School bond hot topic at Steering Committee

By ALEX STRICKLAND / Bigfork Eagle

With the ballots for the Bigfork High School Bond levy currently being considered by voters, talk of the bond was the main subject at last week's Bigfork Steering Committee Community Forum meeting.

School Board Trustee Denny Sabo came to the meeting to answer questions about the joint community/high school library and ended up fielding questions on a variety of issues surrounding the bond.

BSC member Edd Blackler pointed out that because of the school district boundaries, some Lake County residents would be paying for a Flathead County facility. Lake County residents are permitted to use the Flathead County library.

Blackler said that on a larger scale, the school facilities will remain less-than-ideal regardless of whether the proposed addition and renovation takes place and that taking the prospect of a brand new facility off the table is a mistake.

Sabo argued that 10 years ago a bond levy was put before voters to move the school to a location off Coverdell Road north of Bigfork now occupied by Pope John Paul II church. That issue was overwhelmingly denied, Sabo said, because the community decided that it was best to retain the school's facility in the heart of town.

"We have no choice on location," Sabo said. "Our only choice is to update the existing facilities."

Sabo also answered the question of why the schools — the high school and the elementary/middle school — exist in different locations. He said that operating costs associated with having two separate facilities were more than the district could afford because of the increased transportation costs as well as the loss of ability to share resources like some teachers.

Another issue concerning the joint library proposal, which accounts for $200,000 of the $11.1 million bond, was that a standalone library would be paid for a by a levy that would affect all residents of Flathead County, whereas the joint facility would be paid for only by Bigfork residents.

Stewart Harvey, the Flathead County Library Foundation director, said that there are no plans for a standalone facility in the event that the school bond does not pass. Plans for a standalone facility in Potoczny Park were abandoned after much public opposition.

Bond ballots are due back to the District Office by March 4. The high school bond issue was voted down by a narrow margin in early October of last year, while the $5.5 million elementary school bond passed.

"Trust me when I tell you that the school is deficient in many ways," Sabo said.

In other news at the meeting, Leslie Budowitz, who heads the North Lake County Zoning subcommittee, said that her group is in talks with Lake County to form an advisory board for the proposed zoning district that would be modeled on BLUAC in Bigfork. There is no precedent for such a body in Lake County, she said, and county leaders are wary of such a group.

Budowitz also updates the BSC on Forest Service plans to study an area of forest near Bug Creek and Crane Mountain that she said group members noticed have extreme fire danger. The North Lake County subcommittee recently conducted driving tours of the various parts of North Lake County to ascertain land types and uses.