City urged to tackle noxious weeds
Chuck Jarecki, a retired rancher and former member of the Lake County Weed Board, scolded the City of Polson for letting weeds proliferate on city rights-of-way during the Polson City Commission meeting on Monday.
He presented a letter to commissioners that outlined Montana law concerning noxious weeds, and cited specific examples of weeds, such as spotted knapweed and invasive Russian olive trees, that are growing in barrow pits and along roadways and trails.
He pointed out that allowing noxious weeds to go to seed is a violation of state law, “and it kind of shows a poor image of the Polson area when a lot of us are trying to make it nice.”
“When I drive around streets here, some are just a disaster,” he added. “So I ask you to set an example and get the street department to make Polson a place we can all be proud of.”
Commissioner Carolyn Pardini agreed. “We’re showing a lot of neglect,” she said, noting the incursion of white-top at the sewer treatment plant and dog park, and the invasion of Russian olive trees west of the Polson bridge.
“We’ll do the best we can with the resources we have, but we do have limited resources,” replied City Manager Ed Meece, who had handed out a summary of the city’s weed control program at the onset of the meeting. He added that lack of a code enforcement manager – a position that was eliminated due to budget constraints – makes it harder to crack down on property owners who may be contributing to the issue.
Larry Ashcraft, a member of the Polson Golf Board, spoke to the commission about the State Class A Golf Tournament, held last Friday and Saturday at Polson Bay Golf Course. Not only did the event produce a state champ, Polson freshman Max Milton, it also attracted 114 young golfers, their parents and coaches to town, who in turn frequented motels and restaurants. The state tournament was one of nine hosted by the city-owned golf course this year.
“It is an asset to the community,” Ashcraft said of the course. “It’s one of the biggest revenue generators Polson has.”
He urged the commission to keep those factors in mind when allocating funding resources. “You don’t want it to deteriorate.”
In his comments to the commission, Meece said that a traffic study the city commissioned on Hillcrest and Seventh Ave. would be presented to city staff in October, followed by a presentation to the commission. The street has been touted as a possible connector between the Cougar Ridge development and downtown Polson.
Meece also mentioned that a cooperative paving project with Lake County on 11th Avenue was recently completed, although he noted that striping still needed to be applied.
Two TIF grants awarded
The commission awarded two new grants in the Tax Increment Finance (TIF) District. Ann Nguyen applied for $5,932 for a new awning and sign at Polson Nail and Spa on Main Street. She’ll match the grant with an investment of $2,966, for a total project cost of $8,898.
Brenda Grogan, owner of The Barking Lot, also received TIF funding of $8,400 with a 50% match of $4,200 for roof repairs and insulation. She told commissioners that the building housing her dog-grooming business on Third Ave. E. was built in 1935 and had no insulation or gutters, and that last winter’s cold spell caused significant damage after a pipe froze in the basement.
“We’ve done everything we can to improve the building, but some of these costs are out of our range,” she said. “We’re reaching out to get help to basically save the building.”
A previous owner, The Cakery, also had received a TIF grant to upgrade the wiring.
“It’s kind of fun and interesting to see that we’re helping businesses grow,” said commissioner Brodie Moll.
Pardini was the sole commissioner to vote against both grants. “I just want to try to use that money for infrastructure,” she said in explaining her two “no” votes.
In response to previous comments from commissioners who wanted more time to consider difficult policy and quasi-judicial matters – especially those involving land use – Meece asked for input on a plan to place land-use matters on the agenda of the first meeting of the month, and schedule other items such as grants, ordinances or resolutions for the second meeting.
Since the City-County Planning Board meets on the second Tuesday of each month, this plan would give commissioners at least three weeks to review the board’s recommendations and those of the city’s planning staff before taking action.
The new schedule is tentatively set to begin in January.
Meece also shared his work plan for the coming year, which outlines his priorities and milestone projects, and asked the commission for input.
Pardini suggested that the city needed to revisit the strategic plan, last revised in 2016, “with measurable goals of what we want to see happen.”
Other priorities mentioned by commissioners were to revisit the idea of imposing a resort tax – a move that’s twice been rejected by Polson voters; reinstating a code enforcement officer; prioritizing deferred maintenance projects; looking at changes to the Polson development code; and deciding whether to “reimagine” a new Tax Increment Finance District after the current one expires in 2025.