Haskill deal a once in a lifetime chance

Voting yes for a 1 percent increase in the resort tax over the next 10 years to purchase the conservation easement in Haskill Basin is definitely a no-brainer.

Whitefish residents will not only be protecting our precious water, but also preserving our important viewshed. We cannot afford to rely on lake water — the costs are too high and we have a natural gravity fed system already in place that we need to protect.

For decades, F.H. Stoltze Land and Lumber Company has allowed our local residents and visitors access to their land to recreate on as a neighborly accommodation. The Stoltze family has always been great partners for recreation and resource management. Frankly, they have been nothing but a great partner in everything the Flathead Valley has to offer.

Stoltze has even reduced the appraised $20.6 million price of the easement by $3.9 million. The appraisal was done two years ago, arguably the lowest land prices have been in many years.

Additionally, $9 million in federal grants have been given to us. To be able to secure permanent protection of this land by our community and visitors by spending $7.7 million is a complete bargain and money well spent. This is like god’s gift to the Flathead Valley.

The resort tax is clearly the way to pay for this. If it gets added to water bills or property taxes in Whitefish, it will make Whitefish even less affordable than it is, especially for our senior citizens and folks on fixed incomes. Plus, we will have the sewer upgrades coming up that we will need to pay for on our sewer bill.

I have been a local Realtor for the past 31 years and someone said to me recently, “Wouldn’t you rather be able to sell homes or land there?”

My response was that I would rather have clean water, fantastic viewshed, and a place for my son and all the people.

As far as the concerns about our locally owned businesses taking a hit, I can tell you that I and a lot of my friends spend a great deal of money shopping and eating in Whitefish and never in a million years would consider going to Kalispell to save a few bucks and waste an hour. I guess there are some who do it, but using the resort tax to protect Haskill makes shopping locally even more important and we should all appreciate the retail sector helping us preserve the Whitefish way of life.

Using the resort tax, the money I spend in town will now mean that our children will have permanent protection of our water source and this keystone piece of property. Visitors coming to town will have this beautiful forested land to enjoy and timber jobs saved. Plus, our friends who live outside the city get to contribute when they shop and eat here.

I have lived in Whitefish for 38 years — over half my life — and this is truly a once in a lifetime opportunity for our great town.

 — Ken Stein, Whitefish