Turnover in progress on Lakeside council

The May 31 meeting was the final one

for Lakeside Community Council board members Brent Hall and Rex

Boller.

One of those two vacancies is being

filled by Craig Koontz. He was elected in February after being the

only applicant for the two three-year term positions. Since only

one candidate filed for election, the second position will be

appointed by the Flathead County Commissioners based on

recommendations from the council.

That other opening on the council is

still in flux still.

Janet Conroy was thought to be the only

applicant who submitted a letter of interest prior to the deadline

in April. However, a second applicant, Ryan Keeler, has since said

that he attempted to email a letter of interest, but it was not

received by chairman Keith Brown due to an email address error.

Therefore the council voted unanimously

at last week’s meeting to submit both Conroy and Keeler as

candidates to the commissioners.

At the meeting, the council also voted

to write a letter to the county commissioners to stir up support

for the Lakeside Neighborhood Plan, which is currently tied up in a

lawsuit. A group of individuals is suing the Lakeside Neighborhood

Planning Committee and Flathead County over the neighborhood

planning process. The case is scheduled for jury trial in

December.

It is the council’s hope that the

letter will derive more support and resources from the county

attorney’s office in defending the case so the plan can be put into

use.

“We want to make sure they really do

fight it,” Brown said. “We want to show them that we’re behind it

and that we believe that the community is behind this as well. We

want to make sure that they are vigorously supporting this,

especially with regards to resources, and are ready to defend this

in court.”

During the public comment portion of

the May 31 meeting, Maggie Davis gave a presentation sharing

concerns she and others have with the development that is taking

place at the Edgewater RV Park and Resort. The council voted to

write a letter to Flathead County Planning Director BJ Grieve, each

of the commissioners and Ed Corrigan at the county attorney’s

office.

The council meets on the last Tuesday

of every month, usually at 7 p.m. in the sewer district building on

Bierney Creek Road in Lakeside.