Eureka Rendezvous Days 2007

Eureka Rendezvous Days 2007

Slideshow Click Here

Golf Golf Golf

Well it's almost time for the Eureka Rendevous for 2007, it seems like things here are changing so fast. Change is good yes and hopefully it will all be for the better. I am still hoping for building codes, building inspectors and some sort of control over the construction industry, so that lawsuits will be kept down to a minimum. But I see no end in sight to inferior buildings. The golf courses seem to be moving right along, I see Eureka Montana and every glossy magazine I pick up. It seems that two years from now Eureka Montana will be a VERY different place. There are housing developments and subdivisions going in up every road. And rumor has it in the supermarket this week, that there is a third golf course planned in Eureka which was actually the original golf course from the Riverstone Project a few summers back. Check our archives for old news on this new golf course. It could just be rumor, but as I have said many times before in other blogs rumor is more often found out to be true in my experience than anything else.

Fire Season

Controlled Burns

In Eureka Montana, Lincoln County it is very popular to burn your fields so that the dead grass is removed and the fields are ready for the new growth. It happens ALL spring and every single weekend and most week days the fire trucks are out protecting houses. People that move here and don’t know complain about the allergies, due to the huge amount of smoke. I have burned around my home and fields in the past. I have NEVER let a fire get big enough that it endangered the life or property of another person. It is extremely disrespectful when your neighbor decides they need green grass so they endanger YOU. I always feel sorry for the folks involved and until TODAY, I never really knew what the experience was like. We were having a Sunday afternoon, when the field in front of our home was completely fogged in with smoke. We have the home next door as well and saw that the fire was climbing the hill. We assumed they still had the fire under control, until we seen a fire truck head to our property next door. I headed over there to check things out. I talked to a fireman on the highway and asked if it was a controlled burn, no answer. Once to the property, 5 firemen were there and EVERY single one of them had ignored me. When they got ready to leave, so did I, they would not speak to me, I asked if it was a controlled burn for the purpose of green fields and he said, well someone started it and than they ignored me. They Cut down our fence, not certain whether we have livestock or not and not caring. Meanwhile back at the other house the fireman on that fire truck were also cold and disrespectful. And refused to give indication whether the fire was an accident or started on purpose and got out of control.

Are the firemen trained to be neutral and say nothing ? It feels like they thought of themselves as god and had no respect or light heartedness what so ever. Our property is in danger and we are being nice to them but they are rude, cold and arrogant; Every single one of them.

Maybe I should not talk about the way I was treated, maybe next time when their out of control, controlled burn comes my way they won’t protect me. I was treated with disrespect, our property was destructed with the tearing down of a fence and our property was put in danger for the sake of Green Grass.

Eureka Montana

Eureka Montana News according to me.

Folks are still nitpicking and heavily discussing the possible growth plan, of course, we found out last week that it is not mandatory but suggested it seems that Lincoln County Northwest Montana was simply trying to provide a growth plan to get a hold of what is going on in the future. So that growth was and just running rampant from, and as most things with Lincoln County. He got a little bit chaotic, and I don't think there really will be a growth plan, fighting grows is here and doing what it wants to.

Supermarket chats still seems to be about the wilderness club, and how much water they are using, and of course the air traffic that they claim is coming from the wilderness club folks. That seems to be flying too low over people's houses. I think that this low-flying aircraft or several, it's to do with a couple of different highlights and not necessarily
to do with the wilderness club. But I of course am not sure.

With the Indian Springs Ranch, the golf course that is going in on Highway 93, they have brought in topsoil to cover the hills, they have taken on a lot more of the top up by Burma Road. I guess for the clubhouse, there is a new road through the development this week,
and things seem to be moving along.

It was another elk killed by a car as last week in front of the Indian Springs Ranch. Be careful out there folks elk are large and can hurt you and your car, not to mention take their lives.

Construction fraud and lack of building codes, and builidng inspectors
still seems to be a hot topic for barroom banter and discussion.

The laundromat has had a makeover on the front
of the building and it looks very nice. Photos coming soon.

Cut Diamond Realty, as most of you have probably noticed, the building has been torn down and they are starting construction on the new building, to remedy the town of Eureka sewage problem. We all wish them well on their construction process.

RE/MAX, in downtown Eureka has got a new patio in Rock wall, this definitely adds to the downtown area. It is a very nice improvement.

If any of you folks have information on the local fishing report, please comment on this blog.

Of course you all noticed in the last few weeks, the hideous billboard in the four corners area, my opinion, of course is that it is too large, and it is ridiculous, it is almost as bad as the one in front of the old circle J south of Eureka. That billboard is just too big. I am sure lots more billboards are coming, I do not understand why when the power of the Internet is far cheaper
for advertising your business and it lasts longer.

I heard last week that it's almost impossible to do a family transfer to divide your land. With all of this growth. It seems there is some cracking down on subdivision, but what it seems to be hurting is the families that have lived here for generations. I say, if you have lived here too and three generations that a family transfer should not be questioned at all. But if you were not generational to the tobacco Valley then it should go under further review. The locals, and their land, and their tax paying, has created this valley, but it is easier
for newcomers to come in and subdivide,
than it is for the locals to subdivide.

Mud Bogging season is here so be sure and check out the mud bog off of airport road. Have a great week and stay dry, though the rain is needed, we all don't want to stay long.

Nature Conservancy Land

Eureka Montana Nature Conservancy Land

Forest Service Crew, 6 Truck

And they let the gorgeous pine trees burn up. Why.. It seems they had the man power. I hope the fire season is not bad this year because that crew sure made a mess of things. Drive up Airport Road and take a look at

the scorched and burned trees.

Public Growth Policy Meeting

Eureka Montana Growth Policy

Thoughts on the “Open House” for public comment on the growth policy pending plan that was held April 5th at the Lincoln County High School.

There were not very many people at this meeting. There were mostly Realtors, and some folks from Libby and Troy. Some of the folks present at this meeting were Mary Klinkam, Marriane Roose, Joe Purdy, Steve Mangold, Truman, Mike Workman, Connie Schier, Darrel Zauner, Marie Stavenow, Krista Tincher, Sarah Anderson, Patty Kincheloe, and a few other folks.

The county has a sign in sheet if you would like to know who else was there. There was not a lot of people.

Of course the Lincoln County Planning Board, Eureka folks being Rick James, Mike Marvel, and Chris Fox were there.

I understand why a lot of local folks did not show up. From what I have heard they feel that it would be a waste of their precious time when what they have the say will not be considered anyway.

It seems, that not much has changed in 20-30 years. The folks that have the most money and the real estate agents get their way and the rest of Eureka can just settle with what they decide is best. Still folks you need to make your opinion heard and let the county know what you see happening for Eureka.

This meeting was not about subdivision regulations. The growth plan has to be in place before the new subdivision regulations can be put into place. Chris Fox assured the group that they were not stalling and they were doing the best that they can. Because the planning Board has been accused of stalling to that more development will before the growth plan is in place. Now I'm not convinced that they're stalling, I think they really would like to get things moving, however it is an uphill battle to make this all fall into place and get folks to agree.

There was a gentleman at the meeting, who had bought land in the crystal lakes area and told us all how he did not want to see our community turned into a place like the part of Utah he came from. He advised the room that we need to pay attention to the growth so that we keep open spaces and wildlife habitat. His efforts were sincere and he really does care about our area and care about Eureka staying beautiful and pristine.

The problem is, as some crowd members said you cannot sit on your small lot and in your nice house and expect the neighboring fields to stay in one piece so that you can watch the moose run around and prevent the landowners from dividing his property and making its full financial potential.

Which, keep in mind folks, keeping a ranch whole may be MORE lucrative than splitting it. Email me for information on this SavvyBroker@Yahoo.com

I did feel that this gentleman wants to see positive things happen here and he commented that he can sleep better at night knowing that he has spoken as mind about this. As if he is going to protect us from this growth.

Another interesting note on this is, I sat next to the man and his wife or girlfriend. Or should I say they sat next to me, and when they walked in the meeting had started, they asked me what had happened so far, I told them. They interrupted my listening, I did not mind, however moments later I asked him something and he shushed me because he was listening. My Point, He does not Want us to be BIG CITY, but he gave me a “Better than Though” big city attitude in the name of protecting us from becoming big city. I felt belittled by him, and felt that is genuine disrespect and arrogance was in no way the kind of attitude that was going to implement an positive change in Eureka Montana.

Eureka is a very interesting place, I have been here are my whole life. And no newcomer has ever been successful in changing things. The greatest change that folks make that move here is to buy huge acreages and chop it up.

He spoke of legal recourse is a possibility to make people abide by laws. The thing is here in Lincoln County, It is not easy to get folks to abide by the law. He made it sound so easy, truly it is not that simple.

Though we know the law and do try to uphold the law. There are those who simply are above the law and you must have a huge amount money and be able to take a huge amount of stress for years upon years in order to use the local legal system to create the change you are looking for.

So in conclusion to this particular gentleman, I thank you for your comments and I caution you on your approach.

Steve Mangold commented on the fact that there is development below where he lives and he does not like it, but that he does not feel that he can tell other people what to do on their land. However he also said that if it was his land he would divide it, and then made comments that he wished it was his land. He also said that he would like to hear what the other real estate brokers in the room had to say about the growth plan.

I got from this, that Steve Mangold is for development and wishes that he could do more development, and does not feel that we should try and tell people they cannot develop. I felt that his tone and comments were coming of aggressive and we're not really solution oriented. I can't help but say it that in last week's Tobacco Valley news he commented on what he was doing this spring was cleaning my mice out of his brother-in-law's camper…

More on the general aspects of the meeting.

I must say that Chris Fox lost control of the room several times. And though he may be an intelligent thoughtful man, he may not have the backbone to stand up to the aggression that growth in Lincoln County is going to bring out in some folk.

The person in the front of the room a needs to limit comments from each individual, needs to not be afraid what people think of them and actually ask for comment from people in the room by name and be more engaging with the room and more authoritative and I felt that Chris was weak on each of these points.

Mike Marvel seemed to be knowledgeable on what the locals wants, he seemed have a good understand of the needs of Lincoln County and even made a very firm comment to one gal in the audience that some places in Montana do not have a growth policy and never will have a growth policy and that possibly she should consider moving to one of these places. It was kind of funny, a bit disrespectful and it was kind of true and yet it made me realize that this type of meeting is not about solutions it is basically just so that people can complain to the planning Board of the county about private property rights. Which is understandable, because a lot of different agencies do run over our property rights. Connie Schreier, local attorney, made comments such as the economy in Eureka has been stinko ( yep – she said Stinko ) for quite some time. And that there is no way to stop Trophy homes such as the gentlemen I spoke of earlier suggested. She made comments that government agencies should govern Roads, Protecting Water, managing septic systems, manage intrusions such as dust, light, smells and such, and that people should not have to keep their large acreage large so that others can look at it.

Joe Purdy of Montana Properties LLC commented on the fact that 90% of our area is public lands, and asked the question, how much more do you want. He also spoke of forest service and government land trades.

I am not claiming to know for sure what Joe had in mind. However, I do think he makes a valid point. There has been a lot of land swaps, and government agencies that have sold and are selling land to private companies. We are now seeing that these private companies such as Owens and Hurst, are developing their lands and making big money off what was once government land.

Also we hear in the news a lot about the Forest Service land going up for sale. I know that this idea has been shot down for the most part, but the fact that it was a consideration means that it will eventually happen. So when the government decides to sell their land or participate in land trades and developers split up this land than the government and the developers make money and the locals do not.

So if you stop the locals from developing now, or limit development to keep open spaces, but you let the bigger companies do this with land swaps and so on, then you've really hurt the local people now, but government agencies can basically do what they want.

This is so true here, such as the county makes you build to certain specs for your road/driveway entrance, almost without consideration of the future of what the highway will do. So you spend thousands of dollars on your approach to meet county specs in order to build a subdivision or just a driveway and then the highway department comes in and says we are taking that land or widening the Highway and the negotiations began to destroy this work that you've done. It's a case of the right hand not knowing what the left hand is doing.

All of the state and government agencies cannot get together and know what every single department is doing. So you must stand up for your own rights and pay attention yourself, you must know the laws and be able to act on your own behalf. And you must sit down intelligently with officials and explain in writing or in person why you feel what you feel and what solutions you see as best for you.

I do see a frenzy year of land development. I think that the land is being developed to fast and habitat is being compromised. So I understand the county might want to create wildlife corridor and keep open spaces. In talking about this some people are very threatened because they think that the county want to take their rights away so they can’t develop that land so that, say the elk can use it. But this is now what the county wants or needs to do. The county will have to provide funds so that these people that leave these corridors will get the same benefit as to whether they developed it or not.

This may be financial subsidies for these lands or other solutions that will ease the pain of them leaving this land for wildlife corridor use. Standing up and fighting or yelling about property rights is not going to get an intelligent solution down on paper that we can actually act upon. I understand how some people may be upset, when they decide after the growth plan to develop their land and they have to consider the elk herds, when the public golf course did not have to consider the Elk, for more on their property most of the time.

Golf and elk do not mix and it is my understanding that the elk will destroy the greens and will destroy the landscaping of the homes around this golf course and this will lead to keeping the elk out. Now I am not exactly sure what happened between Quirk Cattle Company and Fish Wildlife and Parks, but I can imagine, because I have dealt with Fish Wildlife and Parks and them running over land owner rights. Rumor has it that Fish Wildlife and Parks got into some sort of an issue to with these folks over the elk and these folks simply put up a very tall fence to keep the elk out of around 6000 acres.

Now if this government agency can not be diplomatic and sensitive enough to the needs of the locals to resolve this problem how can we possibly move forward to try and make private landowners reduced development to protect the elk and government agencies such as this are not able to work out deals with large landowners for up to habitat or to be able to buy large pieces of land to protect the elk. Lincoln County could lead, for example, by a large amount of land north of Eureka for elk habitat and solve some of these issues without the chaos.

Our community is very diverse, and we have people here who like to walk without the noise of snow mobilers, ATV’s and motorcycles, and we have those who absolutely love this sport, we have those who love to ride horses and those who love to walk trails without horses being on them, we have to find a way to provide micro environments for each one of these groups to key people from fighting over these issues year after year.

For example Jewel Basin wilderness has some areas where horses cannot be and therefore leaving the land to the hikers. With all of these issues that will come up in Lincoln County. They are all our solutions. Just as there was solutions between loggers, environmentalists and the forest service, but the emotions were so hot that the solutions were never found and now logging is not a substantial business here.

I have a degree in forestry, and worked on forest inventory crews. I personally performed surveys in which I noted that in the case of major clear cuts, where seed trees were left standing, and of course later fell over because of the short root structure, I mean this is forestry 101, when a stand of timber is all growing close together, the root structure is not as deep and long as trees that are on the open by themselves. So if you are going to leave a seed tree, than you need to leave them in a group, a small clumb or they WILL come down in the next big wind.

The next thing they do after this clearcut, is to hire a crew to plant trees. This costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. It is done in the Spring and than in the fall, just as the young trees get use to their environment and have a chance to make it, the Forest Service opens up the clear cut to “Open Range, Have you Seen what a COW Plop does to a seedling tree. One plop and its over. So a large portion of the trees are killed or eaten.

So because of the way a forest was managed there was not huge success in the rejuvenation process and this was somehow blamed on loggers. There was a line long ago, a place where loggers and Environmentalist could have agreed, but the way the forest was managed led to chaos, things got out of control – lawsuits entered the picture and the wrong people paid for it.

The local timber companies blamed the Environmentalists when really they were still making big money, and to this day are Real Estate Moguls.

The government wants to sell their lands, and this is in the media I do feel this will happen some day. Especially if they are forced to not log these lands and they want to log these lands, the solution is to sell the land to private companies who can then log the land and do what they want to do via private landowner rights.

We must be able to be nice to each other, be thoughtful and intelligent and find solutions that everybody can agree to and not just fight about it. I don't think that the planning Board or the county is trying, at this time, to come in and say you can’t develop your land. This simply was a period to find solutions and set a growth plan, not out of the goodness of their heart or of the people but because it was State Required and State Budgeted.

It is not yet a factor of eminent domain. The county is really still just beginning the process of putting a plan into action. And the feedback that's coming in, such as that last night's meeting at the Lincoln County high school seems to be directed towards a feeling that the county is threatening development and economic growth and wishing to “stick it to the locals” as one comment was made. The Lincoln County planning Board and county officials are simply opening the process, they do not have all the answers and if we do not give them constructive solution oriented comments and feedback, how can they come up with a constructive plan.

If all we can say is you had better not step on private rights, then how can that help them to make solutions. They are not going to step on private rights .Most often in these situations, the loudest voices are heard, and the folks with the most money, seem to be the loudest voices. Now if you Eureka folks, are not coming to these meetings and telling these folks via e-mail or in person what you really want to see happen in Eureka Montana. Then they will not even consider you.

I met Mary Klinkham, and she seems to a strong woman with an open mind. She seemed willing to listen to concerns and address issues. At this particular meeting there was a gal from the Bull Lake area that dominated comments. Her concerns were not really clear to me, I think she basically does not want the county to tell her what she can and can't do.

And that she is an activist for a private landowner's rights. However she discussed situations in the state of Washington that she had been through and not wanting that to happen here. Rumor at the meeting was that her situation in Washington was possibly of her own creating, and that she had possibly disturbed wetlands and violated timber cutting laws of that particular county or state law.

I do not claim to know exactly what the situation was where she came from. I know that her concerns are legitimate, and feel she's an intelligent woman with valid points.

However, it seems that each town in Lincoln County has its own diverse issues and that a county wide meeting for growth is a waste of time. .For example, ‘The chain of Lakes” in the “Happy’s Inn” area which is outside of Troy, and the Bull Lake area seem to be directly affected by the Mega land sales that is now under way with Plum Creek Timber company selling off their land.

It was said that Plum Creek owns 12% of Lincoln County. With this I am saying that each area has such a unique circumstance, that there needs to be a meeting in each area for the planning of that area, and I hate to say this but people from the other areas should not have attended this meeting. How can we be heard on a particular situations in our particular area if people come from the other places in the county and dominate our meetings.

I realize that linking county's growth plan has to be countywide. However being a Lincoln County native, and having relatives in Troy Libby and Eureka in my life I can say that Libby Montana and Eureka Montana are very different communities and possibly the growth plan should treat them differently.


For example Eureka does not have major environmental clean up situations to the magnitude Libby has. We did not have W.R. Grace and as sad and sick as it is and situations that Libby had dealing with this crisis.

We do not have a large grocery store, we do not have a store such as Rosaurs or Pamida. Eureka is seen more of a growth spurt than Libby, in my opinion and with the wilderness club, Eureka is s seeing a lot of publicity. Eureka Montana and Lake Koocanusa are in several mountain magazines, resort magazines, and many other magazines that have a huge demographic and subscriber base.

There is a trend, for golf course resorts to be designed by celebrity golfers, such as the one here with Nick Faldo and the one in Sandpoint at www.TheIdahoClub.com which is a Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course. This inevitably draws attention on a town in a major way and influences our growth, based on this advertising.

This publicity is based on Eureka Montana. This is not about Libby. Our area concerns are unique to our area. And many developers are seeing this as a money making potential here in Eureka Montana because of the wilderness club. Nothing will stop the wilderness club from being successful. They have the money to do what they're doing, they have the politics in order, they are dealing with surrounding neighbors and water issues, and they are bringing something to the community that most of us are uncomfortable with because change is scary and development is bad.


A Note about Meth

I personally can say that I have seen real estate in areas where Meth had consumed the area, there are really no police force, and the local economy almost seemed to be based on drugs. Now in this type of economy you cannot get your money out of your real estate. Something is going to move into Eureka Montana, we are prime for takeover. We have to decide which direction we want to go, we want to live in and see if we can't be that friendly little town I hear so much about.

Growth In Eureka

What Do I Think.. I wish that large land holders would keep their land large.

But I do understand that some land owners feel they must develop to get the most money from their land. I Suspect their Realtor has convinced them of this. Development means doubles commission, selling once is only good for the Seller.

However I am convinced, without a doubt, that you can make more money keeping your land whole than in chopping your land into small parcels..

If you watch the nightly business report's, or read agricultural news you see that the trend is amenity ranches and the buying of large acreage ranches by folks that are getting out of the cities and want lots of land around them.

I feel that large acreage is very valuable and if you Keep the Family ranch whole than you can use the whole State of Montana to base your appraisal on.. They can use ranches that are like kind and therefore this makes the ranch land sometimes more valuable than the smaller pieces. If you chop the ranch you are stuck with the local comparable sales for your appraisal

For example if a ranch similar to your ranch sales in Bozeman or whitefish Montana then, it is my understanding, that you can use this as a comparable property when appraising your ranch. So therefore five acre parcels or two acre parcels all over your 200 acre ranch may not bring you more money than keeping it larch.

You can also sometimes convince large corporations, nature Conservancy, Sierra Club, grizzly protection people, wildlife and wetland protection groups and other groups to buy your property to protect it from development. And they may pay top dollar to do this.

I have read stories about the state of Montana and other government agencies buying land to protect things such as the Alberton Gorge in the recent news.

So if you care about your land and you care about lincoln county, wildlife, water, and our way of life then look into other ways that you can get the dollar amount you need from your property, while still keeping it whole. You may be surprised at what can really happen. And still leave a legacy for your children.

Also I do understand that a lot of local folks are making money in the building industry. I understand that when people say everybody with a hammer is a contractor, that this is not too far from the truth.

With the current construction climate and looming construction fraud lawsuits, this industry may seriously change and these folks that are just swinging a hammer with no real training may lose their jobs anyway.

I feel that Eureka needs to be educated on how to make money on the Internet and other creative ways that they can do what they love to do, and make money and then have time to spend in the lifestyle of northwest Montana that they love.

I feel that development is here to stay. And that to protect our way of life and our quality of life we must have laws in place and we must enforce those laws. At the top of my list is building codes, and folks that actually enforce them.

We need to let the public know their rights in construction fraud and we need to provide realistic goals into to monitor these contractors that are building moldy homes that are falling down and ruining homeowners lives. Folks need to know their rights.

And the builders keep moving on and keep building houses and they have no recourse they are ruining people's lives. We know who these builders are, why can't we stop them.

As far as trophy homes, and that people seem to be so worried about, there are no trophy homes here that I know of. I have heard of some around Glen Lake where the Alberta folks are bringing in engineers and designing homes and these homes might be great homes but for the most part folks don't design homes with engineers here in Eureka Montana. They built a home and they sell it to an unsuspecting buyer. As far as real estate goes there is no end in sight to the type of real estate development that is coming here. It will not slow down and the only way to manage it is to work within the system as it is already moving along.

And you put some rules in place that will protect wildlife and will protect our way of life without thinking we're going to stop development. It makes me sad to see some of these giant roads going into places. However it is not my land and I do not have a right to tell them they can't do it. I would hope that people would find better solutions than subdivision.

However people will subdivide, some folks will develop and housing communities will come in and then hopefully we will have some good restaurants and coffee houses along with this. And hopefully we will have some quality construction with this.

And the best that we can hope for is the highest amount of integrity during the process and it is a waste of time to sit around and fight about what is going to happen or not when it is already happening. We need to be solution oriented and not just yap at public officials about things that are out of their control, really because development is already here to stay.

In regard to the sticking it to the locals comment, this was in regard to the fact that if you take away development, which the county could really never take away, then the folks who now make a living cleaning, building homes,…. And other construction related to income would lose their current way of income.

The only reason some locals are making money at this, is because there seems to be no other way to make money here. However, as I have stated in previous posts, there is money to be made on the Internet. And people just need to learn how to make money and not necessarily depend on the land to make the money.

Selling a property is not a long-term economic growth solution, they get the money and then what? I understand that there are a lot of jobs now related to the construction industry. However I also know that the majority of the construction that is going on here now is faulty and shoddy. And that law suits and construction Law will soon change the industry here and those folks may end up losing their jobs anyway. Every person, every family needs to find a way to make an income and do something they can be proud of, and to find a way to make money that last their entire career.

And jumping into the housing boom is not necessarily a long-term economic benefit to one particular household. It may be a short time boom in economic growth. And I realize that Eureka folks need jobs.

However, my concern is that Eureka gets jobs that they can count on for 10, 20, 30 years or more and not a flash in the pan jobs that give them short-term income and no benefits.

And a lot of times these jobs that are given by developers that move into the area to build all of these homes and they do not necessarily treat these workers with the respect they deserve.

SMART GROWTH COMMENTS From me:I have a written in earlier posts about Smart growth possibly being a good idea.

I just wanted to tell you folks here that though I think it may be a good idea, this is only for selfish reasons because I would like to look at the open spaces.

However I would never live in this type of community because I am a local gal and I do not want to live right next to somebody else, this is not the reason I stayed in Montana.

So I understand those who do not want smart growth, because it would be nicer to have five acres around you to Garden, have a horse, and spread out a bit, instead of being right next to your neighbor and looking in a pasture where everybody's horses are mixed together for example. So the dream of living in Montana is not really living in a smart growth community.

I do understand this solution for Missoula. But Missoula Montana is already a cities and smart growth at this time is a good idea. But we do not live in the city, and for obvious reasons. More on my Opinion Later..

I am not claiming for this article/post to be 100% accurate, it is my best interpretation of the meeting and the situation and linking county northwest Montana at this point in time, regarding development and growth plans.


If you doubt a fact that is in this article, please look up the fact and post it on your blog and send me a link. As far as my opinion, everybody has one and my point of posting this on my blog is to inform you of what is going on from the perspective of ONE. You most likely will not see me at all the meetings. I probably won't even go to another one.

Because for the most part I am one of those locals, who feels like my opinion on how things should go is not the way they're going to go anyway so why bother. However I did fill out a survey online, I don't know whether was counted or not. And I have the made some of my opinions known this is really the best I can do .The Growth Plan Draft...I found to be quite boring, had old data and really did not have a Solution. I

will have to say when the gentlemen from the Crystal Lakes area spoke about the poverty level of Eureka and it being the poorest part of the county I did Crinch.

Quite a lot of folks make pretty good money and than today as I am ready over the pages of the draft I see on the front page of the ECONOMY section that Per Capita Eureka has the highest income levels in the county. Yet the meetings deciding our fate are always in Libby, Libby has the most police force and is still consider more of a viable economic hub than Eureka. However, until they get their signature golf club... Eureka's growth rate has a higher economic value on it.. It is that simple.


Crystal L. Cox

www.TenLakesRealty.com

Friends of the Shelter

Eureka Pets...

By Krista Tincher
Of the Tobacco Valley News

Concerns about the closure of the Eureka Animal Shelter have left some community members scratching their heads.
“I think it’s scary,” said Lori McNicol, an active member of the Friends of the Shelter, a non-profit volunteer organization that fosters unwanted animals until homes can be found for them. McNicol said that when it was open, the Eureka Animal Shelter filled up with animals quickly. On the day the county closed the Eureka Animal Shelter closed, the Friends of the Shelter picked up nine cats and nine dogs from the shelter. But with the shelter on an extended closure the Friends of the Shelter has had surprisingly few requests to take animals, and according to McNicol, the animal control facility in Libby hasn’t had to impound many.
“They (the animals) didn’t just stop happening,” added McNicol.

“It scares me to wonder where they are.”
Some people have adjusted to the closure by putting up posters, calling the Friends of the Shelter, or fostering animals themselves, added Debbie Garrison, another Friends of the Shelter member. “But some others are just very frustrated,” she noted. “It’s easy for them to take a sack of kittens and throw them over a bridge. I’ve had people tell me that’s how they deal with kittens.” They have had many reports of animals being dropped off in people’s yards, as well.
The Eureka Animal Shelter closed in early January due to a staff illness. County officials decided to shut the shelter down rather than hiring a temporary replacement.
People with unwanted pets have been directed to first call the Friends of the Shelter. If no space is available there, a Libby animal control representative will come up to Eureka and retrieve the animals. Emergency situations, such as dog bites, should be directed to the Eureka dispatch.
According to McNicol and Garrison, this situation has not been effective. “People like being anonymous,” said McNicol. She added that for some people, “calling a person and asking isn’t an option.” It’s much easier to drop a dog in somebody’s yard, she said.
“Our police department is understaffed as it is,” Garrison said. She emphasized that in past instances, by the time officers had time to respond to reports of animals at large,

the animals had disappeared.

Not to mention, Garrison pointed out, “it’s a service that we’ve all already paid for in our taxes. As a taxpayer, I’m frustrated. The citizens of Eureka should be disappointed in the decision to shut the animal shelter down as opposed to finding an alternative route.”
“We’re happy to help the county where we can, and we’re more than pleased that they asked us to help, but our resources are limited, and we are not law enforcement,” added Garrison. She noted that the Friends of the Shelter does not have a facility to temporarily house animals, and that they are a “non-profit volunteer organization running solely upon donations and dependent upon the generosity of local businesses and residents, whereas the

Eureka animal facility is funded by tax dollars.”

Ron Anderson, Lincoln County’s sanitarian in Libby whose department

oversees animal control, saw the closure differently.

“I think it’s worked fairly well. We haven’t heard any backlash,” Anderson commented. There is concern that people are going to deal with animals the “old fashioned way,” he added. “I can’t see anyone going back to pitching bags of kittens in a river.

I think society has gone further that that.”

Anderson denied a rumor that the animal shelter in Eureka would be permanently closed. He emphasized that this was not true. “Our intent is to get the facility open as soon as we get our staff back,” he said. He added that it “takes a long time for a person to be acclimated to animal control,” and that the closure was too short-term to realistically hire a temporary replacement. He could not comment on when the shelter would reopen.

Anderson emphasized that people with unwanted animals should first call the Friends of the Shelter. If the Friends of the Shelter cannot accommodate the animal,

the Libby animal control facility should be notified.

“We feel that we are providing adequate

animal control services there,” Anderson added.

“We don’t feel that the public has been left unguarded.”

www.TobaccoValleyNews.com

Check Out the Friends of the Shelter Website at
www.Friends-Of-The-Shelter.com

MIP Outing

MIP Outing
Did you Read in paper about the citation handed out for MIP, of high school students when they were "caught on tape" and this was played at school and turned over by the principal. MIP has been a major problem in our area according to officials and this a major break in "putting our foot down" to stop this. With YouTube and the new cell phones that allow video streaming live from the phone and web cams we may be able to stop broken glass, shooting up and stealing of signs and a number of crimes that have been committed with no suspects conficted. Keep on taping folks, turn your tape over to the police and lets just DO THE RIGHT THING !!