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Volume XXII, Number 35

Wednesday, April 4, 2007

To set back, or not to set back?

By Michael Howell

It's no wonder that Jack Mauer brought his 310 Permit complaint to a county meeting concerning the establishment of a Streamside Setback Committee. A streamside setback regulation might be the best answer to his kind of complaint. His complaint has to do with the placement of a new home near the bank of the Bitterroot River, south of Hamilton. Too close to the river bank, if you ask the veteran floater and fishing guide. Too close for too many good reasons, says Mauer. Mauer also believes that the landowner's efforts to fortify the new structure's precarious position by cutting trees elsewhere along the bank and cabling them to the bank in front of his house to prevent erosion was done without the proper permits. So was the cutting of the large Ponderosa pine tree on the bank directly in front of the new home site to provide a view of the peaks called the Como Sisters, according to Mauer. More...


Jack Mauer claims that this photo (left) of trees felled upon the riverbank along Jim Cote's property shows that the trees were not "bug killed" and that the trees were cabled to the bank which would have required a 310 Permit. Mauer considers his photo (below) of the Cote home on the bank of the Bitterroot River south of Hamilton to be the "poster child" of the streamside setback movement. Mauer has filed a complaint with the Bitterroot Conservation District alleging that bank stabilization efforts done to protect the house were done without the appropriate permit. The Bitterroot River has changed course and carved away at the bank, currently reaching within 40 feet of the new home. The tree stump and group of cabled logs seen in the top photo have already been washed downstream. The homeowner has already devised a new stabilization project aimed at stopping the river at it's current position.



Groundbreaking held at Victor School

It was a day some thought would never come in Victor on Monday. Ground was broken for the new Arts and Science Complex as well as additional new classrooms for the Victor School. A little more than six years ago, the Victor Schools Foundation took on the daunting task of raising $1 million to match a grant from the Mary Stuart Rogers Foundation of $1 million. The funds were to be used for a new complex which would house an auditorium, band room, science room and lab. Through many generous donations, golf tournaments and looking under almost every rock in the valley, the Victor Schools Foundation reached their goal on December 31, 2005. More...


Commissioners hear from state about new air quality standards

By Michael Howell

State officials from the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) spoke to the Ravalli County Commissioners last week about the 1997 Ambient Air Quality Standards that have reduced the allowable quantity of fine particulate matter in the atmosphere. Newly reduced ambient air quality standards for fine particulates have placed Ravalli County in violation of the state standards. The county needs to address these violations before the new standards take effect in the year 2010, according to state officials. More...


 

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