W. Glacier looks at regs for housing

A committee of business leaders and residents in West Glacier will take another look at designing new regulations to allow for seasonal employee housing under the Canyon Land Use Regulatory system.

The process was actually started about a year ago, but faltered. Flathead County Planning Director Mark Mussman suggested that employee housing under a draft proposal could be done as a minor land use, with stringent performance standards, during a meeting last week with the public and members of the Middle Canyon Land Use Advisory Committee.

But after a discussion that lasted about an hour, the board moved to create a new committee that will look at the matter further. There didn’t appear to be much appetite from the crowd to simply have it a minor land use — because neighbors under minor land uses aren’t notified.

Mayre Flowers of Citizens for the Better Flathead also did an analysis of the first draft. In a report to the board, she found several deficiencies, including a provision that she claimed would exempt employee housing from subdivision review — a violation of state law.

So it’s back to the drawing board.

The new committee will include Pursuit representatives and other business owners as well as residents. Longtime West Glacier resident Steve Frye will chair the committee.

The goal is to come up with recommendations for performance standards and other regulations for employee housing in the area by this fall. Email Mussman at:mmussman@flathead.mt.gov for more information.

— Hungry Horse News

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is taking public comment on plans for a new tire landfill near Polson.

Tire Depot has filed an application for a Class III tire monofill, which would be located on 40 acres about 3.5 miles southeast of Polson, near the site of its current facility. The property was used as a gravel source for Treasure State Concrete and is currently an open pit.

According to application documents filed by Tire Depot owner Vern Reum, the landfill will have a lifespan of about 48 years. At the end of the landfill life, the area will be closed and used for range land or open space. The total area proposed for tire disposal is 28 acres. The remaining 12 acres will be used for access roads, facility operations including soil stockpiling, storage and staging of cut and fill material, and equipment storage.

Tires will be shredded and placed into the landfill in trenches in 25-foot lifts. Once a lift is placed, 5 feet of soil will be placed over the tires. Another lift of tires will be placed over the first lift to reach the elevation of the existing ground around the pit. The fill progression will move south from the first trench.

The Tire Depot will place soil cover on the entire working area every 90 days. Ten-foot wide “berms” will be installed between cells which act as a fire break.

Should a fire break out, the Tire Depot has 25,000 gallons of water available in an underground cistern, which will be used for fighting fires as well as dust control A liquid tire foam additive is also stored on site. The company also has sandy loam stored on the property. In the event of a tire fire, Treasure State Gravel in Polson will provide heavy earthmoving equipment to smother the blaze before it progresses too quickly, the DEQ application states.

The public may submit comments until July 24; email DEQSWProgram@mt.gov or mail to the Waste and Underground Tank Management Bureau, Solid Waste Program, P.O. Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620-0901. Call 406-444-5300 for more information or guidance.

— Lake County Leader

An equipment failure at the Lincoln County Detention Center is threatening to curtail local law enforcement officers’ ability to house inmates.

Surveillance cameras installed inside cells malfunctioned in recent weeks, said Lincoln County Sheriff Darren Short and Undersheriff Brad Dodson. Without a video feed, detention center staff cannot monitor inmates inside the cells, Short said.

“Without the camera system working, we can’t have somebody in there,” Short said. “We can’t maintain observation of them.”

Short and Dodson asked the Lincoln County commissioners on July 1 for approval to replace the system. When County Administrator Pat McFadden proposed fixing the cameras as part of a larger overhaul of the security system at the courthouse complex, which houses the detention center, the pair emphasized the urgency of their request.

Short said they already had spoken with the county’s head of information technology and learned of plans to replace the courthouse building’s surveillance cameras. The needs at the detention center required immediate attention, Short and Dodson said.

The shortcomings of the building’s cameras came into focus during the Black Lives Matter rally in June, he said. Although the video feeds worked, those monitoring the footage could not make out the individuals caught on camera with any degree of certainty.

Given the unknowns, the officers were advised to contact a vendor and bring in an expert to assess the problem and also look for possible temporary fixes in the meantime.

— The Western News

Two online GoFundMe fundraising campaigns have been set up to help the families of Emily Mohler and Cody Nevins, who were both stabbed to death June 30 at her home near Olney.

Mohler’s 3-year-old daughter Piper was also stabbed to death allegedly by Mohler’s ex-husband Kameron Barge.

“Funds will be used by the family for Emily and Piper’s end-of-life needs and to help give Emily’s children the life she dreamed for them,” according to the GoFundMe page.

Emily was well-known in the Whitefish community, where she worked as a self-employed photographer and goldsmith.

Emily is survived by four children, her mother Jan, father Tom, brothers Josh (Mandy), Sam (Cora) and Isaac (Alexis), and nephews and nieces. Remaining funds after end-of-life costs for Emily and Piper will be managed by the intended guardians of Emily’s children to help with living and educational costs. Funds will go into a designated bank account to be dispersed at the discretion of the guardians.

Classmates from the Bigfork High School Class of 1996 have started the GoFundMe page in honor of Cody Nevins.

Nevins was an artist and educated at the at the Art Institute of Seattle followed by a job at Universal Studios. He had a love for small town life, the outdoors and family, which brought him back to Montana, the GoFundMe description stated. All donations are to be gifted to a college fund for Cody’s two children.

Both pages mention supporting those impacted by domestic violence.

Go to gofundme.com to donate to the Emily Mohler Memorial Fund and Supporting Cody Nevins Fund.

— Whitefish Pilot