Victor School District Superintendent Orville Getz was named the Western Montana Regional Superintendent of the Year recently by the Montana Association of School Superintendents. The award was presented by Jim Baldwin, Chairman of the Montana Association of School Superintendents, at a ceremony at Victor School last week.

“To be honored by your peers is a very special thing,” said Baldwin as he handed Getz the award plaque.

Also very special were the awards and recognition Getz received at the same ceremony from the Victor School Foundation, from the staff, from the teachers, and especially from the students, many of whom openly showed their admiration and appreciation for the man.

Getz has worked in the field of education for most of his life. He began teaching at Hellgate Elementary School in Missoula in 1972. From 1978 to 1987 he worked at Lolo School as a physical education teacher and computer technician. He then served as Principal for the Victor High School and Middle School from 1997 to 1998. He has been the Victor School Superintendent since then.

Getz is a member of the Victor School Foundation, the Missoula Educators Credit Union, the Bitterroot Education Cooperative Board, the Montana Officials Association, the Westside Lions Club and the American Legion.

During his tenure as superintendent Getz has presided over many projects that have completely changed the face and structure of the school. Under his direction, in 2003, Victor School became the second school in the state to install a state-of-the-art bio-mass heating system. In 2006 the school was the first in the state to adopt a four-day week. In 2007 he presided over the purchase of the property and house across the street. In 2008 he presided over the construction of a new high school and auditorium. And in 2009 he presided over the construction of a new kitchen and the re-model of the multi-purpose room.

“These are not things that I did,” said Getz after the ceremony. “These things couldn’t have been done without a lot of help from everyone.”

Bloom receives TU Distinguished Service Award

By Michael Howell

Dr. Marshall Bloom, Associate Director at Rocky Mountain Lab in Hamilton, was presented with the Distinguished Service Award on the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the National Trout Unlimited organization at the thirtieth annual Bitter Root Trout Unlimited banquet held in Hamilton on September 25.

Bloom is a longtime member of the organization. He joined the Bitterroot Chapter of Trout Unlimited back in 1975 and served as President for about eight years through the 1980s. He also served as Montana TU President for two years and has also served as Regional Vice-President and served on the National TU Executive Board.

At first struggling to speak through a wave of emotion, Bloom expressed his gratitude for the award.

“Of course, awards like this are really a façade for the efforts of other people that the recipient works with to gain the honor, and that is certainly the case here,” he said. Bloom credited a few Bitterrooters in particular with his achievements in the realm of conservation.

One was Otto Teller, one of the founding fathers of the National TU organization as well as the founder of the Teller Refuge in Corvallis.

“One of the things I learned from Otto is that there is a time and a place to be ornery, if you want to be effective,” he said.

Another of his mentors was longtime Bitterroot conservationist and activist Doris Milner. He called Milner probably one of the foremost conservationists in the history of the Bitterroot.

“From Doris I learned that you need to respect the people with whom you are disagreeing and arguing,” said Bloom, “because at the end of the day these are the people that you have to sit down at the table with.”

A third person who greatly influenced Bloom was former Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks Director Pat Graham. Bloom worked closely with Graham on at least three issues critical to conservation. One was the work that led to the acquisition of water from Painted Rocks Reservoir to enhance in-stream flows in the Bitterroot River, a hallmark for cooperative efforts between sportsmen and irrigators. Another was the work they did to develop an Arctic Grayling recovery program, a project that continues in modified form to this day. The third was the effort made to address Whirling Disease. Graham and former Governor Marc Racicot were instrumental in placing Bloom as co-chair of the Whirling Disease Task Force.

The program strategy established by that task force became a model for addressing other threats around the nation. While other states sought resolution of the problem through hatchery systems, Montana stuck to its policy of wild trout management and achieved results beyond any reasonable expectations at the time, Bloom said.

“The wisdom of our approach is now becoming evident,” he said, “as Rainbow trout in the Madison River are beginning to show a natural resistance to the disease and fish numbers are increasing.”

County settles floodplain lawsuit

By Michael Howell

The Ravalli County Commissioners decided on Monday to settle a federal lawsuit filed by former Bitterroot residents Garry and Elizabeth Shook and Plum Tree Properties, LLC. The Shooks filed the lawsuit against the county and former Floodplain Administrator Laura Hendrix in U.S. District Court in Missoula last December seeking at least a million dollars in lost profits related to a dispute over the need for and the issuance of an after the fact floodplain permit.

In 2006 the county filed criminal charges related to numerous alleged floodplain violations against Garry Shook related to development of 65 acres of land south of Hamilton owned by the Shooks. Those charges were later dropped and the Department of Natural Resources then issued the Shooks an after the fact floodplain permit for the work done on the property.

The Shooks later filed suit against the county in federal court, alleging malicious prosecution, negligence, defamation and federal civil rights violations.

According to the settlement agreement, the county will pay the Shooks $200,000. The county’s insurance provider, the Montana Association of Counties Joint Powers Insurance Authority, will pay $170,000 and the remaining $30,000 will come from the county’s coffers. The county admits no liability according to the agreement and Hendrix is also released from any liability in the case. All parties are also released from any future claims.

Commissioner Jim Rokosch called the settlement “a good business decision,” since the county would end up paying more if they continued the case even if they ended up winning on every count. After the meeting he said that this was due to the fact that not all counts were covered by the county’s liability insurance and the legal costs related to them would not be recoverable even if they won on those counts. The cost could be a lot more, of course, if the county lost the case.

“More importantly, we believe this decision defends the integrity of the county’s floodplain regulations which are designed to protect public health and safety,” said Commission Chair Carlotta Grandstaff.

Commissioner J.R. Iman recused himself from voting on the settlement due to a conflict of interest. The other commissioners voted unanimously to settle.

Stevi grants another variance

By Michael Howell

Although the Town of Stevensville claims to exercise some regulatory power over proposed subdivisions outside the town limits but within an “extra-territorial zone” that stretches about two miles south of town, they have so far refused to require proposed subdivisions within that zone to meet Town standards for infrastructure construction. Instead they have consistently been granting variances to developers in the extra-territorial zone, exempting them from such requirements as constructing curbs, gutters and sidewalks.

The county has, in the past, contested the Town’s authority to regulate subdivisions outside the town limits. But the Town now claims that without any zoning or Growth Policy in place in the county the Town can exercise authority over subdivisions within a limited extra-territorial zone around the Town. Nonetheless, the Town Council remains reluctant to impose its standards there and has consistently granted variances to those requirements when asked.

The latest subdivision proposal in the area, the Island Park Subdivision, was also recently granted a variance despite the fact that at least two Councilors expressed serious concerns about the pattern.

“The purpose of an extra-territorial zone is to make sure that infrastructure requirements are applied,” said councilor Clayton Floyd. He said that by making the developer meet those requirements the cost is then included in the future home price. If it is not required that cost is passed down to the future home buyer.

“I don’t think most people think about Special Improvement Districts until they get notice that it is happening,” he said, “and if they have purchased all the home they could afford, it doesn’t give them many attractive options when they get notice.”

Floyd said that the Town should adhere to those requirements or withdraw the extra-territorial zone.

“There are a lot of reasons for not doing what we are going to do tonight,” said Floyd, “but I will vote for approving the variance.”

Councilor Tom Brown also expressed concern about the variance.

“People don’t realize when this is part of the plat and I feel like they are getting the short end of the stick,” he said.

Councilor Paul Ludington said that he did not think the Town had any real power in the extra-territorial zone and that the county made the ultimate decision. He also stated that the Town has never forcibly annexed anyone. He said that it makes more sense to put the home buyer on notice that he may have to meet certain requirements if he is ever annexed into the town rather than make him meet those requirements before he ever benefits from the Town’s services.

The council then voted unanimously to grant the variance lifting the requirements for paving roads, and building curbs, gutters and sidewalks, but with some conditions. Those conditions would be to place a waiver of protest to any future SID to make those improvements if and when the property should be annexed into the town and place that restriction on the deed.

In other business the council also agreed to a revised settlement agreement with Allen and Ruby Barr concerning a water right application related to the Twin Creeks Subdivision. The developer of the Twin Creeks Subdivision has applied for a water right for new wells in the name of the Town. The wells and a parcel of property they are located on will be turned over to the Town once the water right is secured.

The Barrs, who own neighboring property, protested the new water right. The Barrs have agreed to drop their objections as long as the Town accepts responsibility if the new wells should have a negative effect on their well.

In other business the council also agreed to reimburse the homeowners in the Creekside Meadows Subdivision $4,000 that was mistakenly charged them for the cost of administering a special lighting district in the subdivision. The homeowners were mistakenly charged for a second year of administration and state law requires that the money be reimbursed.

The council also hired a temporary building inspector at a rate of $15 per hour, one day a week, to replace inspector Don Rainey who is temporarily incapacitated.

Police Chief James Marble asked the council to consider making a policy to allow collection of fees for the time spent retrieving records that have been requested by the public defender’s office.

The town’s attorney clarified that the department cannot charge the public defender’s office for copying documents related to an ongoing case, but may be able to charge a fee for research.

She said that the public generally has a right to inspect all public documents without charge, but can be charged for copies. She said that the public’s right to inspect documents did not apply to all documents in the police department, however. She recommended that the Town consider two separate policies for fees, one for the clerk’s office and one for the police department.

Marble also informed the council that a rash of burglaries and thefts was occurring in town. He called them crimes of opportunity involving open garages and unlocked cars. He said that he had some idea of who might be doing it but did not have enough evidence yet to make an arrest. He thought the public should be made aware so they could take precautions.

Page One •	Valley News •	Op/Ed •	Sports •	Calendar •	Classifieds •	Legals •	Links •	About Us •	Back Issues •	Email Us •	Home
©2009 Bitterroot Star This site was Done By Dooney