No takers for BLUAC spot

ALEX STRICKLAND-Bigfork Eagle

No one has responded to a posting for a vacant seat on the Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee, it was reported at last week's meeting. The seat was vacated after Mary Jo Naive resigned in December and is only a four-month appointment as that slot will go up for election in May.

The deadline for applications to be submitted to the for the position is Jan. 7.

BLUAC's Dec. 26 meeting was brief, owing in part to a last minute cancellation of the night's only agenda item. Quarter Circle LA Ranches — the group developing the Saddlehorn community — pulled an application for plat approval before the meeting to reconsider some issues before resubmitting.

With nothing to consider, the committee wrapped up some old business and housekeeping items including the Bigfork Neighborhood Plan workshop schedule and signage discouraging the use of compression brakes.

Craig Wagner, who chairs the Bigfork Steering Committee, reported that compression brake signage requires only a community request to the State Highway Traffic Safety Bureau.

Compression brakes — also known as "jake brakes" or engine brakes — are a type of brake that uses engine compression to slow a vehicle. Those brakes emit a loud clattering sound and are often discouraged in communities because of the noise.

BLUAC members passed a motion to send a letter requesting five signs be placed around Bigfork to ask truckers to refrain from using compression brakes in town. The locations proposed were Hwy. 35, south of the Flathead Lake Lodge equestrian crossing; north of the intersection of Hwy. 35 and Hwy. 82; east of the intersection of Hwy. 35 and Hwy. 83; west of the intersection of Hwy. 83 and Echo Lake Road; and east of the intersection of Hwy. 83 and Echo Lake Road.

Members also discussed the procedures for accepting and addressing comment on the Bigfork Neighborhood Plan draft at the Feb. 7 workshop meeting. Paul Guerrant expressed concern about comments being taken and disregarded or giving the impression of such behavior.

"We all got elected by saying that we'd represent them," he said. "We want to validate that by explaining things."

Public comment at that meeting will be collected on notecards and then reviewed and addressed at the following week's BLUAC and BSC workshop meeting. Comments from the second meeting will be forwarded directly to the Flathead County Planning Office.

"We want to make sure we respect all the comments all along the process," BLUAC Vice-Chairman Shelley Gonzales said.