Road dust litigation ill-advised
In an Aug. 28 letter to the editor, Mr. Dennis Groebe stated, "at the last meeting of the North Fork Landowners' Association, it became very clear that a 'small vocal minority' has decided to portray the position that the North Fork property owners do not want any steps taken to control the road dust, while the NFLA Board acknowledged that in their own recent poll, 77 percent of the respondents stated that they desired the road to be maintained and some form of 'dust control measures' to be implemented."
As a full-time resident in the North Fork and secretary/treasurer of the NFLA for the past eight years, I have maintained all the minutes of the Association's business meetings. At no time during the Aug. 2 meeting of the NFLA, nor any of the other meetings that I attended, have I heard the position put forth either by the NFLA board members or association members that North Fork property owners do not want any steps taken to control the road dust. To state that this position has been portrayed is simply not factual.
As a matter of fact, and according to the recorded minutes (which can be read on the Web site, www.NFLandowners.org), the issue put forth for discussion at the Aug. 2 NFLA business meeting was an invitation from the chairman of the North Fork Road Coalition for Health and Safety to the NFLA to "partner" with the coalition in its efforts to influence and require Flathead County to become proactive in seeking meaningful solutions to the North Fork Road dust problems, including legal action, if necessary.
The NFLA board presented reasons to the members for its recommendation to decline to partner with the coalition, including the following: 1) The coalition is a one-issue advocacy organization, while the NFLA is a multi-purpose community organization charged with pursuing the interests of all landowners. 2) While 76 percent of those who responded to the 2006 road survey supported dust abatement, that doesn't necessarily mean they support the coalition's tactics, in particular its threat to sue the County. 3) We can support particular efforts of the coalition when they are consistent with our obligations and with the interests of our members, but we cannot give carte blanche approval to the coalition's efforts "to influence and require" the county to take action. 4) The NFLA board agrees that we should help inform our members about dust abatement options and has taken steps to do so, for example, by asking agencies to present pertinent information at the July Interlocal Agreement meeting.
After presenting the board's reasons for recommending that the NFLA decline the invitation to "partner" with the Coalition, discussion among the 50-plus members present was followed by a vote to reject the offer to partner with the coalition by a majority of 37 to 10.
While I agree with Mr. Groebe that "the dust generated by a truck traveling at 35 mph is not significantly different than the dust from a truck traveling at 41 mph," it is dramatically different from the dust produced by a truck traveling at 50-plus mph, which I have personally encountered countless times on the North Fork Road. I applaud the county for hiring an officer to ticket speeders on the North Fork and other unpaved county roads. Word spreads quickly that if you don't abide by the 35 mph speed limit, you risk getting a ticket.
We all realize the problems associated with dust on the road, but forcing the issue to the point of threatening litigation against the county, which apparently has no funds available to effect an immediate permanent solution, is best left to advocacy groups.
Pat Cole is a resident of Polebridge.