Turnover in progress on Lakeside council
The May 31 meeting was the final one
for Lakeside Community Council board members Brent Hall and Rex
Boller.
One of those two vacancies is being
filled by Craig Koontz. He was elected in February after being the
only applicant for the two three-year term positions. Since only
one candidate filed for election, the second position will be
appointed by the Flathead County Commissioners based on
recommendations from the council.
That other opening on the council is
still in flux still.
Janet Conroy was thought to be the only
applicant who submitted a letter of interest prior to the deadline
in April. However, a second applicant, Ryan Keeler, has since said
that he attempted to email a letter of interest, but it was not
received by chairman Keith Brown due to an email address error.
Therefore the council voted unanimously
at last week’s meeting to submit both Conroy and Keeler as
candidates to the commissioners.
At the meeting, the council also voted
to write a letter to the county commissioners to stir up support
for the Lakeside Neighborhood Plan, which is currently tied up in a
lawsuit. A group of individuals is suing the Lakeside Neighborhood
Planning Committee and Flathead County over the neighborhood
planning process. The case is scheduled for jury trial in
December.
It is the council’s hope that the
letter will derive more support and resources from the county
attorney’s office in defending the case so the plan can be put into
use.
“We want to make sure they really do
fight it,” Brown said. “We want to show them that we’re behind it
and that we believe that the community is behind this as well. We
want to make sure that they are vigorously supporting this,
especially with regards to resources, and are ready to defend this
in court.”
During the public comment portion of
the May 31 meeting, Maggie Davis gave a presentation sharing
concerns she and others have with the development that is taking
place at the Edgewater RV Park and Resort. The council voted to
write a letter to Flathead County Planning Director BJ Grieve, each
of the commissioners and Ed Corrigan at the county attorney’s
office.
The council meets on the last Tuesday
of every month, usually at 7 p.m. in the sewer district building on
Bierney Creek Road in Lakeside.