[news]
WEEK IN REVIEW
VIEWFINDER
by Cathrine L. Walters
Wednesday, October 1 The Montana Department of Labor and Industry announces the state’s minimum wage will increase from $7.90 per hour to $8.05 on Jan. 1, 2015. The increase will affect an estimated 12,850 workers.
Thursday, October 2 Jonathan Lee Staggs, 35, appears in Missoula District Court to face a felony charge for a rash of robberies that began last April. Missoula police began investigating Staggs after a witness reported seeing him wheel a concrete saw away from a job site.
Friday, October 3 Missoula police arrest Jacob Reynolds on a charge of assault with a weapon, near Russell and South Third St. West. Reynolds allegedly pulled a knife on his 17-year-old victim after asking if he and his companions had any “weed.”
Saturday, October 4 Missoula’s Draught Works Brewery is named the Very Small Brewing Company and Very Small Brewing Company Brewer of the Year at the 28th annual Great American Beer Festival in Denver, Colo.
Sunday, October 5 Frenchtown Rural Fire Department crews respond to a wildfire up Roman Creek. With aid from other agencies, firefighters work to contain the blaze, which spreads to about nine acres. The fire’s cause is under investigation.
Monday, October 6 For the second time in three weeks, University of Montana defensive end Zack Wagenmann is named the Big Sky Conference’s defensive player of the week. Wagenmann registered eight tackles, two sacks and a forced fumble in the Grizzlies’ 18-15 win over North Dakota on Saturday.
Tuesday, October 7 Soon after 1 a.m., a man wearing all black enters Montana Lil’s Casino on North Reserve Street, demands money from a clerk, receives an undisclosed amount of cash, fires a weapon at the ceiling and flees. Witnesses report the weapon sounds like a cap gun.
Max, Lucas, Stella and Wes Fenimore, left to right, play on a swing at the new Silver Summit playground in McCormick Park. The play area, which opened Oct. 3, is Montana’s first large-scale playground for kids of all abilities.
Water
MOR opposes lawsuit Citing mounting legal expenses, the Missoula Organization of Realtors last week formally asked Mayor John Engen to end the city’s legal fight to acquire Mountain Water Company from the Carlyle Group. “We’re just concerned that the costs are just piling up,” says MOR Government Affairs Committee Chair Mike Nugent. In 2011, the Carlyle Group bought Mountain Water’s California-based parent company Park Water, setting the stage for a bitter court battle. On Sept. 19, an announcement from Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. that it intends to purchase Park Water for $327 million complicated the dispute. In a Sept. 30 letter to Engen, MOR points to the pending Algonquin deal when itemizing concerns about the city’s ongoing efforts to forcibly acquire Mountain Water. “We feel it may be irresponsible to continue down this road,” MOR states. Nugent reiterated the organization’s stance to the Independent, noting specifically that legal expenses associated with the battle will adversely affect property taxes.
[6] Missoula Independent • October 9–October 16, 2014
Litigation costs since the city filed its eminent domain lawsuit in March have topped $500,000—or $100,000 more than the city originally estimated. Six months remain until the dispute goes to trial. “I think it’s safe to say that it’s going to be over a million dollars, which is a chunk of the budget,” Nugent says. Nugent adds that property taxes in Missoula are already high. In light of 2015 tax increases from the city and county, plus countywide bond measures, including a $42 million Parks and Trails Bond on the November ballot, MOR says the legal fight for the city’s water system is too dangerous to continue. In response, Engen says Mountain Water is sending more than $2 million a year to Park Water in California for administrative expenses. It doesn’t take much number crunching to see that if the city were to own the utility, municipal coffers would quickly be replenished. “The long-term expense of private ownership is incredible and certainly dwarfs any expense we’ll have in acquiring this system,” Engen says, adding he’s confident the city will win the lawsuit. As far as long-term costs to locals, Engen says utilities consume a significant portion of living expenses—and the cost of water under Carlyle’s ownership has only in-
creased. Algonquin’s track record shows a similar pattern. “When you look at what we’ve seen in California under Carlyle’s ownership, in New Hampshire under Algonquin’s ownership and in Missoula, Montana, under Carlyle’s ownership, these rates are going nothing but up,” Engen says, “without considerable investment in the local utility.” Jessica Mayrer
Labor
Keep working About 50 unionized workers who drive, maintain and clean the Mountain Line transit system’s buses met Oct. 4 to decide whether they wanted to accept a new twoyear contract. The document was the product of some five months of negotiation, including three sessions with a federal mediator who was brought in to help the two sides reconcile differences they couldn’t overcome on their own. “I wouldn’t say [the meeting] was heated,” says Wendell Barnes, a Mountain Line driver and a steward for the Teamsters Local 2, which represents the workers, “but it was a good discussion.”