Residents sound off on rockslide into lake

Several members of the community commented at the Whitefish City Council meeting last week about a recent rockslide caused by the construction of a home on Whitefish Lake.

Construction crews using explosives to blast rock for the foundation of the home last month led to a rockslide of debris into Beaver Bay. Contractors on the project are Whitefish-based High Country Builders. According to the builders, the blasting was done by professionals hired by DLB Inc., of Libby.

Whitefish resident Beth Sobba has lived on Beaver Bay for over 20 years. According to Sobba, she and her neighbors have been enduring noise from the construction for two years.

She told councilors that the project began in October 2022 with the removal of approximately 50 trees and the crushing of rock by an excavator.

Sobba described a quote in a Pilot story from High Country Builders’ Walt Landi as “inaccurate” when he said the hammering began just a month ago, they hit solid rock and decided to blast.  

Rather, from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., five days a week for the last two years, she said the sound of constant hammering could be heard as far away as Houston Point and Iron Horse. She played an audio recording of the machine’s rhythmic pounding.

“The explosion and its aftermath have rocked the community into action,” Sobba said. “As upsetting as the whole situation is, we are somewhat grateful that our nightmare is now blatantly apparent to the community.”

Cassie Roberts, a limnologist with Whitefish Lake Institute, said the city is doing a good job compared to the county, but there are opportunities to do more to protect the lake.

“What happened in May when a blast created a landslide on a property on Whitefish Lake will affect water quality,” she said. “Already, in front of the site, the water is cloudy and turbidity levels were well over four times they were at nearby Beaver Creek.”

Roberts said the sediment loading caused by the explosion might have been less severe if not for a previous lakeshore violation wherein 50-60 trees were removed, thus destabilizing the hill.

“It takes hundreds of years for topsoil to develop,” Roberts said of the affected slope. “It will never be the same.”

She added that the landslide has made the area ripe for the arrival of invasive species and that, without proper enforcement of regulations, incidents like this will continue to happen on a greater scale.

“We’ve managed to keep this lake free of most invasive species and low in nutrients, not by accident, or by chance, but through tireless work by this community,” she said. “We need to come up with a viable way to prevent these lakeshore violations before they happen.”

Roberts added that it is too easy to pay a low fine and ask for forgiveness after the damage is done.

“We can’t really bring the kind of penalty to the people who are paying the kind of money they’re paying for lakeshore properties today … it’s just gotten so valuable and people don’t care,” said Councilor Andy Feury. “We do need to become advocates, more than we do currently, for the lake.”

Councilor Frank Sweeney said the city is serious about managing the lake but has been unable to get the county to reciprocate. He suggested all the concerned citizens go directly to the county commission and make their voices heard. 

WILDLIFE SPECIALIST for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Justine Vallieres thanked the council for implementing bear-resistant trash containers. She said the bins are working but there is always going to be human error like overfilling the containers or failing to shut them properly. 

She said they have helped to reduce conflicts in Whitefish, but the bears have shown her other weaknesses within the community, namely bird feeders and people who feed wildlife.

“In the last month or so, I’ve gotten about 45 conflict calls in regards to bears just from Whitefish,” she said. “I’m getting a lot of calls from people … because there are bears on their porches.”

Vallieres said bears are highly intelligent and very visual so when they go on a porch or deck and get a food reward, they are likely to climb on a porch again. Much of her time is spent educating the public about attractants like bird feeders.

She said there are “major issues” with feeding deer, bears and other wildlife and that Whitefish is one of her biggest problem areas. 

“I am asking city council to consider implementing some sort of community bylaw in regards to the feeding of wildlife and bird feeders,” she said. “Ideally, we would just say bird feeders need to be taken down between April 15 and Nov. 15 to really mitigate those conflicts.”

Councilor Rebecca Nelson asked about the possibility of an ordinance about the use of bird feeders during the summer months. 

“I think regulating bird feeders, while there’s good intent … I’m not personally willing to put that in front of the council but that’s your decision,” Mayor John Muhlfeld said. “I think that’s a bit far-reaching from my perspective.”

With the exception of Councilor Giuseppe Caltabiano, the other councilors were equally unmoved. Caltabiano suggested having a work session in December to consider the issue and study data from other towns that have implemented a similar policy.

If citizens have broken latches on bear-resistant containers, Whitefish City Manager Dana Smith said Republic Services will fix or replace broken latches. 

AN UPDATE to the Whitefish Sustainable Tourism Management Plan was also adopted by a unanimous vote. 

A volunteer committee was appointed to develop a Sustainable Tourism Management Plan which was completed and approved by the Whitefish City Council in 2020. An update was deemed necessary due to changes in the community and the economy.

The plan included five interrelated focus areas: housing and development, environment, economic diversification, tourism and transportation. The committee collaborated with the city, Explore Whitefish and local stakeholders to focus on six action items. 

The first item is public outreach on the benefits of a tourism economy. The second is promotion of the shoulder season for retreats and other low-impact events. The next two action items deal with transportation. Outreach, funding and support for affordable housing and working with the Climate Action Plan Committee for helping businesses pursue sustainable green business practices round out the groups action items.

THE COUNCIL held two work sessions in the past month to review and discuss the proposed budget for fiscal year 2025 and approved the preliminary budget unanimously. 

“The proposed budget will continue to support the city’s endeavor to provide exceptional services to our community, retain our excellent staff, adjust to growth and demand and improve our facilities all while considering the impacts to the city’s property taxpayers,” Whitefish City Manager Dana Smith wrote.

The budget will be finalized after Aug. 5 when the Montana Department of Revenue releases the city’s taxable value. 

THE GROUSE Mountain parking lot project was awarded to Cutting Edge Excavating, LLC.

Whitefish Public Works Director Craig Workman’s report says the parking lot requires complete reconstruction, including a new storm drain system, grading and other improvements. Cutting Edge Excavating’s bid of $209,999 was the lowest of the five received.

THE COUNCIL approved a text amendment to the Stream, Lake and Wetland Buffers and Setbacks section of the code to remove references to foundation requirements and use and increase the allowed size of accessory structures. 

The amendment was spurred by a letter from a citizen who requested minor code changes to allow for accessory structures such as storage sheds for paddle boards or kayaks.

The change to the code allow a detached, unoccupied accessory structure up to 120

square feet, with or without a foundation, to be placed in a buffer, provided all other permits could be obtained. Additionally, an area of mitigation would still be required, where new native plant species of an equal area to that disturbed will need to be planted in the buffer.

The Whitefish Community Development Board heard the item at its public hearing on May 16, and unanimously recommended approval of the amendment.