Developer may provide Church Slough access

Offer may defuse road abandonment conflict

With the Flathead County commissioners poised to abandon a county road that provides public access to Church Slough, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks officials concluded that would probably violate a state law passed last year.

But the conflict may be solved with a proposal from a developer who is purchasing land along the slough. Dennis Carver submitted a letter to the county commissioners Tuesday detailing the right-of-way for a donated access between the slough and a new road he is proposing to build.

It would replace a makeshift boat ramp that has long served as the main public access to the slough just off a stretch of Wagner Lane that is proposed for abandonment.

Commissioners are scheduled to discuss and act on the road abandonment at 11:30 a.m. Thursday.

Last week, the commissioners held a hearing attended by residents of the Wagner Lane area who want to end the beer parties, littering and traffic problems associated with the boat ramp.

Carver, meanwhile, wants the roughly half-mile stretch of Wagner Lane that skirts the slough abandoned to create waterfront lots.

At the hearing, Carver said there is no legal public access because the existing boat ramp crosses a sliver of private land between the slough and the county right-of-way.

But a review by Fish, Wildlife and Parks came to a different conclusion.

In a letter submitted to the commissioners this week, Satterfield pointed out that there is a 22-foot stretch of the Wagner Lane right-of-way that extends into Church Slough.

And Satterfield does not concede that the existing boat ramp crosses private property because that involves a determination of where the high-water mark is, and surveys commissioned by the developer are not the final determination.

"If the county road right-of-way at this location overlaps the ordinary high-water mark of the slough, then this has been a legal public access to the slough," the letter states.

Satterfield said the abandonment conflicts with legislation passed last year. House Bill 269 states that a right-of-way used for access to public land or waters cannot be abandoned "unless another public road or right-of-way provides substantially the same access."

"Under HB 269, the county has an obligation to provide substantially the same access that existed prior to abandonment," Satterfield's letter states.

In his written proposal to the commissioners, Carver said the donated right-of-way will "positively meet the requirements" of the law.

Carver's proposal is encouraging, Satterfield said Tuesday. "I'm looking forward to hearing more about it on Thursday. We really want to work this out."

Commissioner Gary Hall also was pleased: "Without him stepping up to the plate we could have possibly ended up in court over this issue."

Hall was intent on approving the abandonment, partly because he did not consider the ramp to be the only access to Church Slough.

Several area residents who spoke at last week's hearing referred to a partial county right-of-way that extends into the slough from Lower Valley Road as a possible alternative.

At that location, most of the right-of-way is now a private boat launch abandoned in 1993 to Dick Reidel, who is selling land along the slough to Carver.

The remaining county right-of-way there extends to the slough over a steep bank that is "not physically suitable for public boat access," Satterfield wrote.

County Commissioner Joe Brenneman said he was concerned about the legal exposure associated with the abandonment.

Warren Illi, treasurer for Flathead Wildlife Inc., flatly predicted that loss of access to Church Slough would be challenged in court. The local rod-and-gun club challenged an

abandonment several years ago farther north on the Flathead River.

In that case, a portion of Pioneer Road that provided the only public access to Forest Service land on the river was abandoned, and Flathead Wildlife spent about $3,500 to get that action reversed in District Court.

"I can guarantee you that it will be litigated if they abandon a county road without there being some form of public access to that slough," Illi said. "This is an even more important public access than Pioneer Road."

The nearest access points to the lower river system are about five miles north and five miles south. Before last week's hearing, Illi was hopeful that the commissioners would require interested parties to discuss the access issue before proceeding with the abandonment.

"I was hoping that negotiations would lead to a good access site," Illi said. "But by the end of the meeting it seemed like they were going to abandon it, end of discussion."

For Carver, time was an important issue in building a new, wider road with underground utilities set farther back from the slough. He told the commissioners that any significant delay in the abandonment would delay construction of the new road until next year.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com