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Covering the Bitterroot Valley – “Where Montana Begins!”
Volume XXXIV, Number 51
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’ ! l a c o L t a t s e B ‘The Wednesday, July 10, 2019
Crews takes his seat on Stevi Council
By Michael Howell
The doors are open at the new Hamilton Justice Center located at 910 West Main Street at the site of the old National Guard Armory Building across from the Bitterroot College. Michael Howell photo.
Hamilton’s new Justice Center opens By Michael Howell
The City of Hamilton celebrated the opening of its new Justice Center with an open house last week at which citizens got a chance to tour their new facility located at the site of the old National Guard Armory at 910 West Main, that is at the west end of Main Street just across the street from the Bitterroot College. It was back in December of 2016 that the City of Hamilton placed a bond issue on the ballot to purchase the land occupied at the time by Claudia Driscoll Park and the National Guard Armory building and to make improvements. The bond was passed in March of 2017. Over the course of that year the bonds were issued, and the park land and the Armory building were purchased. A contract for design and construction services was signed with Bechtle
Architects and Jackson Contractor Group was awarded the contract for construction management services. In May of 2018, the property was re-zoned from single family residential to public institutional and in August the council approved a Montana Board of Investment Intercap loan for $1 million to go towards construction costs. In September 2018, the council authorized Jackson Contractor Group to commence with construction of the Justice Center at a maximum price of $2,522,284. According to Mayor Dominic Farrenkopf, the passage of the bond for the project was driven by the growing need for updated facilities at the city’s public safety agencies. It also presented the opportunity to consolidate all three agencies in close proximity with each other. Having the Police
See CENTER, page 2
Open for pleasure
Hamilton City Judge Michael Reardon and Mayor Dominic Farrenkopf shake hands in the courtroom of the new Hamilton Justice Center, celebrating the opening of the new facility last week. Michael Howell photo.
Grand opening for Hamilton Skate Park The Hamilton Skate Park was officially opened last Saturday, and Circle 13 Skate Park organizer Bryan Dufresne was on hand to welcome the many skaters, bikers and gawkers of all ages
who attended the fun affair. Music and refreshments were provided for free and raffle tickets for protective helmets were sold to raise money for ongoing maintenance of the facility and grounds. According to Dufresne, the idea of having a skate park in
Crews spoke in agreement with the town’s attorney. He said no resolution was made and the mayor only has power to veto resolutions and ordinances. “I implore you not to confirm or deny the mayor’s veto of the council’s appointment,” he told the council. “It is not in his authority. By voting either way you See STEVI, page 3
County to receive $2.5M in PILT funds
Circle 13 Skate Park in Hamilton held its grand opening on Saturday. Michael Howell photo.
By Michael Howell
The Stevensville Town Council, at a special meeting held on July 3rd, over-rode the Mayor’s veto of its appointment of Jim Crews to serve on the council. Crews, who was appointed to the Ward 2 seat unanimously at the last meeting. Mayor Brandon Dewey then issued a veto of that decision and refused to acknowledge the appointment, claiming that it was done in violation of public participation laws. Nevertheless, Crews was sworn in by Town Judge Maureen O’Conner on the sidewalk and it was registered at the county courthouse. (Note: It was mistakenly reported in the Star that Crews was sworn in as mayor. He was sworn in as council member.) At the latest special meeting, held in part to address the Mayor’s veto, Crews was not initially seated. It was only following a unanimous vote by the council to over-ride the Mayor’s veto that he was seated at the table as councilperson for Ward 2. Council member Robin Holcomb stated in the discussion of the veto that the Mayor only had the authority to veto resolutions and ordinances and that the action they took to appoint Crews was neither a resolution nor an ordinance. Mayor Dewey stated that his claim is that the legal definition of a resolution is an order by the governing body that some specific action be taken concerning an issue of significance. He said that is just what the council did, and that no formal documentation of a resolution was needed. Council member Stacie Barker said, “I feel that if Judge O’Conner did not feel that it was appropriate that she would not have sworn in Crews.” She said their attorney Brian West had ruled that it was a legal appointment. Mayor Dewey said that the attorney cannot rule on an issue; only the court can and that the attorney just stated his opinion.
Council president Bob Michalson read aloud an email he and the mayor received from Town Attorney Brian West. In the email, West states his opinion again that Crews was legitimately appointed to the council as a representative of Ward 2. He notes that the only two conditions placed on the appointment by law were that the appointment be confirmed by the legislative body and that he had taken the oath and that both those conditions had been met. He stated that it is not the mayor, but the voters, who must decide if it is the right appointment. West also asserted that the mayor has no authority to veto the appointment, so no vote to over-ride was necessary. He said he would like to see another attorney’s opinion of the matter if Mayor Dewey had one. He said he believed it was the Mayor who needs to go to court and challenge the appointment. “I believe the burden is on you and you should bring the matter before the court,” he stated to the Mayor. He suggested that the way to proceed that evening would be to seat Crews at the table as a member and let the Mayor make his objections and then take whatever actions he deemed necessary. Council member Holcomb noted that when she was appointed her name was not on the agenda. Mayor Dewey said that the council had been inconsistent in that regard and that in this case he felt like the public was not aware that Crews, who had withdrawn his application, was going to be appointed.
Hamilton first came up about 25 years ago. Two different groups over at least two decades, he said, tried to raise the money. “I’ve been involved for about ten years,” he said, “heavily the last three.” The Circle 13 group consoli-
dated community support over the last few years and found a willing and helpful partner in the City of Hamilton. The park was made possible through local donations and sponsors. The Discovery See SKATE, page 2
U.S. Senator Steve Daines today announced $34 million in Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funds to Montana’s rural counties. This year Ravalli County, which includes1,120,319 acres of federally owned national forest land, is slated to receive $2,537,051. Under the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) Program, Montana rural communities will receive $34 million to support essential services such as firefighters, police, schools and road construction. U.S. Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt announced in late June that more than 1,900 local governments around the country will receive $514.7 million in Payments in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) funding for 2019. Montana’s share of the PILT monies came to $34 million. PILT payments help local governments carry out such vital services as firefighting and police protection, construction of public schools and roads, and search-and-rescue operations. The payments are made annu-
ally for tax-exempt Federal lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, the National Park Service, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (all bureaus of the Department of the Interior [DOI]), and the U.S. Forest Service (part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture) and for Federal water projects and some military installations. “This is good news for our rural communities in Montana,” Daines said. “These payments ensure critical services are delivered so all Montanans, including those in our rural communities, receive the quality of life they deserve.” Individual county payments may vary from year to year as a result of changes in acreage data, which is updated annually by the federal agency administering the land; prioryear Federal revenue sharing payments reported annually by the Governor of each State; and population data, which is updated using information from the U.S. Census Bureau.