Boat storage facility, docks proposed for Flathead River

By ALEX STRICKLAND / Bigfork Eagle

A proposed boat storage and dock facility on the Flathead River south of Creston has neighbors worried about a variety of issues, not least of which is the fact that the project has come so far without anyone's knowledge.

Diane Johnson, who lives along the river a few miles south of the proposed project, spoke to the Bigfork Land Use Advisory Committee last week about the project.

Johnson said she came to the meeting to educate the community about the proposal, which would include dry storage for up to 200 trailered boats and three large docks and ramps to launch watercraft from.

The marina is being proposed by Kalispell businessman Pete Rice and his son-in-law Jason Eliason. Rice is the president and owner of North Country Marine on LaSalle Road. Multiple phone calls to Rice were not returned for this story.

Eugene Lee lives about a mile and a half from the proposed facility and at the BLUAC meeting last week expressed his concern over the erosion that increased boat traffic would bring.

"Riverbank owners are losing a lot of land to the river," he said.

Lee also expressed concern over added traffic on Riverside Road, a little-used side road that Lee said he drives cattle across a few times each summer as they move from pasture to pasture. Because the proposed facility would not sell gasoline, boat owners would have to pull their boats to the nearest service station to fill up and would create even more trips back and forth on the road, he said.

Rice's application to the Flathead Conservation District for a permit indicated that at peak times there would be an estimated 80 boat launches per day at the facility.

The proposed facility is located in an unzoned area, meaning the project is not prohibited based on land use. Rice does have to obtain permits from the Army Corps of Engineers, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, as well as pass muster with the Flathead County Planning and Zoning Office's floodplain evaluation, according to county planner Eric Giles.

Giles said the project must also mesh with the county growth policy, which has certain goals and objectives stated for floodplain construction, even in an unzoned area.

Dan Bangeman is the project supervisor for the Flathead Conservation District and as such is examining and writing a report on the proposal for his office. Bangeman said he will supply a recommendation to the conservation district board who will then have to vote on the project. Because of district bylaws, Bangeman said a project must get four of the seven available votes to pass, and the district currently only has six members. That means if one was not present and a vote wen 3-2 in favor of the project, it would not pass.

Bangeman said this project brought to light an interesting question about what the district can take into account when analyzing a property. Bangeman is restricted to looking at only primary impacts like the paving of boat ramps and the impact buildings and traffic will have on the riparian habitat, not secondary impacts like boat wakes. At the same time, part of the district's mission is to protect adjacent properties, which would likely be more affected by the secondary impacts.

"It's kind of a catch 22," he said.

In her efforts to rally support, Johnson contacted the governor's office and the chief policy advisor to Gov. Brian Schweitzer, Hal Harper.

In an interview with the Eagle on Monday, Harper said the governor's office was keeping tabs on the project, and one of the concerns about it was the perception that such an undertaking might give Canadians.

"In my mind it naturally connects with other challenges like the British Columbia Government and the North Fork of the Flathead," he said. "It's something people who are concerned about development on the North Fork should think about."

Schweitzer office has been deeply involved with negotiations to stop coal bed methane extraction in the Canadian Flathead.

"Does it weaken the argument of the governor and the two senators have been putting up there?" Harper asked.

Because the proposal is in an unzoned area, it does not go before the planning board and county commissioners like a subdivision proposal or zone change proposal, Giles said. Instead, the county planning office reviews the project once all applicable permits have been obtained and other requirements like on-site floodplain delineation have been met. The planning office then refers to project to the Montana Department of Natural Resources water resources division for their review of the site plan and impacts. If the project gets the thumbs up from the DNRC and is seen to substantially comply with the county growth policy, it will be approved administratively.

A public informational meeting will be held by the Flathead Conservation District at 7 p.m. today, Thursday, March 6 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kalispell. There will also be a public comment period at the meeting.