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Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Page One News at a Glance
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By Michael Howell
In one of the largest public turnouts for a legislative hearing this session, hundreds of people showed up at a hearing of the Senate Agriculture, Livestock and Irrigation Committee last Tuesday, March 8 to comment on House Bill 309, called the “Ditch Bill,” that aims to clarify the meaning of ditch in the state’s Stream Access Law.
The vast majority of people attending the hearing were in opposition to the bill which they claim will severely limit public recreational access to streams and rivers throughout the state. A total of 340 people signed in at the hearing room in opposition to the bill, while only 18 signed up in support. Over a hundred people actually offered testimony against the bill while 15 people testified in support.
Representative Jeffrey Welborn, a Republican from Dillon, sponsored the bill which passed the House last month in a vote of 57 to 43. Welborn told the Senate committee members that he was an outdoorsman and that he made sure that this bill would not affect anyone’s right to access Montana’s streams for recreational purposes. He said the bill simply clarifies the “handshake deal” between recreationalists and irrigators made when the Stream Access Law was passed that no access would be allowed to ditches.
“Irrigation ditches are designed for work, not for play,” said Welborn. He called it a private property issue.
Other proponents of the bill from the Farm Bureau and a new organization called Montana Rural Family Irrigators stated that the bill would help insure public safety by keeping recreationalists away from dangerous irrigation structures and protect the investment that farmers and ranchers have made in their irrigation systems.
Former U.S. Attorney for Montana William Mercer claimed to have had a hand in crafting the bill and stated that it did nothing but clarify the definition of a ditch in state law. He said that the Montana Supreme Court ruling in the Mitchell Slough case in 2008 went against the understanding that many farmers and ranchers had about what a ditch was and left them worrying about the status of their irrigation systems. He said passage of the bill would simply re-affirm the original intent of the law.
Senator Jim Shockley, Republican from Victor, disagreed. He called the bill economic development for lawyers.
“The only persons who would benefit from this are a few landowners in the Bitterroot and lawyers,” said Shockley. His remark drew a loud round of applause from the packed meeting room.
Senator Kendall Van Dyk, a Democrat from Billings, author of the recently passed bridge access bill that ensures anglers the right to access public waterways from bridge right-of-ways, said that aside from the Mitchell Slough controversy there was no problem with the state’s stream access law. He called it the best in the country and said, “Access is not for sale in Montana.”
Bob Lane, chief legal counsel for Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, also opposed the bill, saying that if applied as written the bill represented a significant erosion of the public’s right to access the state’s rivers and streams.
Ravalli County Fish and Wildlife Association member Dale Burk told the Senate committee members that the bill reaches too far and will lead to the appropriation of public property into private ownership.
In committee discussion following the public testimony, it was noted that the bill has two aspects to it, one to define the meaning of ditch in state law and the other to bring state law into compliance with another Supreme Court ruling known as the Galt Decision, which limits the kinds of activities that may be conducted along streams, such as big game hunting and camping.
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By Michael Howell
The County Commissioners held a public hearing last Friday, March 11, to take public comment on an application for a license to establish a motor vehicle wrecking facility on six acres of land located at 36 Angel Lane off of Old Corvallis Road. The property is owned by Chester and Marvel Angel but the license applicant is Clint Nickerson, who has plans to open an auto wrecking facility as well as a recycling facility for paper and cardboard on the property.
The license is obtained from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) but state law provides that the governing body of the county may conduct a public hearing “to determine whether the proposed facility will significantly affect the quality of life of the adjoining landowners and the surrounding community.” The law states the county may adopt a resolution in support of or in opposition to the location of the proposed facility and that DEQ “may not grant a license to a facility that a governing body has opposed under this section of the law.”
Environmental Health Department Director Lea Guthrie stated in a background report on the property that the site was monitored for groundwater levels in 1985 and showed high ground water at 54 inches. In 1986 a septic permit was issued for a one and half foot raised drain field for a small engine repair shop at the site and the septic system was installed.
In 2009 numerous complaints were lodged about junk vehicles and a mobile home being moved onto the property without a septic permit. The mobiles were removed by May of 2009 and the junk vehicles were removed at about the same time.
Guthrie said that if the commissioners approved the license her office would conduct an Environmental Analysis of the project for DEQ. She said that there was a drinking water well on the property located about 250 feet from the proposed facility and a drinking water well on adjoining property about 80 feet away. A 100 foot wide swale runs across the property. Other nearby properties failed to pass groundwater testing for a septic. Several properties in the area have elevated sand mounds for septic systems related to high ground water. A six foot wide irrigation ditch runs along the western boundary of the property.
DEQ stated in a letter that it would be considering historical use of the property, fluid disposal, shielding potential, storm water disposal, vegetation and soils, and aesthetics in its consideration of the application.
Gene Honey, who operates an auto wrecking business in Darby, complained that Nickerson had been operating an auto wrecking facility illegally for over a year and his own business was suffering from the illegal competition. He presented two letters from DEQ to Nickerson, one dated January 28, 2010 and one dated April 9, 2010, telling Nickerson that based upon his business practices as reported and observed he was in violation of the law and should cease his unlawful operations until he is licensed. Honey also presented 16 signatures to letters of opposition from other citizens.
Two Hamilton City Council members, Nancy Hendrickson and Jenny West, also told the commissioners that the city council and mayor were in opposition to the license. Hendrickson said it was not an appropriate use of the area. She said the area is mostly residential and that the city’s plans for the area emphasize residential development and light industrial. West agreed, stating the mayor had submitted a letter stating the city’s opposition.
The Ravalli County Council on Aging, which has a facility in the area, also has plans for developing senior residential housing on the property and also opposes the auto wrecking facility license.
Several residents along Angel Lane also opposed the facility license, claiming that it would destroy the quality of life and property values in the neighborhood. Concerns about effects on wells and groundwater were also expressed.
Nickerson told the commissioners that he had moved from a property on the south side of Hamilton because the neighbors didn’t like it. He said no matter where he goes he will likely get opposition from the neighbors. He said that he was aiming to provide a business that was much needed in the valley and if he was refused a license at this spot he would probably move to Idaho.
Commissioner Greg Chilcott agreed that an auto wrecking yard was an essential business for the county, but noted that the law requires the commissioners to consider the potential negative effects on the quality of life of adjoining landowners.
Commissioner Matt Kanenwisher agreed with Chilcott, saying it was a much needed business. “But I don’t agree that this is the only place for it,” said Kanenwisher.
Commissioner Suzy Foss said that she was an ardent supporter of business and a strong supporter of recycling, but that this facility was proposed at the gateway to a neighborhood and would have an effect on the neighborhood’s property values. She, too, said that there were other places in the county that would work better for such a facility.
Commissioner Ron Stoltz disagreed, saying that the historical use of the property included having old vehicles around and doing machine work and allowing the wrecking facility would not be a significant change. He said if an active business on the site was going to destroy the quality of life in the neighborhood, it would already be destroyed.
Commission Chair J.R. Iman said that since the county had no zoning, the City of Hamilton does have the right to extend its planning and zoning beyond the city limits into this area.
Nickerson said late in the meeting that he was willing to address all the neighbors’ concerns with appropriate fencing, maybe a new entrance to the neighborhood, and other mitigating factors.
Chilcott stated that Nickerson should have done more to work with his neighbors before coming to the commission. He suggested that if Nickerson could work with his neighbors and come to some agreeable plan that the commissioners could delay their decision at least until the March 18 deadline set by DEQ.
Nickerson said he would like to try working something out, and as a result, the commissioners delayed their decision and continued the public hearing until March 18, at 9 a.m.
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By Michael Howell
Watchmaking has an interesting history going back to the 1500s, according to Michael Sharkey, owner of the newly-opened Watchmaker for the Stars in Stevensville, but wristwatches are a relatively modern phenomena.
“If you go back before the 1920s to the 1910s,” said Sharkey, “you won’t see any wristwatches.”
Sharkey is a ‘walking encyclopedia’ when it comes to the history of watches. He said that the move away from carrying pocket watches began in Europe and was primarily a women’s fashion. “Real men,” said Sharkey, “still carried a pocket watch and considered wristwatches to be a feminine fad.” This was so in United States until World War II, he said, when G.I.s returning from Europe brought home a new appreciation for wristwatches gleaned from their experience in the trenches. Accessing the time by glancing at your wrist, rather than having to remove a timepiece from your pocket, was quite an asset on the battlefield. And ultimately it proved to be more convenient in most kinds of jobs, once accepted as “manly enough,” of course.
The rise in popularity of the wristwatch eventually spelled the end of the “pocket watch era”. By 1950 the wristwatch ruled in America.
Even before the invention of the wristwatch, in the case of the first “mobile” clocks, the primary difficulty was in achieving any practical level of accuracy. As soon as the first mechanical clocks were invented that could keep somewhat accurate time, it was recognized that a “mobile” clock would allow for an accurate determination of longitude and thus be invaluable in navigation.
The problem, however, carrying a mechanical clock at sea, has to do with gravity. The movements of the clock are all based upon a balance wheel. If you tilt the balance, it will affect the movement of the wheel, slowing it down or speeding it up as the case may be. On board a ship that is almost always rocking to and fro, and side to side, keeping accurate time with the mechanical clocks of the day was not feasible.
As a result, the King of England, in the early 1700s, offered a cash prize to anyone who could invent an accurate way to determine longitude at sea. The court astronomers failed. But a carpenter named John Harrison submitted a clock made of wood and metal, about the size of a small old-fashioned TV set. That clock failed in its sea trial, but worked well enough that the King decided to award Harrison half the prize money. Harrison used the prize money and eventually developed a clock that would work. This clock looked more like a very large pocket watch and was accurate to within a few seconds per day. The pieces of this clock designed by Harrison were discovered in storage at one point in time and reassembled and the clock is now on display at the Maritime Museum in London and is still keeping time today, according to Sharkey.
Modern mechanical watches, which all function basically on a balance wheel, are not immune from the forces of gravity any more than Harrison’s clocks. They have simply gotten a little better at dealing with those forces. Sharkey has a machine in his shop that can analyze the performance of a watch in various positions, right side up, upside down and sideways. In each case the watch will perform differently depending upon the position it is in, either ticking faster or slower. By monitoring the tick of the watch via a microphone, and measuring the time lapse of the interval between ticks, the machine can make a determination of how much time the watch is gaining or losing each day.
One of the first major innovations in wristwatches, according to Sharkey, was the introduction of a tiny tuning fork into Bulova’s Accutron model in the 1960s. This not only increased the accuracy of the timepiece, but also had the effect of a second hand sweeping around the face so smoothly that it did not appear to be ticking. This was a short-lived innovation, as the tuning fork would be replaced by the use of a crystal by the end of the 1970s.
But Accutron watches are still around. Sharkey has a collection of them.
“It was the first watch on the moon,” said Sharkey. “And there’s one on the moon today. It’s in the Lunar Landing Module that still sits on the moon’s surface.”
The mass production and subsequent popularity of inexpensive, battery operated crystal watches revolutionized the wristwatch industry.
“Swiss watchmakers had a hard time competing,” said Sharkey.
Sharkey said that as a result, one major Swiss watchmaking company started pumping out the new cheaper watches and took the revenue and bought up the other Swiss watchmaking companies as well as the machine parts manufacturing companies and distributors.
Then came the digital revolution. The first digital watch was produced in 1971. It did precipitate a decline in the use of wristwatches.
“But in the 1990s, when there was lots of disposable income, people became enamored with fine watches again,” said Sharkey. As a result, he said, over 75 million Swiss watches were sold.
“Those watches will need servicing in years to come,” said Sharkey. “In some ways there’s never been a better time to be a watchmaker.”
The Rolex Company alone, he said, recognized the need for skilled watchmakers to service what it had already sold, as well as future sales. He said the company put $1 million into creating a school to train new watchmakers. The school produces a maximum of 12 graduates per year. He said the Watchmakers of Switzerland Training and Education Program (WOSTEP) certify the training that takes two years and about 3,000 hours of study. Sharkey attended the WOSTEP school in Seattle from 2002 to 2004. He moved to Stevensville last October and has opened up shop in the Kohl Building on West Third in Stevensville.
Besides determining how fast or slow your timepiece is, Sharkey can also determine if it is up to the standards for water resistance, often expressed in numbers of feet underwater on the face of the watch, by placing it in his pressure tester. Sharkey said that the pressure placed on a watch actually bends the crystal inside the watch. His machine not only puts the watch under a measured amount of air pressure, it monitors the bend in the crystal. If the crystal begins to straighten out after being pressurized, it means there is a leak in the watch. To determine the actual spot that is leaking requires a water test in which emerging air bubbles will indicate the location of the leak.
Sharkey has an automated washing machine for cleaning watch parts. The average single function watch that only keeps time can have about 75 individual parts. Some watches that have multiple functions, such as date, stop watch, alarms, etc. can have several hundred individual parts.
Once disassembled, the watch pieces are placed in stacked baskets and placed in the machine. The machine successively washes, rinses, rinses again and dries the basket loads. A buffing machine helps make old parts look like new. Sharkey also has an ultrasonic cleaning machine for special projects.
When a part is simply not available, Sharkey has a small lathe with which to make his own. The pieces are then tempered in a bed of brass filings by heating until hot and then plunging it into a water or oil bath.
“You want a piece of metal in the end that is not too brittle, which is hard but flexible,” he said. “The metal goes through a series of color changes in the tempering process and we stop it at blue,” he said. He said that any further change, toward red hot, for instance, and the product would be too brittle. He said that bluing steel had proven itself to be the best balance of durability and flexibility in steel parts.
Sharkey has a very interesting collection of clocks and watches. Besides repairing and selling watches, Sharkey also sells watchbands and a selection of batteries to fit every kind of watch.
He has a website under construction. He can be found at his shop in the Kohl Building at 115 West Third St., Suite 209, Monday through Friday from 9 to 5 (and sometimes on Saturday), or he can be reached on the phone at 777-5770.
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By Michael Howell
Although the overall population of gray wolves in the region has declined over the past year, the population in Montana has grown.
According to recently released federal records, the number of gray wolves in the northwest region fell in 2010, declining from an estimated 1,733 in 2009 to 1,651 last year in a population that ranges through Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Oregon and Washington. The number of breeding pairs also declined from 115 to 111. The decline was largely due to federal trapping and aerial gunning, which killed 260 wolves during 2010.
A 19 percent decline in wolf numbers in Idaho, from 870 to 705 animals, accounted for the regional decline despite slight population growth in Montana (524 to 566) and Wyoming (320 to 343). In Oregon and Washington, 37 wolves, including three breeding pairs, were counted in 2010, up from 19 wolves in the two states the year before.
According to Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks' 2010 annual wolf program report, as of December 31, 2010, FWP documented at least 566 wolves in 108 verified packs, 35 of which qualified as a “breeding pair.” That’s about an 8% increase from last year, compared to 4% in 2009 when total wolf mortality (including public harvest) appeared to slow down the rate of population growth. Wolf population growth rate picked up in 2010, according to the report, due in part to the inability to proactively manage the population through fair chase, regulated hunting. A minimum of 140 pups were documented in 2010.
“I'm certain we could have successfully reduced the wolf population in 2010 if we could have proceeded with our planned, science-based hunting season," said FWP Director Joe Maurier. "When you look at our management success in 2009, we had a vigorous wolf population at the end of the year and we were still able to control its growth. It's clear that a management strategy that includes hunting can play an important role in managing wolves in Montana. It is a tool we need and one we're still trying to get back."
The annual report states that the wolf population in Montana at the end of 2010 included at least 326 wolves in 68 packs, with 21 breeding pairs in Northwestern Montana; at least 122 wolves in 21 packs, with 8 breeding pairs in Western Montana; and at least 118 wolves in 19 packs, with 6 breeding pairs in Southwestern Montana. One pack is located on the Blackfeet Reservation and five packs occur on the Flathead Indian reservations.
Twenty-four packs straddle the Montana/Idaho border, and 18 of them are counted in Montana. Six others are counted in the Idaho population. Six packs straddle the Montana/Wyoming border, and four of them are counted in the Montana population.
A total of 179 wolf mortalities were documented in Montana in 2010, 79% of which were livestock related. The remaining mortalities were: 1 legal harvest in Canada, 11 car/train strikes, 13 illegal, 3 incidental and agency-related, 1 self defense, and 9 unknown. Twelve packs were removed due to chronic conflicts with livestock.
Efforts continue in the U.S. Congress to remove the Gray Wolf from protection under the Endangered Species Act. A rider attached to both the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate versions of the continuing resolution spending bill would permanently and irrevocably remove wolves in the northern Rocky Mountains from the endangered species list. If passed, wolves would be the first endangered species to have their protections removed by politicians, as opposed to the science-based process prescribed in the Endangered Species Act.
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By Michael Howell
At its March 1 meeting, the Hamilton City Council went into executive session concerning an agenda item listed only as a “personnel issue.” Upon emerging from the closed session the Council approved a motion to “agree with the Mayor’s change of duties and conditions for the Public Works Director position.”
Mayor Jerry Steele later explained the motion to the Bitterroot Star as removing several duties from the job description of the Public Works Director and reducing the salary for the position accordingly. Steele said the duties being removed from the director’s authority were primarily related to budgetary matters. He said that the reduction in salary would amount to about $12,000 per year.
Steele said that if Public Works Director Keith Smith “does better by the end of the year, we may consider reinstating the full salary.”
Special Projects Director still on administrative leave
Special Projects Director Dennis Stranger remains on administrative leave pending the outcome of an internal investigation of an undisclosed nature. Mayor Steele told the Bitterroot Star on Monday that the investigation being conducted by City Attorney Ken Bell would probably be wrapped up this week.
City agrees to use of park for baseball
The Hamilton City Council approved a new agreement with the Bitterroot Red Sox American Legion Baseball Inc. for the use of the City of Hamilton’s Vester Wilson Athletic Field and one with the Hamilton Babe Ruth Baseball for the use of the Vester Wilson Athletic Field, including the two small fields.
Mayor Steele said that changes to the agreements were minor. He said it is a one-year contract instead of a two-year contract like the last one.
“It’s also designed to allow the use of the parks by more of the public by ensuring that after the baseball season is over the use of the park reverts back to the City,” said Steele.
In other business the Council:
- held a public hearing and approved a resolution closing and vacating certain portions of Baker Street and S. 6th Street.
- held a public hearing and approved on first reading an ordinance approving a Rezone Request for the Ravalli County Courthouse and Museum, located at 205 Bedford Street.
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