Page 12 - Flathead Beacon // 8.10.16

NEWS
Kalispell Chamber Supports Bond Requests for New School, Upgrades School district to seek $54 million for school upgrades in Oct. 4 ballot election
BY DILLON TABISH OF THE BEACON
The Kalispell Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors is endorsing a pair of bond requests for roughly $54.76 million to build a new elementary facility and renovate the city’s existing schools.
The board, encompassing 21 voting directors, agreed on its show of support on Aug. 1, citing the educational and com- munity-wide bene ts of the two bonds, which will be oated to voters this fall.
“Kalispell Public Schools provide diverse educational opportunities for all students that engages and challenges them, prepares them to be college and career ready, and results in responsible citizens for our community, state and nation,” the board’s resolution stated.
It added, “Good schools are one of the primary considerations in business and personal relocations to Kalispell and the Flathead Valley.”
Kalispell Public Schools is seeking two bonds this fall to address overcrowding and deferred maintenance. The elemen- tary district was over capacity by 219 stu- dents last year.
The mail-in ballot election is slated for Oct. 4. Ballots go out in September.
Voters in the Kalispell elementary district, which spans city limits and the surrounding area, will decide whether to approve a roughly $26 million bond to build a new kindergarten-through- fth grade school on the south end of town and remodel the existing elementary sites and middle school.
For the 20-year bond, property taxes would increase an estimated $99 annu- ally on a home in the district valued at $170,000, according to school o cials.
Residents in the elementary district will also vote on a separate bond request with residents in the larger high school district, which includes Kalispell and 13 partner districts in the outlying val- ley. The request is for a $28.76 million bond that would go toward remodel- ing sections of Flathead High School that are over 100 years old as well as deferred maintenance, along with an expansion of the Agricultural Educa- tion Center and upgrades at Linderman Education Center. The bond would also fund maintenance needs at Glacier High School, rebuild the main eld at Legends
Stadium and expand parking opportuni- ties near Flathead.
For the high school bond, prop- erty taxes would increase roughly $48 annually for a home valued at $170,000, according to school o cials.
If both bonds were approved, property taxes would increase roughly $147 annu- ally for a $170,000 home in both the ele- mentary and high school district.
“Recent Smarter Balanced Assess- ment data demonstrates that students at Kalispell Public Schools achieve above the state averages and in many cases are some of the highest among AA dis- tricts and it is important to continue to advance student performance,” the chamber board resolution stated.
dtabish@ atheadbeacon.com
O cials Prepare for Wild re at Libby Mine
State, federal and local o cials hold large-scale tabletop exercise to address Operable Unit 3 concerns
BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
LIBBY – With cool temperatures and the occasional rain shower falling from the sky on Aug. 3, the likelihood of an out-of-control wild re spreading across Zonolite Mountain north of here seemed unlikely.
But it was on everyone’s mind in a large conference room at the Kootenai National Forest Supervisor’s O ce as local, state and federal o cials gathered for a large-scale tabletop exercise simu- lating a re near the now-shuttered mine.
For years, local o cials have worried about a wild re in “Operable Unit 3,” a 47,000-acre area at the center of one of the largest Superfund cleanups in Amer- ican history. Years of vermiculite mining atop Zonolite Mountain encased much of the landscape with poisonous asbestos
that can cause cancer in humans through exposure. In the last few years, the Envi- ronmental Protection Agency and U.S. Forest Service have been conducting tests to determine the health impacts of inhaling asbestos-laden ash and smoke from a wild re.
The USFS already maintains a group of specially trained re ghters who wear respirators whenever they ght re in OU-3. On average, they respond to four res near the old mine annually; last year, they doused two res. None have been reported yet this year.
Earlier this year, the EPA and USFS announced that they would be allocat- ing $2.1 million to support re ghting e orts in OU-3. Part of that money will be used to ensure that there is always a re ghting helicopter nearby should a blaze break out.
In the past, o cials have gathered for small-scale planning sessions. At the Aug. 3-4 large-scale tabletop exer- cise, EPA, USFS, Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Lincoln County o cials discussed how they would respond to a hypothetical out-of- control blaze dubbed “The Highway 37 Fire,” which went from a few acres to more than 4,000-acres in just a few days.
“This is preparation for an event that we know will happen,” said Koote- nai National Forest District Ranger Nate Gassman. “Just look at what we’re seeing in Hamilton right now.”
Gassman said that every large wild- re is hectic, but one on OU-3 is even more complex because of all of the agen- cies and dangers involved. Chief among them is concern about asbestos-laden smoke blowing into town. EPA Project
Manager Christina Progress said if a large re starts in OU-3, air-monitoring stations would be set up around the area. The EPA would help analyze the infor- mation from those monitors and then give the information to the local health department, which then would make the call about possible evacuations.
“This tabletop exercise was a great opportunity to see how we can all work together if there was a re on OU-3,” said Nick Raines from the Lincoln County Health Department.
Upon completion of the two-day exer- cise, o cials reviewed what worked and what didn’t. Gassman said he was opti- mistic that the lessons learned during the tabletop exercise would be heeded when faced with a real re.
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
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AUGUST 10, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM