A veggie tale most rotten: Thief hits garden
Someone is helping themselves to the Columbia Falls community garden, stealing and eating produce from the plot and leaving the rinds behind, said Columbia Falls City Councilwoman Jenny Lovering.
Lovering brought up the issue at Monday night's council meeting.
She said the garden has been vandalized on two separate occasions. The last time they broke into the garden they cut the fence, ate some vegetables and left the rinds and cores in the greenhouse.
Lovering said she thought the thief was even living in the greenhouse for a awhile.
The garden, at River's Edge Park, has rented plots to private individuals, some of which rely on the produce to eat through the winter.
Mayor Don Barnhart suggested putting a light in the garden to ward off thieves. Lovering asked Police Chief Dave Perry if putting up a game camera was legal.
He said yes, but also noted they have a tendency to take a picture every time the wind blows the grass.
In the meantime the garden plans to buy a better fence to keep thieves out. Lovering also said they put out extra produce that people produce in baskets outside the fence.
In other news:
* The city-county planning board will hold a public hearing on a request by developer Randy Jones Construction to build four more condominiums on Diane Road. Jones has already built several condos in the neighborhood. The plan is for two more six-plexes and two more eight-plexes. Jones needs a conditional use permit for the units as the zoning in the area only allows for three-plexes. The hearing starts at 6:30 p.m. Aug. 11 at council chambers. The city council will then hold a hearing Aug. 17 at 7 p.m.
* The city will hold several other public hearings at its next meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 17. One hearing concerns the preliminary city budget. The total budget is about $7.651 million for fiscal year 2015, which includes sewer, water, street lights, the city pool and other funds. The amount raised through property taxes, however, is about $1.3 million. The impact on individual homes has yet to be determined, as the latest assessed valuation of the city was just released prior to the meeting. In addition, properties across the state were recently reappraised, which has an impact on how much a homeowner will potentially pay. The certified value of the city dropped 9.6 percent, noted city manager Susan Nicosia.
* Another public hearing on Aug. 17 centers on the city's urban renewal plan district. The plan, in short, is a blueprint for city needs in the future and is the "needs" portion of the city's creation of a Tax Increment Financing District.
* Council heard from Dan Schellinger who suggested the city recognize the Finberg family for all its done over the years to support and coach high school sports. One suggestion was naming a city street after the family. But changing the name of a street is costly to residents and the city. Councilmembers promised to continue to consider the idea.
* Resident Steve Duffy inquired as to why the city pool isn't open longer. Nicosia said the pool hours are based on long-term trends. Duffy and Mayor Don Barnhart suggested the pool be open longer, but Nicosia pointed out that it costs about a $1,000 a day to run the pool, whether it had three swimmers or 100.
* The city is using a record amount of water this year. So far it pumped about 67.3 million gallons in July and will likely hit 66 million gallons in August. The average homeowner used about 18,000 gallons a month this summer compared to 16,000 gallons a month last summer. The biggest users are "irrigation" accounts.