County ready to evaluate growth policy consultants

The Daily Inter Lake

Eight consulting firms located throughout the Intermountain West have expressed interest in helping Flathead County finish its growth policy update.

The county is looking for someone who can help shepherd the document to completion by summer 2006. It issued a request for qualifications late last year.

By state law, all planning jurisdictions in Montana must have growth policies in place by Oct. 1, 2006 if they want to continue to do zoning. The Flathead County Planning Board has been working on the county's policy for more than two years.

However, a surge in subdivision and zoning activity has prevented the board from making much headway in recent months.

Firms that responded to the request for qualifications are located in Missoula; Helena; Charlo; Coeur d'Alene; Jackson, Wyo.; Casper, Wyo.; Albuquerque, N.M.; and Naples, Fla. Some of them are working in partnership with local firms.

Johna Morrison, interim director of the Flathead County Planning Office, said she hopes to narrow down the list next week. The finalists will then be asked to submit more detailed proposals.

A nine-member committee will help select the finalists, Morrison said. She will be on it, together with planner B.J. Grieve, interim County Administrator Myrt Webb, Road Department Superintendent Charlie Johnson, Health Department Director Joe Russell, School Superintendent Donna Maddux, and three members of the county planning board - Kim Fleming, Jeff Larsen and Kathy Robertson.

"We'll mail copies of the qualification letters to the committee this week and hold our first meeting on Jan. 26," she said. "At that meeting, we'll narrow it down to three or four firms. We'll ask them to submit a proposed scope of work and do a presentation interview with the committee."

Once the consultant is on board, there should be plenty of opportunity for public comments on the growth policy. The document will also have to go through formal public hearings before it can be adopted, and there's a reasonable chance that it will go to a public vote.

Morrison said a deadline hasn't been set for hiring anyone. There's also some uncertainty about how to pay for the work, but the county clearly wants to move quickly on this.

"I'm champing at the bit to get going," she said.