make it better,” Garner said. “There is no silver bullet to these prob- lems our community faces. A new jail is not going to solve all of our issues, it may be part of a solution, but it won’t solve the drug problem here or the many other issues.”
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NEWS
COUNTY BEAT
The Swan River bridge in downtown Bigfork. BEACON FILE PHOTO FLATHEAD
MDT, County Look to Upgrade Historic Swan River Bridge
The Montana Department of Trans- portation and Flathead County are look- ing to upgrade or possibly even replace an historic iron bridge in Bigfork.
The Swan River Bridge was the sub- ject of an open house at Bigfork Elemen- tary School on April 12, after the Beacon went to press. There, members of the public were able to learn more about the $300,000 feasibility study headed up by MDT and KLJ Engineering.
The one-lane bridge was built in the early 1900s and connects the village of Bigfork to Montana Highway 35. The bridge was added to the National Regis- ter of Historic Places last year.
Ed Page, Missoula district adminis- trator for MDT, said Flathead County approached the department about reviewing the safety and usefulness of the bridge. The bridge is owned by the county and currently has a three-ton load limit.
“There are concerns about the bridge’s structural state,” he said. “Anytime you have 100-year-old bridge you want to
make sure to keep it safe.”
The bridge was built by the A.Y. Bayne
& Company in 1911 and 1912 and cost the county $4,400 to construct. Although some alterations have been made, includ- ing the addition of a sidewalk and new railings, the bridge looks much like it did a century ago. The local e orts to add the bridge to the historic register, which is administered by the National Park Ser- vice, came about in 2014 when the county announced that it was looking to possibly replace the old bridge. In the application to register the bridge, it was noted that the structure is representative of many road bridges built in Montana between 1888 and 1915.
Inclusion on the historic register does not mean the bridge cannot be removed or replaced, but it does mean it is less likely to be altered without community input.
Page said the feasibility study would look at di erent options to repair the bridge or replace it. The study will be completed by the end of the year. Although it’s too early to say what will happen, Page noted the old iron bridge is important to local residents.
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APRIL 13, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM