Residents oppose settlement

Flathead County Commissioners opted to take another week to decide on whether to go forward with a settlement agreement to end a lawsuit between the county and developers of North Shore Ranch near Somers after a pubic meeting Monday where residents spoke out overwhelmingly against the agreement.

The commissioners will meet again at 10 a.m. Monday, March 8, to continue deliberations on the settlement, which could result in the county approving a revised preliminary plat for the subdivision and paying out $1 million along with constructing some of the internal road network for the subdivision and two turning lanes. If approved, a judge will also have to agree with it before it becomes final.

The tentative agreement came after a mediation session early in February between the county and Kleinhans Farms Estates LLC, which filed a lawsuit against the county after its more than 360-acre preliminary plat application was denied 2-1 by the commissioners in 2008. Among its allegations, the lawsuit contends that the decision was not based on the law and contradicted the facts provided to the commission in the county's staff report produced by the Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office.

Advising the commissioners, attorney Alan McCormick said the settlement was a question of "risk management," saying that a prolonged suit could cost the county hundreds of thousands of dollars and, if lost, the county could have to pay upward of $15 million in damages.

The cost of constructing some of the subdivision's internal roads, as required through the settlement, would be paid out as the subdivision's phases are built, which could mean that those expenses could be paid over as many as 30 years, McCormick said.

For the majority of members of the public present, the issue with the settlement was transparency with the use of their tax dollars in this agreement and with the reasons behind the settlement.

Many held blue signs that read, "No deal without full transparency."

"Lack of transparency is my biggest problem," resident Rick Breckenridge told the commissioners. "If you want my trust, you've got to earn it."

People from both ends of the political spectrum spoke out against the settlement.

"All sides are together in consensus that something shouldn't take place – this settlement," resident Donna Thornton said.

Many residents were concerned about the precedence the settlement could set and encouraged the commissioners to stand by their decision.

"As soon as we say roll over on this one, we'll have to roll over on all of them," Karen Reeves said. "Let's take it to trial."

McCormick pointed out that the perceived lack of transparency may be the result of attorney-client privilege. If all arguments and documents were public, the opposing counsel would have access to the county's strategies, he said.

Residents also questioned where the money for the settlement would come from with the county watching its budget as it is.

Kalispell attorney Roger Sullivan and Mayre Flowers of Citizens for a Better Flathead both pointed out what they said were 'significant" changes in the revised preliminary plat that would be adopted through this settlement, as well as conditions that appear to be missing. Approval through the settlement takes away the public's ability to comment on these changes, they said.

"The proposed settlement is factually unsupported and legally ill-advised," Sullivan said. "With approval of the preliminary plat, citizens may justifiably be outraged."

The initial subdivision had 290 housing units, but the revised plat calls for 289 units including homes, condominium units, assisted-living units and two commercial lots.

In the settlement, $600,000 of the county's payout goes to a nonexclusive 150-acre easement for public access as a buffer between the development and the nearby Flathead Lake Waterfowl Production Area. That area was one of the commissioners' concerns in denying the application.

Several people pointed out that the easement is not permanently protected because it could be sold at will and refunded to the county.

"The development is permanent so mitigation for the development needs to be permanent," John Vore with Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks read on behalf of regional supervisor Jim Satterfield.

A copy of the settlement agreement is available on the Flathead County Commissioners' Web site at http://flathead.mt.gov/commissioner.