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Covering the Bitterroot Valley – “Where Montana Begins!”
’ ! l a c o L t a t s e B ‘The
. . . n o s a e S y a d li o H This Buy Local . Buy Handmade Buy From People You Know Community Newspaper
Volume XXXIV, Number 22
Happy Holidays!
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Wednesday, December 19, 2018
Stevensville FAS a done deal By Michael Howell
On Monday, December 10, the Montana Fish & Wildlife Commission unanimously approved a proposal made by Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) to accept fee title to 6.25 acres at the Stevensville Bridge to manage and develop as a Fishing Access Site (FAS). The land is being donated specifically for that purpose by Myla Yahraus, current owner of the historic Fort Owen Ranch property. The Commission received 24 public comments concerning the proposal. Twentytwo explicitly supported the proposal and none expressed any opposition. “There was a lot of positive sentiment around the work that was done, and Myla’s
graciousness to create a space to resolve some issues and the Stevensville community who were really helpful in developing a proposal that we could bring back to the commission,” said FWP Region 2 Supervisor Randy Arnold. “It was broad support on a lot of fronts.” Arnold said that a number of elements in the plan for development of the site were added as a result of public comment. He said working with the Stevensville community over parking helped a lot. A public road to the Town’s River Park runs through the FAS property. By sharing some of the town’s parking spaces, FWP can protect a little more of the riparian area along the river front and alleviate traffic issues at the entrance from the highway cut-off road. Public
comment also led to the addition of a separate entranceway for people accessing off the pathway for bikes and pedestrian traffic from the vehicle traffic that is entering. A separation of the boat launch area from the swimming area using large stones is also being considered. There were a couple of objections to allowing camping, according to Arnold, but overall there was overarching support for camping, so the plan calls for the creation of some hardened campsites, with no electricity or other services, separated from the entranceway traffic and the parking and boat and trailer use area. The next steps include officially closing on the property
See STEVI FAS, page 2
Fire guts kitchen at landmark Stevensville restaurant Season's Greetings from the circulation crew at the Bitterroot Star. They work diligently every week of the year to prepare your local paper for distribution. Pictured left to right, standing: Nichole, Zachary and Mark; and seated: Alisha and Donna. All of us at the Star wish you a joyful holiday season and a prosperous new year.
Stevensville council to develop code of ethics By Michael Howell
At its meeting held on Monday, December 10, the Stevensville Town Council finally discussed the Mayor Brandon Dewey’s report on the complaints made by Town Clerk Audree Tribbensee concerning harassment and bullying and a toxic work environment. After dredging up some old complaints and adding a couple of new ones, the council members agreed to take some “baby steps,” as Council President Michalson put it, and address at least some of the complaints by developing a Code of Ethics that would include rules for conduct for council members and define the potential repercussions if the rules are violated.
The Mayor’s report included the results of an independent investigation into the allegations by Missoula attorney Malin Johnson. In Johnson’s report, some of the allegations of harassment and bullying were believable and met the definition of harassment and bullying in town policy, but were not explicitly prohibited by the policy. She found the allegations “unsustainable” and recommended that the council consider amending the policy to correct this deficiency. The mayor, based on additional interviews with the staff and additional research into the existing policy, found, in his opinion, that the actions described in the allegations were in violation of the prohibitions in another
section of the personnel policy concerning “workplace violence” and were thus sustainable in his opinion. Council member Robin Holcomb said that she was bothered that the report included accusations against people with no proof and then added, “I notice that you continued to add to this. I thought once it was completed, the investigation was done. So, I don’t know where we go from here with all this.” Dewey said that he was simply rendering his recommendations as required since the complaint was given to his office and the council can consider whether to follow them
The Stevensville Fire Department was dispatched to the 200 block of Main Street in downtown Stevensville for smoke coming out of a heater at 9:36 p.m. on Saturday, December 15th. A resident of one of the apartments above the Stevi Cafe smelled the smoke and called 911. Fire Chief Jeff Motley told the Bitterroot Star that the first responders went directly to the second floor from where the call came and found the whole floor engulfed in smoke. The residents were evacuated without incident or injury. Town staff and the Mayor are working with the American Red Cross to provide temporary housing for the nine
residents displaced as a result of the fire. Unable to discover any flames on the second floor, he said, the attic and the downstairs were checked and the fire was discovered in the café. Motley said the first-floor business suffered severe fire, smoke and water damage in the kitchen area where the fire originated. He said there was no sprinkler system in the café but a suppression system attached to the range hood did deploy. He said the north part of the first floor with the bar and dining area was not burned but did have significant smoke damage. He said the second-floor apartments sustained moderate smoke damage. The adjacent
public library also sustained minor smoke damage. The cause of the fire is still under investigation. Property and content losses have yet to be determined. The Stevensville Fire Department was assisted by firefighters from Florence, Three-Mile and Victor Fire Departments and Marcus Daly ambulance. Ravalli County Sheriff’s Office and the Stevensville Police Department personnel coordinated traffic control as the fire took place on Stevensville’s busy Main Street. According to Motley, 38 firefighters responded to the
See FIRE, page 3
See ETHICS, page 3
Congratulations to Kairi Stevens, 9, who won the “Flip the Switch” art contest for the privilege of flipping the switch to turn on the overhead Christmas lights for downtown Stevensville's Parade of Lights. Kairi is the daughter of Amber Ellis of Stevensville. Her winning entry is shown below.
View of what was left of the kitchen at the Stevi Cafe in downtown Stevensville. A fire destroyed the interior of the restaurant on Saturday night and forced the evacuation of residents living in the upper floor apartments. Victoria Howell photo.