Echo Lake group disbands

By MIKE RICHESON

Bigfork Eagle

A group trying to regulate the water levels in Echo, Abbot and Peterson lakes through a water conservancy district has disbanded due to mounting legal pressures. After seven years of work, the EAP Corporation officially dissolved on June 12.

Although a majority of people living around the three lakes signed a petition in favor of the water district, the law requires that owners of 51 percent of the land be in favor.

Five major landowners, totaling more than 600 acres, signed a petition against the EAP Corp., citing improper procedures and questioning the groupOs standing as a petitioner to the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation.

Don Glain, president of the EAP Corporation, received the opposition petition from John Bloomquist, an attorney in Helena who represents the land owners, including Rowland Day and Scott Hollinger.

Hollinger, along with Big Sky Bible Camp, account for approximately 420 of the districtOs 1,051 acres.

The letter from Bloomquist put the EAP Corporation and the DNRC on notice, stating that a petition for a special election to form the water conservancy district was unacceptable. The document also states that the EAP Corporation is not a homeowners association and does not have the authority to act on behalf of the opposed landowners.

Although lawsuit threats have arisen against the EAP Corporation in the last few years, Glain said he had to take this one seriously because the landowners held more than 51 percent of the property within the district.

Plus, the costs of legal fees would be too much.

OI canOt fight this forever,O Glain said.

Since 2000, Glain and other Echo Lake homeowners have been trying to set up a water conservancy district that would regulate lake levels by diverting water from Noisy Creek into the lake, as recounted in the May 3, 2007 Bigfork Eagle.

The process had reached the point where the EAP Corporation was trying to gain enough support to petition the district court to order a special election. According to Glain, 224 signed the petition in favor of the new district and eight responded with a no. About 165 petitions werenOt returned, which counts the same as a no vote.

Seven years of lost work and thousands of dollars in engineering and attorney fees havenOt dampened GlainOs belief that the water district will one day occur.

OThis has still done a lot of good,O Glain said. OIt woke a lot of people up. When they look out and just see a lot of mud, theyOre going to say OWe should have listened to Glain.OO

A phone call placed to Scott Hollinger was not returned by press time.