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Ice arena still planned in Polson

| March 9, 2020 1:00 AM

Several years ago a group of Mission Valley locals put a plan into action to bring an ice arena to Polson.

They formed the Mission Valley Ice Arena Association and fundraising commenced. Now, six-plus years later, this collection of ice sport enthusiasts are still in pursuit of bringing about the rink. Hilary Lozar, one of the original curators for this idea, and the association’s board of directors, are relentlessly pushing forward despite hiccups in the plan.

Lozar explained that a developer donated a plot of land near the aquatics center in Polson for the prospective ice arena. However, shortly after securing the building site, the board of directors and the developer all discovered there was an issue with the sewer permits available at that location.

This issue has slowed the progress on the arena to a frustrating pace.

“What we can say is that we continue to make progress,” Lozar said. “It’s slower than we’d all like to see, but we are not going to give up on it. We are going to push through and find a resolution one way or another.”

Lozar said there are a few options to resolve this issue, but the developer is not getting back to her inquiries about which route to take. If they can form a plan by either shifting existing permits or building a new sewer system for the ice arena specifically, then Polson’s ice rink will be in the very final funding stage with breaking ground in sight.

“We can’t ask for big donations with a good conscious if we can’t tell people right now where we will build for sure, so we’re sort of stalled right now,” Lozar said. “But we’re so close to having the money we need to build. We can almost taste it, but we can’t make that last step to finalize our fundraising efforts.

Lozar is anticipating the Mission Valley Ice Arena bringing a lot of people to Polson and boosting the economy. The rinks in the surrounding areas of Whitefish, Kalispell and Missoula are always packed, and Lozar said she anticipates the same for Mission Valley.

— Lake County Leader

The city of Whitefish is exploring future options for its central recycling site currently located on the city-owned snow lot.

The snow lot, named because it’s where the city stores snow removed from downtown, is at the corner of Columbia Avenue and Railway Street. The city in 2016 consolidated its recycling into one centralized site at the snow lot after closing several satellite recycling locations.

However, now the city, after several years of planning, is trying to finalize plans to develop an affordable housing project on the property and needs to find a new location for recycling.

City Manager Dana Smith said the city is also renegotiating its contact with Republic Services, which it contracts with for garbage and recycling services.

During a recent work session, the City Council seemed to favor exploring the option of moving the recycling site to the Mountain Mall. The location would still need to be negotiated with the mall, but council directed Smith to explore that option.

Smith said other options included locating the recycling at the city’s wastewater treatment plant property off Monegan Road, but that site is farther from the city center, or at the Public Works shop, but that’s accessed by 18th Street which is a narrow street.

Representatives from Republic Services also attended the meeting to discuss recycling services with Council.

Mike Cross, general manager for Republic Services based in Great Falls, said the company plans to continue its recycling service at the city’s site, but recycling does face challenges on a broader scale and at the Whitefish site.

“There are some challenges at the current site,” he said. “We want to be a better partner working with the city and the school and look at ways to improve things such as through education moving forward.”

Specifically in Whitefish, he noted, because the site is unmanned often items are left beside the recycling bins that should be taken to the landfill or items that can’t be recycled are put into the bins. While bins become contaminated with items that aren’t recyclable, the company still takes those to be recycled but has to pay a penalty for the contamination.

— Whitefish Pilot

Thompson Falls Mayor Jerry Lacy unexpectedly resigned last week, according to the Sanders County Ledger.

Lacy, a retired Thompson Falls Public Works Director, was sworn in as mayor in November 2018 after Mark Sheets resigned from the position. No reason was stated in the article about Lacy’s abrupt departure.

Thompson Falls City Council President Raoul Ribeiro will serve as interim mayor. “I will do whatever I can do to help the city through this transition,” Ribeiro told the Ledger.

The city of Thompson Falls will be accepting letters of interest for the mayor’s job through March 20.

— Sanders County Ledger

The Eureka Quilt Show will be held this year in its full capacity, reported the Tobacco Valley News.

Organizers had planned to scale back the annual show on the first Saturday in August because of a lack of volunteers, but a new volunteer coordinator has stepped forward, so it’s all systems go.

The annual show features more than 500 quilts on display at the Historical Village in Eureka and in business storefronts.

—Tobacco Valley News

A woman accused of setting a church on fire in Alberton last month made bail and allegedly continued to terrorize community members in the small village.

Denim Renee Howard, who Mineral County authorities believe set the fire that caused extensive damage to the United Methodist Church in Alberton on Feb. 4, recently made bail after she pleaded not guilty Feb. 19, according to court documents. She had been booked on charges of arson, burglary, two counts of criminal mischief and possession of burglary tools, and was first incarcerated in the Sanders County Jail before being moved to the Flathead County Detention Center. She was back in custody in Flathead County as of Feb. 27.

Howard is now facing additional charges of two counts of criminal mischief and one for violating her terms of release.

According to Mineral County Attorney Ellen Donahue, Howard ran away from her mother while they were in Missoula to see a movie Feb. 24. This violated one of the conditions of Howard’s release — that she remain with her mother, who lives in Bonner.

Howard’s mother reported calling police in Missoula, but allegedly not Mineral County law enforcement or Howard’s attorney.

According to court documents, on Feb. 25, Howard is accused of using a stick to break a plate glass window at one location, of breaking two outside lights at Trax Bar. She was also allegedly seen near the United Methodist Church.

Firefighters were able to knock down the blaze at the Methodist Church before it spread beyond the basement. The church did have heavy smoke damage, however. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and has been a fixture in Alberton since 1912.

— Mineral Independent