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Covering the Bitterroot Valley – “Where Montana Begins!”
Volume XXXV, Number 15
Best Body of Work
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Covering the Bitterroot Valley – “Where Montana Begins!”
Commissioners make decision on Hayes Creek Road issue By Michael Howell
Bitterroot artist Bobbie McKibbin seen here working on a landscape along the Firehole River in Yellowstone National Park. Photo by Yellowstone Forever’s photographer Matt Ludin.
Hayes Creek Road, located on the west side of the valley south of Hamilton in the Charlos Heights area, will remain open up to the Forest Service boundary where public vehicle traffic is restricted. At a meeting on October 23, the Ravalli County Commissioners took the position that Hayes Creek Road is a public road, created by prescriptive easement until a court determines otherwise. This means, according to Deputy County Attorney Dan Browder, that the gate placed across the roadway by a local landowner can be considered an obstruction to the public right of way. The commissioners also moved to contact the landowners about the obstruction along with a notice that the obstruction must be removed immediately. In Montana, the public establishes a prescriptive easement across private property after five years of adverse use.
The commissioners viewed aerial photos from the 1970s showing that the current roadway, which deviates from the platted right of way, was in place at that time. Browder said that there is a 1942 aerial photo that “shows it pretty much where it is now.” Browder, from the beginning maintained that the county has a very strong case for prescriptive easement based on this evidence. In terms of the county’s legal liabilities over the issue he noted that the landowner who placed the gate across the road, Mr. German, does not own the property on which the gate was placed, which belongs to a woman named Patricia Jennings. Consequently German may lack standing to argue his point in court. Darby District Ranger Eric Winthers said that the Forest Service believes it is a county road up to the Forest Service boundary where it becomes a Forest Service road. The forest road is currently closed to public vehicular use (except for one property owner
further up the road requiring access) but open to the public on foot or by horse. Winthers said that the agency has understood that it is a county road since a 1989 letter from the Ravalli County Attorney at the time confirmed it. “We recommend maintaining the status quo,” he said. Commission Chair Jeff Burrows said that even if the road was built within the platted easement it would not remove the prescriptive right that the public already has on the other roadway and would not address the issues being raised by the landowners which have more to do with littering and trespassing problems. Commissioner Greg Chilcott said, “It would be nice to be talking to the property owner, Mrs. Jennings.” After going round and round with Mr. German without any real resolution, the commissioners finally made their decision to contact the landowners and have the obstruction removed.
McKibbin awarded Best Body of Work at prestigious show Permit issued for gravel pit
By Michael Howell
Local artist Bobbie McKibbin has returned from the second annual Yellowstone Plein Air Invitational with more honors. McKibbin’s work earned her an award for excellence in the 2018 inaugural Invitational. This time she was awarded the Best Body of Work award for the entirety of the work that she produced at the 2019 event.
The 5-day invitational held in Yellowstone National Park is put on by the Yellowstone Forever Institute and celebrates the current and historical presence of art in Yellowstone. This year 16 of the best artists in the nation participated in painting “en plein air” (outside on-site) demonstrations in several places around the park including Specimen Ridge Trailhead, Yellowstone Lake, Artist Point, and Castle Geyser.
Artist Bobbie McKibbin with one of her Yellowstone pieces and the award she received at the recent Yellowstone Plein Air Invitational. Michael Howell photo.
FWP seeking info on mule deer found in Charley’s Gulch east of Hamilton
Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks game wardens are seeking information on two mule deer bucks that were shot and left on private property near the end of Charley’s Gulch Road east of Hamilton. Access to this area is predominately through Charley’s Gulch Block Management Area (BMA). The deer were shot and abandoned just off the road, near where it’s gated at the boundary of US Forest Service land. Only a small portion of meat was taken from one deer, and the rest was left to waste. Anyone who visited this specific area during the first few
days of November is encouraged to call Warden Singleterry directly at 406-240-0764 to report any observations they had. Information can also be reported to FWP by calling 1-800-TIP-MONT (1-800847-6668). Callers can remain anonymous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to a conviction. In related news, hunter success rates increased in second week of big game hunting season. Latest results on deer and elk harvest in our area can be found on page 14.
Park visitors got the opportunity to attend the daily painting demonstrations and the paint-out that gathered all the artists to paint in one location at the same time at Madison Junction. A banquet and art auction was held at Old Faithful Lodge Recreation Hall on the last day. What McKibbin manages to do in her own style is produce a complex arrangement of spots, dashes, squiggles and smudges of color that, at a certain distance, congeal into a place that you cannot only see, you can breathe it in. “My work is shaped by living and working in the West,” said McKibbin. “I see myself as a kind of reporter, someone who documents, a witness to the mystery and beauty that surrounds us. My work faithfully records a sense of place and at the same time celebrates the act of drawing and image-making.” McKibbin’s work is on display at the Radius Gallery in Missoula or you can visit her Drawn West Studio west of Stevensville by appointment. Call (406) 777-3226 or email MCKIBBIN@grinnell.EDU. You may also visit her website at www.bobbiemckibbin.com.
near Big Creek
By Michael Howell
On October 30, the Opencut Mining Section at the Department of Environmental Quality issued a permit to mine gravel to Wade Moudy. The Moudy Pit Site covers 13.7 acres with 4.7 acres currently bonded for excavation purposes. The permit will allow up to 500,000 cubic yards of gravel to be removed across the 13.7 acres, although the applicant is only seeking a bond for 4.7 acres initially. Moudy first applied for the permit in early 2017. The proposal was controversial, due primarily to concerns about the impact on groundwater in the area and Big Creek which flows nearby. There were other objections such as impacts on existing ditches in the area, increased traffic at Bell Crossing intersection and other disturbances related to the operation such as noise, etc. During the review process, DEQ considered public comments submitted before, during and after the public meeting held in Hamilton on December 12, 2017. Based
This map shows the location of the Moudy gravel pit site and the nearby Townsend gravel pit site. Both permit applications were initiated around the same time in 2017. DEQ has been dealing with them in tandem for the last two years, although each stands alone as a separate permit. Both permits drew significant public opposition at the public meeting held to address them jointly in 2017. The Moudy Pit application was recently approved on October 30, 2019. The Townsend Pit has not yet been approved. on its review of the proposal and comments, a series of deficiency letters were issued on March 16, 2018, April 25, 2019, August 14, 2019, and September 26, 2019
before finally approving the permit request on October 30. See GRAVEL, page 16
Attorney says payment of fireworks claim legal – council votes to censure mayor
By Michael Howell
The October 24 Stevensville Town Council meeting was not live streamed due to technical difficulties, but an audio record of the meeting was made and is available on the town’s web site. Mayor Brandon Dewey was not in attendance and as a result, Council President Steve Gibson chaired the meeting. Although adopting the final budget was on the agenda, the council decided to take no action on it in the mayor’s absence and because council members had not had time to study it. Gibson said that he had just received the 40-page document that day and in a cursory look had noted that the budget wasn’t balanced. It had more expenditures than revenues. He said it could
not be approved without being first brought into balance and that would be difficult to do since he had not had time to study it all. Urged by the Town Clerk to move forward with the budget, he said that he appreciated her problem, but the fault was not with the council. He said the process should have started earlier. Council member Robin Holcomb said she too had only just received the budget and had not read it. “I can’t pass a budget if I don’t know what’s going on,” said Holcomb. A special meeting to consider the budget was set for Wednesday, October 30. The council then heard a report from Town Attorney Scott Owens about the mayor’s payment
of the fireworks claim. Former councilperson Bob Michalson co-signed, along with the Mayor, the check to pay the fireworks vendor $4,915.50. But after that, Michalson changed his mind and called the bank to have the payment stopped. When the Mayor was informed that the payment had been stopped, he took action to override the stop and the bank paid the vendor. Michalson claims he stopped the payment because it was not in the budget and did not get approved by the council. Town Attorney Scott Owens replied to the allegations at the meeting verbally and promised a written follow up. He said what it boiled down to was whether the fireworks were in the budget or not. He said that after talking with Michalson and the Mayor
and reviewing the budget and the associated Purchasing Policy, he concluded that the expenditure was legal because it was approved by the council when they approved the budget containing the fireworks display. He said it was not an over-expenditure of the fund either. There was plenty of money in the fund to cover it. He said not only was the item in the budget but the check written to pay for it was signed by both Michalson and the Mayor. Asked what the repercussions might be if the council did not approve the claim, Owens stated that it would get flagged in the town’s audit, but if it happened twice in a row, citizens could sue. He said the claim that was See STEVI, page 3