Evergreen people meet to map out future

The Evergreen Business and Property Owners Association will sponsor a community meeting Saturday to address the question, "What next, Evergreen?"

The meeting, from 10 a.m. to noon at the Evergreen Junior High School gymnasium, will include several brief presentations, information booths on various topics, and a short survey to gauge community opinions.

Linda Graham, a founding member of the Evergreen association, said the survey focuses on four issues:

How people feel about having a regional sewage treatment plant, how they feel about annexation and incorporation, whether they support the creation of an Evergreen community council, and whether they support the creation of an Evergreen neighborhood plan as part of the county growth policy.

Based on the survey responses, Graham said, the association will decide where to direct its efforts.

The Evergreen Business and Property Owners Association previously has come out in support of a regional treatment plant. It also recently proposed the creation of an Evergreen community council.

The council would be an elected body that represents the community on a variety of planning issues and other issues of local concern. It would be patterned after a similar council created in Lakeside in 1996.

There will be an information booth available Saturday where people can go to find out more about community councils, Graham said.

She also expects there to be booths dealing with the regional sewage facility, bike paths, the Evergreen Lions Club/ABS Park, and the Evergreen Volunteer Fire Department.

When the association refers to "Evergreen," it's referring to the boundaries of the Evergreen fire district, Graham said. The district extends from Conrad Drive on the south to Pioneer Road (across from Glacier Park International Airport) on the north. The east boundary is the Flathead River, and the district runs west across the Whitefish River.

During the first half-hour or so of Saturday's meeting, there will be brief presentations from Evergreen Fire Chief Don Doty; Andy Hyde with Carver Engineering, which provides technical services to the Evergreen sewer district; and Flathead County Clerk and Recorder Paula Robinson, who will discuss the amount of property taxes paid by the Evergreen community.

"We feel like Evergreen is an important part of the valley," Graham said. "We'd hate to see it lose its country, community feel."

For more information about Saturday's meeting, contact Graham at the Evergreen Post Office, 752-0292.

Reporter Bill Spence may be reached at 758-4459 or by e-mail at bspence@dailyinterlake.com