Marion Kibbe

I am writing in response to the angry letter from Judy K. Pettinato which appeared in the Pilot on Sept. 22 attacking the Whitefish Lakeshore Protection Committee and, in particular, its chairman, Jim Stack.

Mrs. Pettinato should first appreciate that the committee is made up of unpaid volunteers, selected by the City of Whitefish and Flathead County, who love Whitefish Lake and have some special knowledge and concern about it.

Jim Stack was elected chairman by the committee members. All members of the committee have copies of, and have carefully studied, the Whitefish and Lost Coon Lakeshore Protection Regulations.

Every member, before each meeting, studies each permit application and the usual multi-page commentary of the professional planning staff in order to cast an intelligent vote on each and every permit as it arises.

Mrs. Pettinato's application was to replace and expand a dock that was installed many years ago. Under current Lakeshore Regulations, this dock would not be allowed as it is placed too close to the neighboring property; however, since it's a grandfathered structure, Mrs. Pettinato has the right to repair or replace it.

She cannot, however, expand it unless she gets a new variance, and to do this, to protect the city's legal position, she needs the neighbor's permission for the increased encroachment. She could also move the expanded dock about 10 feet toward the center of her property, so that it doesn't encroach on anyone.

Mr. Stack, in accordance with his position as chairman of the committee, was trying to explain the regulations to Mrs. Pettinato and to describe her options so that she could have a new dock. He, and the committee, were trying to work with her to solve her dock problem.

Rather than trying to understand what she needed to do, she simply walked out of the meeting, apparently abandoning her application. I'm certain that there is no waste of the taxpayers' money here.

I'm sorry Mrs. Pettinato feels that her time was wasted, and I hope I'm not wasting my time by responding to her letter.

Marion Kibbe is a member of the Whitefish Lakeshore Protection Committee.