Commissioners hear wildlife complaints and change direction on gas-tax revenues

Wildlife figuratively roamed through the Polson City Commission chambers Oct. 3, with commissioner Carolyn Pardini noting that her beehive had been pillaged by a bruin and Polson resident Murat Kalinyaprak objecting to marauding deer.

“We really have a bear issue in town right now,” said Pardini, who had spied several fruity piles of bear scat near her home on 16th Ave. She noted that Whitefish now requires residents to have bear-proof garbage containers, and Columbia Falls recently passed a 90-day moratorium on leaving garbage outside.

“If we want to live in a place like Polson and say we value outstanding recreational opportunities, and that we love the natural beauty, then we need to have a policy or plan to become better neighbors since a fed bear is a dead bear,” she said. “Let’s begin making a plan so the next time the bears come to town we’re better prepared.”

During the public comment period, Kalinyaprak complained that deer are damaging his fruit trees and garden, and advocated finding “creative solutions” to reducing their numbers.

“A few people are really aggravated,” he said. “I suggested we start a fund to hire people to bow hunt deer in town and offered to donate the first $100.” (It should be noted that hunting game by non-tribal members is illegal within the boundaries of the Flathead Reservation and hunting of any kind is prohibited within the city limits.)

“I don’t want to live in the wilderness like primitives,” he added.

After some discussion, a resolution that would have requested funds from the state fuel tax (called Bridge and Road Safety and Accountability Program funds) to rebuild 2nd St. W. and 4th Ave. W. was sent back to the city manager’s drawing board. While discussing the plan, Lee Manicke suggested the city use gas-tax funds to rebuild streets outside of the Tax Improvement Finance (TIF) district and deploy TIF funds to rebuild roads inside the district.

His suggestion seemed to catch on with commissioners, but elicited less enthusiasm from city manager Ed Meece, who has proposed using TIF funds to help address affordable housing issues via a collaboration with the Northwest Montana Community Land Trust.

“The TIF district is the only place we have dollars to spend on those types of projects outside of the general fund,” he told commissioners.

“The first thing anyone wants to talk about is fixing streets,” he added. “But we also have a pretty significant housing crisis going on and I don’t have many tools to deal with that, so I’ve been trying to balance the tools.”

“I have great sympathy for people trying to find housing in Polson,” Pardini said. “But if the purpose of the TIF district is to improve property values and remove blight I can’t see where some of those roads are anything but blight.”

Commissioner Brodie Moll emphasized the Polson Redevelopment Agency needed to be involved with any change of direction for the TIF district. As a citizen advisory board, “they should be part of process,” he said.

The motion was ultimately withdrawn and is slated to reappear on the agenda Oct. 17, with a proposal to spend the estimated $131,585 in fuel-tax revenue beyond the borders of the TIF district and a recommendation of how to fund street improvements within the district.

In other business:

• Meece offered kudos to city workers and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes who jointly cleaned up a home located on tribal land “that’s been in quite a state of disrepair.” Several dump-truck loads of debris were removed during a clean-up effort that took about a day and a half.

“It made a big difference in the neighborhood,” he said, noting that the city has received several calls from local residents who appreciate the improvement.

• The commission unanimously approved the final plat of Ridgewater Phase 9 commercial subdivision, which will create 14 lots on 7.24 acres, designated for commercial activity; and approved resolutions that make minor changes to municipal codes regarding Parks and Recreation and its advisory boards.

• The commission also breezed through the consent agenda, which included a proclamation of Indigenous Peoples Day (observed Oct. 10) and a proclamation declaring Polson a Tree City USA.