Canyon residents, sheriff talk safety issues

Safety and civility were the main themes of a meeting in Hungry Horse Wednesday night, when Canyon residents and the sheriff found common ground.

About 60 people came out to hear Sheriff Jim Dupont's plans for the Fourth of July this year and his plea for help from the community.

"Last year, it was a total fiasco," he said. Residents agreed.

Mike's Conoco had to shut down because of the fireworks danger. People were hurt and rockets were launched at vehicles on U.S. 2, Dupont said.

"It was target practice at the tourists who spend millions of dollars here," Dupont said.

"I seen more action here than I did in Vietnam," one resident said.

"We're not going to tolerate that this year," Dupont said. "We don't want to ruin the Fourth of July. We need to bring some sanity to it … We want good people to help us out with it."

"Give me a badge. I'll be there," one resident said.

Some people said there weren't enough deputies to control drunkenness and danger last year. Deputies should be in the crowds, not just passing through in patrol cars, one said.

This year, "We'll be in the crowd, around the crowd, under the crowd," Dupont said.

But enforcement can only go so far and officers rely on citizens to report problems and supply their own disapproval for misbehavior, Dupont said.

In an answer to one man's question, he said that even though the jail is chronically full, "We're not going to use that as an excuse on the Fourth."

Discussion Wednesday night wasn't limited to the Fourth of July. Residents are concerned about enforcement in general and their pride in their community.

"It's all about community," said Jim Sullivan, who has led efforts to remove abandoned vehicles, trash and other eyesores in the Canyon.

"It's gratifying to see what happens" when residents work together, he said.

For a while, a sheriff's deputy was assigned to enforcing the county's community decay ordinance and that was effective, Sullivan said. The deputy no longer works for the sheriff's office, but organizers hope the community can help itself.

That won't happen "unless the community rears up," Sullivan said.

The Forest Service and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad have concerns about parties and trash left on their land.

Trainmaster Lane Ross said the railroad has grants available for community projects

While one solution is cleaning up rubbish, another is discouraging it to begin with, along with other problems, including vandalism, pets running wild, speeding snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles on streets, and unsupervised children.

"They're not being monitored," one mother said of youths. "They're raising themselves and they don't have the skills."

Some suggested cleanup days that would emphasize youth involvement.

It shouldn't just be people from Hungry Horse, Coram, Martin City, Lake Five and West Glacier, some said. Teenagers from Columbia Falls and elsewhere regard the Canyon as a place to party, they said.

Ross said that gates or boulders may be necessary to keep partiers off of railroad property because of the damage they do.

Residents spoke of their own problems with damage, with people coming right up to homes to siphon gas from vehicles, cut garden hoses and cause other mischief.

Undersheriff Mike Meehan said deputy Tom Snyder could help residents set up a community watch if someone will take on the responsibility of managing it.

Dupont vowed to keep deputies on patrol through the area.

Despite some residents' complaints about responses they have gotten to some calls, the crowd applauded the sheriff's work at the end of the meeting.

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com