Polson council moves on in manager search

POLSON — More than 20 agenda items made for a lengthy city council meeting Monday night and a crowd so large that Police Chief Doug Chase was pushed to the hall for lack of a seat.

Councilman Jim Sohm announced three city manager candidate finalists and the council approved them. The finalists were selected from a batch of more than 30 applicants and hail from Idaho, Montana and Maryland. Interviews will be conducted on May 1 at 9 a.m., 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. at Polson City Hall.

Representatives from the Lake County Spay/Neuter Task Force came before the council and asked that they join the tribes and Lake County Commissioners in funding the May and October clinics.

“The animal control fund can spare the money,” said interim city manager James Raymond. The council approved a donation of $500 to cover May’s clinic, and advised the representatives to return before the October clinic to ask for additional funds.

As a lease agreement between the city and the Mariners baseball team has been on the agenda before, it made its way before council members again Monday night. Parks superintendent Karen Sargeant said the lease is a “maintenance” issue and nothing more than that, adding that she can not keep the field up properly.

“The field was donated to the public for the people,” said councilman Mike Lies.

“All I ask is that they schedule it,” Sargeant said. “It’s still open to the public for their enjoyment.”

Water and sewer superintendent Tony Porrazzo said he “will” begin to meter the line that goes into the park, as he said too much is being used to water the field and the city is “giving away” the water.

Dan Rausch takes care of the field and said the field is an asset that brings people to the community for the July 4 tournaments. He said it is utilized by county residents and urged the council to “look at the issue from all aspects.”

The council unanimously voted in favor of a motion to lease the Legion baseball field to the Mariners.

Porrazzo approached the council again requesting the purchase of land adjacent to a water tank near East Hillside for $60,000 of enterprise funds.

Council member Elsa Duford said that not only did she not see the need for the purchase, as there is access to the water tank from two different locations, but said the easement intended for purchase was initially intended to be used for beautification.

A property owner near the water tank said the request “eluded” him, as he went on to say the land is a “full gravel pit” that no homeowner would think of purchasing. He said a fence could be used to protect the tank if needed, and asserted that the city currently has all “necessary easements to maintain” the tank.

The motion to authorize the purchase of the land carried, with the support of all council members except Duford.

The council unanimously approved a motion to authorize city staff to proceed with the establishment of a storm water utility, as most of the discharge currently goes into the lake. Raymond said that due to recent demands by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, the city should plan on saving for a discharge project which will begin in about 10 years. A hearing for public comment will be held on May 18 at 6 p.m. at the city hall.

The council gave approval for the annexation of Brown’s Lakeview tracts, and gave Raymond authority to implement a plan for Bayview Drive utility hook-up enforcement.

Raymond advised the council that bridge work may begin as early as Monday. He said construction crews will store trailors and equipment at Riverside Park, therefor cars will not be permitted to park there.

After councilman Jules Clavadetscher’s report on the Polson Redevelopment Agency, their tax increment financing history and potential future, resident Lee Manicke said the profit/loss statements and period of the report were inaccurate.

“Your report should show where the $2,500 you received went to,” he said, adding that there should be more oversight from the council on the PDA and Polson Community Development Association, upon clarification of the organizations’ tax filing status.

The March cash report and investment of public funds were unanimously approved by the council.