Bigfork lawmaker to propose Flathead Lake houseboat regs

POLSON — With local and state agencies scratching their heads over how and whether to regulate houseboats on Flathead Lake, a Bigfork lawmaker plans to introduce a bill to give the state authority over the floating homes.

The bill is still under legal review by state legislative staff, but Republican Rep. Mark Noland said Thursday he became concerned about the vessels’ potential impacts to water quality after hearing from constituents in the area. Currently, two houseboats reside along the lake’s north shore in the Somers Bay area.

“This vessel has a 4,000-gallon holding tank for sewage. Since it has that, who’s making sure it gets pumped?” Noland asked. “If it sits there, freezes and breaks, and has a crack, then we have a problem.”

The language of the still-unofficial bill draft would establish “unlawful mooring” and require that houseboat owners move their vessel at least five nautical miles every five days, unless they are authorized to dock or moor the live-aboard on private property.

The proposal aims to fill a regulatory void that currently exists for the vessels. They are subject to only a handful of regulations that apply to watercraft more broadly, but currently no agency possesses broader oversight authority for them.

The Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks would enforce the new rules, along with requiring the boat owners to obtain “fixed vessel” registration and validation decals. One-time registration fees would be based on size and mirror those for sailboats and motorboats, except for houseboats longer than 45 feet, which would have to pay $500.

The department would also be authorized to establish rules for wastewater storage and disposal requirements on live-aboards.

ON THURSDAY, the Flathead Basin Commission endorsed an earlier proposal that would have studied the houseboat issue during the interim. Caryn Miske, the commission’s executive director, didn’t address specific regulatory proposals, but cited the potential for sewage spills as a risk to the lake’s water quality.

“There’s been a lot of concern by the public, there’s been some agency concern, in particular concerns raised by Fish, Wildlife and Parks, that right now we have two houseboats on the lake,” Miske told the commission. “If you start getting a houseboat parking lot, you will — and every place else that they have these houseboat parking lots — you do have spills, you have lines that break, you have discharges.”

While Flathead Lake has only two houseboats, the possibility of a proliferation of live-aboards has also worried water-quality experts and residents along the shore.

Late last year, the state Fish and Wildlife Commission held a hearing on a petition brought by local residents asking them to establish regulations for the vessels. But commission members questioned whether they had the statutory authority to do so.

Ben Lard owns one of the two live-aboards in Somers Bay, the Kee O Mee II. In a November interview, he said he was surprised by the outcry from lakeshore residents after he purchased his boat at the beginning of 2016.

“I feel a lot of pressure and a lot of anxiety, because I know there are people highly opposed to it that said they will do anything they can to get me kicked off the lake,” Lard said at the time.

He acknowledged the concerns regarding septic waste, but said he had followed the Department of Environmental Quality’s requirements for pumping vessels. Much of the feedback, however, he said was related to nearby homeowners who objected to the sight of his boat from their lakefront properties.

“Until I’m actually infringing on anybody else’s rights, I don’t see why they need to come in and infringe on mine.”

Jim Thompson, a nearby property owner, countered at the time that he felt the presence of Lard’s live-aboard and the possibility of others would draw down his property values.

While the five-day, five-mile rule would potentially address those concerns, Noland said he wasn’t ready to comment on the specifics until it officially clears the legislative legal review.

“Having something on the water for over 18 months, and nobody has any legal authority to even question them is not right,” Noland said. “Let’s make that right. Let’s figure that out and then work through the process so there’s legs to stand on. Right now we’re on a one-legged stool.”

While the measure is subject to change before it is officially introduced before the Legislature, bill drafter Jason Mohr said the legislative legal staff has cleared the substantive portions of the bill.