Residents urge city leaders to oppose jail here; Columbia Falls council will opine at next meeting
The Cedar Palace’s employees had their last day on Friday. The building is now empty.
About 50 people showed up at the Columbia Falls city council meeting Monday night to urge city leaders to oppose a proposed county jail here.
Flathead County is looking to build a new jail on 24 acres of Weyerhaeuser property at the old Cedar Palace site.
If purchased, the palace would serve as new offices for the Flathead County Sheriff’s Department.
The county would either build a new a new county detention facility, with 260 beds, or possibly have an outside firm build it and then lease it back to the county.
The county has entered a $2.6 million buy-sell agreement with the company and has 60 days to complete its due diligence on the sale.
All but one person spoke against the jail. Longtime resident Dave Renfrow claimed the county hasn’t done its due diligence in researching the purchase of the site.
He was worried about the loss of land to the tax base, since county-owned land is tax exempt. He also noted that the entire process seemed rushed.
Resident Mike Burr had similar sentiments.
“Is a detention facility the highest and best use of the property?” he asked.
He said he couldn’t think of a county in the state that had its jail outside the county seat.
“Why don’t we study this more?” he said. He noted a jail would be forever.
“Once it’s done, it’s permanent,” he said. “That’s a use that can’t be changed.”
Others spoke out against the jail as a quality-of-life issue. They said it was too close to schools and there’s a stigma attached to a town with a large jail. They were also worried about impacts to property values.
Real estate agent Barb Riley said that several deals in town were already on hold because of the talk about the jail.
Resident Allen Chery was the lone voice in favor of the jail. He noted through history that most towns had jails and they went on with their business just fine.
The palace and the acreage isn’t in the city limits — it’s in the county. But it would require city water and sewer hookups. Several people suggested the city should refuse to allow the county to hook into city services.
The city has an extension of services plan. Under that plan, it can charge up to 25 percent more for city sewer and water.
But it can’t just spend the money on what it pleases. It goes into a dedicated fund to maintain the sewer and water systems.
Refusing the county services could open the city to a lawsuit, city attorney Justin Breck said later in the meeting.
Under the city’s extension of services policy, would have to have a “rational” basis for denial, Breck noted. If the city denied the county services, the county could sue them.
“I don’t see the hookup denial (argument) holding any water at all,” mayor Don Barnhart said.
The city also has no say either from a zoning standpoint — the county is exempt from zoning, city manager Susan Nicosia noted.
Having said that, Barnhart said he “really likes the idea of the property being part of the tax base.”
In other words, it would be better suited for something other than a jail.
Councilman Darin Fisher said it was important for the council to pass along the sentiments of the community.
The county has other options — it already owns 40 acres off Willow Glen Drive and a separate parcel south of Kalispell that could also work. There’s also talk of simply expanding the existing jail.
In the end, the council directed Nicosia to draft two letters on the jail — one in favor and one against. It will vote on which one to send to county commissioners at its Oct. 16 meeting.