We sell
licenses
PRST STD US POSTAGE PAID STEVENSVILLE MT PERMIT 89
• • 777-2822 • • 4039 HWY 93 N STEVENSVILLE
OUTLET STORE
For all your ammunition & Hunting needs
www.ammoandmorestore.com
Covering the Bitterroot Valley – “Where Montana Begins!”
‘The Volume XXXIV, Number 28
Established 1985 - Locally owned & independent
’ ! l a c o L Best at
Section A
Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Amish community chooses Stevensville area
By Michael Howell
In the Stevensville area, particularly east of town, readers may have noticed the increased horsedrawn vehicle traffic. That’s just one of the signs of the growing number of Amish families moving into the area. Marcus Hostetler, who lives in the North Burnt Fork area, moved to the Bitterroot with his family in 2015 from St. Ignatius. He said that Amish communities generally try not to grow too large in one spot. He said once they get up to 20 or 25 families in a community, they usually start thinking of establishing a new community. He said his family was the first to relocate here, but they were soon followed by his wife’s parents. He said currently there are 10 families in the local Amish church. Not all of them are from St. Ignatius. They already have members from Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan. Although all Amish communities generally follow the Articles of Faith as adopted by their Anabaptist forefathers at Dordrecht, Holland in 1632 as a general expression of their faith, according to Hostetler, each Amish community forms its own set of codes and guidelines that are written into a contract. Theirs is called the “Expression of faith and guidelines for the Stevensville Montana Church.” Although all communities may agree on the basics, each community’s rules may vary in some of the details. This document is often discussed and may be changed if all the men in the community are in agreement. For instance, this community’s contract was changed from its initial strictures to allow bridal parties to wear more colorful clothing. The community’s general
This iconic emblem of Amish life, the black enclosed buggy pulled by an exceptionally well-trained horse, is now something that is seen regularly on the roads east of Stevensville. An Amish community of about 10 families has made the Bitterroot their permanent home. Michael Howell photo. dress code calls for modesty in all forms of apparel. “Not form-fitting. No bright colors such as red, orange, yellow or pink. Clothes to be of plain material. No casual dress in worship services. No hoods or coats or sweatshirts.” It goes on in some detail, resulting in
a very conservative dress code. In this particular community, men are required to have beards. “No parting of hair in front. No shingled hair, no mustache. Hats to be worn. No western, cowboystyle or ten-gallon hats.” It goes on.
County considers purchasing Big Sky Church building Ravalli County Commissioners are considering an offer to purchase the Big Sky Baptist Church building located just north of the county administration building on S. 4th in Hamilton. Pastor Steve Clark approached the county with an offer to sell the building to the county for a good price if there was any interest. Commissioner Greg Chilcott worked with Clark and came up with a draft buy/sell agreement for $240,000. At a meeting last Thursday, the potential deal was discussed publicly for the first time. Commissioner chair Jeff Burrows
had the county attorney review the proposed buy/sell and Deputy County Attorney Howard Recht provided a few guidelines for consideration. First off the law requires that the county not pay more than the appraised value of the property. So an appraisal will have to be conducted and come in at or higher than the proposed $240,000 sale price. Clark is confident that it will. The buy/sell also had a condition allowing the sellers to occupy the building after the signing of the buy sell for up to a year for free. Burrows said the law does not allow the county to rent space
for free. They must get market value for renting space and allow other parties a chance to rent it. Both parties seemed to think that the difficulties could be resolved. But the county will first have to have an appraisal done. A meeting was scheduled for February 6th at 9:00 a.m. to decide if the county will foot the bill for the appraisal. Pastor Clark said that his congregation had outgrown the old church building especially in terms of parking. He said they are considering the purchase of a new, larger property on Kurtz Lane. Burrows said the county was already looking for overflow room and had considered purchasing the Dowling Funeral Home, but it did not pan out. He said the Big Sky Baptist Church building was in good shape and located adjacent to the county’s administration building. Burrows said they could easily move some part of their operations over there without much work on the building. Burrows said, “Given its location and price, it’s a reasonable investment.”
Ravalli County is considering the purchase of the Big Sky Baptist Church property on S. 4th. A meeting on the proposal is scheduled for February 6 at 9 a.m.
For women, “clothes must be of plain material, not transparent or form-fitting. Sleeves not too short… Sleeves to be plain or elastic just at the end - no ruffles. No low necklines…. capes or bib aprons are worn.” Etc. You get the picture. No frills. No flair. Nothing
ostentatious. Farming and home businesses are encouraged. Hostetler Construction operates a small log home building company. The logs are currently obtained from another Amish businessman in Idaho. He assembles the log
homes on his four-acre place along North Burnt Fork Road. Hostetler said that the Amish community is not a commune. Each family is independent, owning their own homes and businesses. Another thriving Amish business, Frontier Fencing, owned by David Kauffman, is located on the Eastside Highway just north of Stevensville. The code is: “Boys and girls should work at home, if possible, and not be under the influence of modernism, radio, TV, etc. No computers…No auto driving or owning…” Hostetler said that this community does allow electricity in the homes and also allows the use of word processors without an internet connection. They also allow the use of farm equipment with some restrictions and the use of a basic cell phone if required for work. Hunting and fishing are not prohibited but too much hunting and fishing for sport is discouraged. He said the rules are applied with great “patience, humility and admonition” as it says in the contract. There are also rules for the buggies. “Buggies are to be plain with nothing for pride. Have good lights, flashers and emblems as the law requires. No extra loops and rings on harness. Always be courteous when driving on the road. Obey traffic laws.” There is no requirement for any kind of horse, but most are using Standard Breed out of preference and there are a few in the community with Dutch Harness or Morgan horses. Simple bicycles can also be used for necessary travel. Hostetler said that some of See AMISH, page A2
Stevensville Town Council Michalson/Barker agenda fizzles
By Michael Howell
Following some blistering opening comments from the public and town staff at the beginning of last Thursday’s Stevensville Town Council meeting, a cluster of controversial agenda items presented by Councilmembers Bob Michalson and Stacie Barker either just fizzled out without a motion, failed to get a second, or were voted down. The notion of abolishing the Park Board fizzled in discussion and no motion to abolish was made. The demand for establishment of a private office and library for council members fizzled and no motion was made. A motion was made by Michalson to abolish all social media and quit video-taping and broadcasting the council meetings but it died for lack of being seconded. A motion made by Michalson to require the Chief of Police, Chief of the Fire Department, the Town Clerk, all Deputy Clerks and the Finance Officer/Treasurer to be residents of the Town of Stevensville failed on a 3 to 1 vote, with Michalson casting the dissenting vote. The public jumped in to comment on several of the agenda items in the general comment period even before they were actually taken up by the council. In correspondence, one resident of the town called a few of the items “alarming,” stating that she had lived through the transition from closed door government
to more open transparent government and called the proposal to abolish social media sites and quit live broadcasting the meetings “a step backward.” Regarding residency requirements, she said the law refers to “qualifications.” She wrote that she had looked it up and qualifications have to do with “a quality or skill that fits a person for an office, not residency.” About abolishing the Park Board, she wrote, “Why would you want less people involved in government?” Six small business owners also submitted a joint letter of comment, stating they use the Town’s facebook page and rely on it for updates about crime, activity at the school and town events. They found the idea of residency requirements for town staff to be “irrational.” They said the town needed applicants who were qualified, not necessarily residents. Town Clerk Audree Tribbensee told the council that several of the items directly or indirectly affect her and deserved comment. She said the supplemental material submitted with some of the items contained inaccurate, wrong information. She contested the idea that the mayor allowed members of the public to belittle and bully members of the council to allow intimidation to be used against the council in order to influence decisions. “Several members of the council initially chose Crews [for
a vacant council position] and then rescinded it,” said Tribbensee. “The public spoke professionally, intelligently and rationally about their opinions. It is the public’s absolute right and civic duty to participate in their government.” She said it was “shameful” that the council was trying to get the mayor to repress the public’s participation in the process. She said the accusations that the staff are monitoring and censoring the town’s Facebook comments was not true. She said Facebook has its own system for censoring profanity and they hide it, but they don’t delete it. Tribbensee said that it was her, not the mayor as they alleged, who told Michalson that he could not access the Town’s original documents without supervision. She said she would help him with his research and give him copies of whatever he wanted but would not hand over any original documents. Tribbensee told the council that she experienced a serious situation in September involving the deletion of over 500 documents important for the Town’s functioning that were stored in an online storage system called DropBox, where they can be shared with the mayor, staff and council. Only certain personnel and the council were authorized to use it. She said Michalson chose to add Jim Crews and Mark Adams to the list for See STEVI, page A10