Coops kept out of Polson

POLSON — The Polson City Commission thought twice and voted down a proposed ordinance on Monday that would have allowed chickens to be kept inside city limits.

After voting 4-3 two weeks ago to advance the resolution that would have allowed qualifying households to keep as many as six chickens, the council decided too many unknowns in the ordinance’s language would “open Pandora’s box,” as commissioner Bruce Agrella put it.

Resident Lee Manicke again spoke against the ordinance. He pointed to a loophole that would allow residents to pay a fee to keep more than six chickens if their property met certain requirements, and mentioned that there were no restrictions on whether the “farm animals” could be slaughtered within the city.

Commissioner Jim Sohm said he was worried about the potential money that could be needed to inspect and maintain the stipulations of the ordinance.

“You’re going to have customers complaining, neighbors complaining,” he said. “I agree that these are farm animals.”

Sohm, Agrella, and commissioners Mike Lies and Elsa Duford voted against the resolution. 

At the previous meeting, two people spoke in favor of the ordinance, stating that it would provide benefits like allowing families to raise organic eggs. On Monday, Chris Ayers said she and her family could save a significant amount of money by raising chickens.

Mayor Lou Marchello and commissioners Jules Clavadetscher and Fred Funke voted for the ordinance.

Before that vote, the council continued its review of proposed sewer and water rate changes. The change, from a baseline charge to a sliding scale fee chart drawn up by a consulting company, has been debated during several meetings. A presentation on Monday showed aimed to show the commission options for an overall system and current headworks system location, as well as how proposed rate changes would help fund the project.

The city is facing an impending $10 million sewer and water treatment facility system replacement project that will replace an old system that will be obsolete in 2017. City manager Todd Crossett and sewer and water superintendent Tony Porrazzo have been touring facilities across the state to get an idea on what would best suit Polson. A membrane system, set up in modular units, seems to be the best to accommodate fluxes in the city’s growth.

The new scale was designed to allow for the city to generate more revenue. Commissioners had worried at past meeting about how the rate increase will affect residents during harder economic times.

Consultant Fred Philips reported that the headwork project, or phase one of the project, has begun. Two option exist for installing this portion, which will improve the existing system’s operation. The Riverside site contains the existing lagoon, but if chosen for the new system, would be slightly more costly than the East site. The East site is east of Kerr Dam and would offer a larger, more open space for the new system. 

City manager Todd Crossett said with the rate change, 43 percent, of the $10 million needed would be generated by the beginning of 2014, which is a year before the projected beginning of the second phase is set to begin. That means 57 percent of the project cost would still need to be funded.

When asked about the burden the increased some residents would see, consultant Shari Johnson said the projected cost of the recommended system was accurately based on the best possible assessment of where the growth the town could see. She said the city needs to prepare for the necessity of funding projects like the new sewer system to meet changing and most often, more stringent federal government water treatment regulations.

Incremental rate changes like the ones proposed are a good way to do this, Johnson said.

An amended resolution, that adjusted the rate structure increased numbers to round thousands, was passed unanimously.

City commissioners passed 4-3 a first reading of an ordinance that would allow qualifying households to keep as many as six chickens within the city limits during its regular meeting on Monday night.

The proposal, drawn up by city manager Todd Crossett, stipulates (as amended) that chickens could be kept inside clean structures on single family parcels. No permit would be needed, but the chickens must be kept inside at night and could not cause noise or smell burdens to neighbors. Roosters would not be allowed.

An ordinance to amend municipal code 2.48.010 to lower the qualifying age of volunteer firefighters form 21 to 18 was unanimously passed by the commission.

In new business, the commission voted to set a public hearing on the intent to annex whole the surrounding properties in Skyline Additions No. 1 and 2. The public hearing was set for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 7 at council chambers.

Polson Police Chief Doug Chase announced that the Polson Armed Forces Memorial Bridge had opened as of Tuesday after being reduced to one lane as the southbound lane was resurfaced. He said traffic would be interrupted again next Friday as the northbound lane was smoothed by crews. He also noted that night work would be done to grind both lanes sometime during the next weeks.