By Michael Howell
The Town of Stevensville has agreed to a Memorandum of Understanding with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks and the owners of the Fort Owen Ranch that could lead to the establishment of a dedicated and maintained Fishing Access Site at the Stevensville Bridge which crosses the Bitterroot River on the Stevensville Cutoff Road. The public has been using the land immediately north of the Stevensville Bridge as a boat launching site for as long as anybody can remember. But the land underlying the site belongs Roy and Laurie Capp. The Town of Stevensville owns 25 acres of land located a little to the north and has an easement for public passage through the Capp property to get to the parkland, called River Park, where they have installed a parking lot and a bathroom facility.
The Capps brought the issue to the attention of FWP last summer and some meetings were held between the Town, FWP and the Capps, along with State Senator Fred Thomas. The current MOU is the result of those discussions and subsequent negotiations. If agreed to by all parties, the current MOU calls for an appraisal of the property values in the area and a survey to be done. A previous MOU was approved by the Town Council on Tuesday, November 10. It called for the three parties to split the cost of the appraisal with a limit set at $5,500 to be split equally three ways. The cost of the survey would be split evenly between the Town and the Capps. A revised MOU was adopted at the November 24 meeting with the same limit on the cost of the appraisal set at $5,500 but with FWP agreeing to pay up to $2,800, the Town up to $2,000 and the Capps up to $700.
The appraisal and survey would lay the ground for negotiating a land trade between the Town and the Capps. The Town would trade some property at the north end of the Town’s River Park to the Capps in exchange for the acreage of land between the south boundary of the park and the Stevensville Cut-Off Road. Fish Wildlife and Parks would develop and maintain an official Fishing Access Site on the property that the Town received in its exchange.
The revised MOU was approved unanimously.
The Town Council also unanimously approved a motion directing the mayor to submit a draft amendment to the current ordinance governing use of alcohol in the town’s parks. The draft would be submitted to the Park Board for consideration before it goes to a Committee of the Whole for further review and potential revision before finally going to a public hearing prior to adoption.
The Town received a letter from Ray Smith, who serves as Park Board Chairman, asking the council to consider amending the current ordinance that allows for consumption of beer and wine (under 12% alcohol by volume) in the park. Smith felt that there should be a restriction of alcohol consumption in the area of the new skatepark and perhaps the new playground area, if not in the whole park with exceptions granted under Special Use Permits.
Police Chief James Marble, who also serves on the Park Board, expressed agreement about possibly prohibiting alcohol in the park except as part of a Special Use Permit and possibly some streamlined permit for families to have alcohol at one of the pavilions in the park as part of a picnic. He said open containers could be confined to the immediate area of the pavilions.
Councilor Jim Crews said that a ban on smoking within the fenced area at Lewis and Clark Park should also be considered. He said smoldering cigarette butts left in the wood chips covering parts of the playground present a safety hazard. He said the butts and discarded cigarette packages are unsightly.
There was also discussion about incorporating some skatepark rules into the park ordinance. Rules used by other towns and cities for skatepark use were collected by the Town Clerk and made available for consideration. These rules would be considered by the Park Board before taking the issue to a Committee of the Whole for consideration, before going to public hearing with an amendment.
The Town Council approved hiring Mike Sutherlin for another month to serve as a full-time police officer while they continue the search for a replacement. Sutherlin was hired as a temporary full-time officer a month ago. Since the law limits the time that a temporary officer can be hired to 30 days, Mayor Paul Ludington asked the Town’s attorney about the legitimacy of hiring the same officer again for another thirty days and the answer was, “as long as you don’t abuse the process.”
According to Ludington, three applicants for the full-time position were interviewed but none of them were accepted for the job. He said it was a hard position to fill for a number of reasons. He said there are guys out there interested in serving in law enforcement, but many of them are not willing to work alone as Stevensville officers are required to do. He said the pay is also low compared to other nearby law enforcement agencies. Sutherlin, who has accepted a second 30-day position with the town, has also accepted a position with the Sheriff’s Office in Missoula and may not be able to serve the entire 30 days. In the meantime, the search for a new hire continues.
The Council approved writing a second letter of support for the potential development of some low income housing, called the Nicole Court subdivision, at the request of the Montana Board of Housing which administers the Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program. The proposal, presented by the Human Resource Council, is to build 16 units for people 55 and older on three acres set back from the Eastside Highway on the south side of the road and west of the Ace Hardware store. The area is already zoned for multi-family use.
The Town already submitted a letter in support of the project but, according to HRC representative Desera Towle, the competition for the tax credits is stiff and another letter from the Town supporting the project would be a big plus.
The Council consented to the Mayor’s appointment of April Neidhardt as the new Finance Officer for the Town. Neidhardt is a CPA with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting. She will start work on December 7 and get a chance to learn the Town’s accounting processes from retiring Treasurer/Finance Officer Stephanie Mapelli, whose resignation becomes effective at the end of the year.
Ludington announced that the Town’s pending application for a change in its water rights as part of the new well field development has been terminated. According to Ludington, the Town’s first application for a change was terminated about four years ago and a new application, adjusted to meet the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation’s concerns and requirements, was submitted. Now that application has been terminated as well based on a deficiency in accounting for historical water use as far back as 1973. Ludington said that he and consulting engineers from PCI and HDR would be meeting with DNRC officials on December 4 to figure out how they will proceed from here.