Growth biggest issue in Polson races

The race for Polson's city council Ward 1 seat is the only one with two candidates vying for it, and they both have long-term ties to the community.

Bruce Agrella is challenging incumbent Lou Marchello, who is completing his first term as a city councilman.

Marchello, owner of the Crow's Nest art gallery on Main Street, said he's spent much of the last four years learning a lot about how local government works, and that he'd like to be able to give another four years back to the city.

"The City of Polson has been good to me for the 33 years we've been here," he said.

Marchello has sat on a council that has seen a lot of — and been criticized for — growth issues facing the city. Marchello says those are legitimate concerns, and that the city will have to confront its water supply and infrastructure issues in order to grow well in the future.

"We have to get our new well taken care of — drilled —and two new water storage facilities. If you don't have a good water infrastructure then you are unable to continue with growth," he said.

Marchello said some concerns about the city's water supply have been blown out of proportion, and that the current council is staying on top of the situation by limiting water hook-ups.

"At the present time we are limiting any developer to 30 hook-ups per year. That will sustain the growth. We have to be careful with the water we have, but there's water available until we get more [with a new well]," he said.

Marchello said overall, growth is a good thing, but that developers should be paying impact fees that match their effect on the city.

"I feel developers should be paying higher impact fees into the city. When you have more homes coming into the city you have more of a burden on the fire and police department. There's currently no impact fees for the police department," he said.

Marchello said the last four years haven't been without the typical headaches that come with being a public official, including criticism about conflicts of interest, too much growth, and other things, but he said that won't dissuade him from trying to serve the city.

"It's very frustrating and very hard when you get blasted for your views, and for standing up for what you believe in. But it all comes back to the point that I've had a great life in Polson and I want to give back to the city, and that's why I want to serve on the city council," he said.

Agrella has been a resident of Polson for 20 years, and is retired after working in the county's solid waste program. As such, he said he's had good experience with budgets and other aspects of government life, and feels he'd make a good candidate.

"My commitment to Polson is I really think Polson needs a plan for today as well as its long-term future growth," Agrella said.

Agrella feels that growth is already a problem for the city, and one that needs to be confronted.

"We need to address city service needs, such as water and sewer, and the inner works of the city to keep up with growth. We are in trouble. We are growing so rapidly it's hard to keep up," he said. "I'm concerned about making sure we have adequate water and sewer services to keep up with this growth."

He said the city's growth is by far the biggest concern residents are facing, but with proper planning, the city can handle it. This is Agrella first attempt at public office, he said.

"I think growth is the biggest factor. From the people I've talked to, that's the concern, more than anything," he said. "But with a good plan you can succeed with what you are trying to accomplish."

Polson Ward 2 race is the most contested

By Ethan Smith

Leader Staff

Polson's Ward 2 election is probably the most heated contest this election, with four candidates vying for one seat currently held by Mike Maddy, a councilman who probably draws more controversy than all the others combined.

Maddy is upfront about the fact that he is a developer, and the impact his Cougar Ridge subdivision will have on the city's future growth, but he says people need to start seeing quality subdivisions and development as a way to enhance and help the city's existing infrastructure instead of looking at them as causing the city more woes.

"I do believe growth is good. The city does have impact fees, and our impact fees far outweigh that impact of the subdivision itself. Although the mentality of the people is that developers impact more than we do, no developer wants to do that," he said. "We want to pay what's fair."

Maddy said the city's Mission Bay subdivision is a good model for future growth, properly implemented.

"Mission Bay's water and sewer impact fees actually subsidize other parts of town. Mission Bay doesn't impact our schools, police or fire department," he said. "They help pay for older parts of town that we have to deal with. People complain about our streets, for example. The only way to fix the streets is with money."

Maddy said residents' concerns about water issues are valid, but that the city is in better shape than a lot of people think.

"The water issue is a concern, but the city does have a fairly good grip on what's going on on water. We will always work toward a surface water treatment plant for Flathead Lake, and the city will continue to seek out new and improved sources of water," Maddy said. "Water is an issue everywhere. We've had a lot of conversations with the Tribes on this but it won't happen without continued work."

Maddy defends his presence on the council while other councilmen had to vote on Cougar Ridge, saying he neither asked for nor got any preferential treatment.

"Definitely people could look at me as a developer and say I tried to abuse my power, but one thing I can say is I've never asked for a change in city variances. Codes were developed in 1993, long before I was involved in building here or on the city council. Will it affect how people will vote? Propaganda can affect how people vote," he said. "But there's a lot of people excited about what Polson has become."

Maddy said an example of the positive impact of growth is better jobs for the city's many younger residents.

"This is the first time Polson has had an economy, and younger people are living here and that's great. Ten years ago, nobody's kids lived in Polson because there were no jobs," he said. "I'm not creating this town for me, I'm creating it for my kids."

He said his role as a developer, although a source of criticism, has been beneficial to the city council.

"I know the development code. I would venture to say I know it better than most people on the council, and I see that as an asset," Maddy said.

He said most of the criticism about the council being beholden to real estate interests is unfounded.

"We have a great city council. There's not a corrupt person on there," he said. "I don't make my votes based on a few opinions that show up at Monday's meetings. I base it on the people I talk to, and I've seen a great change in attitude about Polson. People are more optimistic about the future."

One of the council's biggest critics has also decided to throw his hat into the ring. Murat Kalinyaprak has complained about the city's management of the golf course, about limited access to public documents, and what he says is an increasingly bad trend toward attempting to stifle public input. For these reasons and others, he said he had to run.

"I feel that the golf course has been mismanaged by everyone involved, the golf board and the city council, for the past several years. This is a nice golf course on the lake in a nice area. But it has had steadily declining membership and a steadily declining net profit. Last year they lost about 20 percent of the adult membership," Kalinyaprak claimed. "Why is this golf course … losing money? That's pretty hard to justify."

Kalinyaprak said he has a problem with the number of city employees and volunteer firemen who have free membership at the golf course, and the arbitrary way the benefit seems to be handed out. He said he's not against giving perks to people who volunteer for the city, but that it shouldn't just be just for one group of people.

"[This policy] should apply to anyone who volunteers for the city, because their efforts are just as noble as fighting fires," he said. "If someone volunteers for the city doing twice as much work as a fireman, then why don't they get to play golf for free?"

Kalinyaprak, who has lived in the city for 13 years and operates his own computer consulting business, said he decided to run because he feels the current council is not responsive to the public's concerns, especially regarding the conflict of interest questions raised earlier this year.

"One of the reasons I've decided to run is that I've seen people react to the city council and mayor on this issue, and the council and mayor's attitude towards the citizens was arrogant and belittling," he said. "I have never run for public office before so I feel things are bad enough that I should run."

He cited ordinances passed earlier this year limiting public comments to three minutes per person per topic, and one requiring folks to fill out a form with more advance notice to have items put on the agenda, as examples of the council's attempt to stifle public input.

"There is a trend on this city council that they have passed a lot of ordinances and done things to restrict public access to information," Kalinyaprak said.

But growth is one of the biggest problems, he said. He said limiting water hook-ups to 30 per development per year doesn't do much good if you approve too many developments.

"Existing users should not be made to pay for the new hook-ups. [Residents] should not be restricted in watering their lawn because of new development," he said.

Kalinyaprak is definitely an advocate of restricting growth, he said.

"I think it needs to be controlled and slowed down. It can be too fast and haphazard. I think the rampant growth is destroying some of the assets in the area — the scenery, clean air, quiet lifestyle — which have their value," he said. "Once you sell this you cannot buy it back the next day."

He said major subdivisions and projects like the proposed Super Wal-Mart or even an influx of new residents come with a price.

"One problem like [Super] Wal-Mart coming into town, [new] businesses coming into town, or retired people coming into town, is that those people open businesses that compete with customers of existing businesses," he said. "The pie grows but people's individual share doesn't."

One candidate who is playing up his business background is Dave Hardy, one of the owners of Glacier Brewery, and a city resident for about four years. Hardy says the city, and council members, need to better define just which direction the city should take, whether its commercial, residential or tourist-related.

"As a business owner in town, and a homeowner, I have interests in and concern for all natures of growth, from a residential, business and tourism standpoint," Hardy said. "Within my ward there is a constituency that believes change is inevitable, and it's a matter of how we involve ourselves with the change. What Polson has to be able to do is have an identity, and work within parameters set by voters who decide what the identify is going to be."

Hardy said the city is at a crossroads of sorts, and needs to figure out if the needs of the city are best served as a tourist-based economy, or a residential or commercial growth area.

"We know there is going to be growth occurring, and the reality of the situation is that if we are going to follow certain codes and guidelines for growth, then we need to say there's nothing we can do about it, or change the parameters and that and say 'We can't have stores over X amount of square feet,' for example," Hardy explained. "If we identify ourselves as being a tourist economy then we should angle ourselves for that to be profitable for the city."

He cited Coeur d'Alene as a good example of a tourist-based economy, and a city that has many characteristics that Polson has — a scenic setting on a lake, lots of recreational activities, and the potential to draw folks from around the country, if it's properly marketed.

He said the Cougar Ridge subdivision and proposed Super Wal-Mart are good in that they are forcing people to examine the city's future growth, and how that should be shaped. Hardy pointed out that subdivisions and commercial growth, for all the angst against them, provide valuable construction jobs in the area for a number of families.

"Construction jobs are one of the largest demographics of employment in our area," he said.

Hardy said the expansion of Highway 93 is a good example of good growth because it helps local businesses like his and other downtown businesses.

"I'm sure some people opposed the road construction but the reality is it brings more people to support local businesses," he said.

Hardy said one of his main strengths is to listen to public input and try to make informed decisions instead of jumping into a city council position with preconceived notions about the direction the city should be heading.

"I would really hope people would identify with me in that we are all still in a position to learn about something before we make a decision," Hardy said.

The Ward 2 candidate with the most political experience is Mike Lies, former councilman and mayor who served from 1992 to 2002 (one term as mayor). He said he decided to jump back into the action because he believes he can help based on his past experience, and that the city is facing many of the same issues he saw over his 10 years of public service.

"We still have the same problems — water, sewer, streets and growth. It's definitely growing too fast. We need more controlled growth," Lies said.

He said the city's water supply should be a top concern.

"Our water supply is very limited right now. The question is how are we going to obtain sufficient amounts to take care of all the annexation that is taking place," Lies said. "I haven't kept up with city discussions with the Tribes, but there has to be some method of increasing the water supply. There's just no getting around it."

Lies said issues facing the city 10 years ago are still the same, only they've grown considerably.

"Many of the issues are the same, just larger in scale. A lot of these [building] codes have to be brought up to date. They are lagging way behind the growth of the city," Lies said.

Lies said all the worries about growth won't change it — Polson will continue to be an attractive destination.

"I really don't see too much change in the city because its always been a destination place for many people that have retired or other individuals who like the area and move here," he said.

Lies said accusations of conflicts of interest on the current city council, especially regarding real estate and growth issues, are unfounded, though.

"If business is conducted in an open manner then I don't think you need all these disclosures," he said, referring to some residents' demands that councilmen sign conflict-of-interest statements and provide disclosure of their financial, real estate and other interests. "[City business] should be run in a way that is open to the public. The public should have a view of all these things because they are the ones we are actually serving."

He said constant criticism on public officials probably discourages some people from running for public office. However, after serving in the Polson school district for 19 years, and being retired for 20, he said he's ready to get back into it.

"I'm just interested in local government, and have some time on my hands," he said with a chuckle. "I think I could help somewhere along the line with city business."