Subdivision up for vote at meeting

Moose Crossing, a 15-lot subdivision on 123 acres along the North Fork Road, is up for preliminary plat approval at tonight's Columbia Falls City Council meeting.

Greg Larson of Montana Land Concepts made the case for his proposal at the Aug. 6 council meeting. He won the council's tentative agreement, but only after members made changes to two public-access provisions.

Tonight, the council votes on the formal preliminary plat resolution that will allow Montana Land Concepts to develop the land in two phases. One phase on the lower bench of land will have three lots of about 10 acres each, and the second phase on the upper bench will have 12 lots of about 3 acres each.

Although he does not want to establish a gated community, Larson asked council permission to put a gate across the entry road in an effort to stem the vandalism he already has experienced in the early phases of developing the raw land. The council denied the request.

And, in its effort to ensure Moose Crossing's pedestrian path along the North Fork Road fits in with city plans for a public trail system, they required that the path remain open to the public.

Other conditions include those on fire-defensible space, dark-sky lighting, erosion control, individual septic systems and bear-proof garbage containers.

Also up for the formal preliminary plat resolution is Allen Subdivision, a one-lot, 5.57-acre split off a 7.5-acre original parcel.

Owner Dean Werner won approval Aug. 6 for a remainder lot from Jim Etzler's January 2006 rezone of the 7.5 acres, but could not gain easement across neighboring land to avoid encroaching on a neighborhood sledding hill. Since then, Werner's land-use representative Olaf Ervin worked out a compromise with the county commissioners and the neighbors to avoid the hill.

In other business, the council will:

. Consider approving the new two-year Teamsters Union contract.

. Review the city's 2007-06 preliminary budget and set the final budget hearing for Sept. 17.

. Consider the final plat for Davidson Subdivision at 625 and 627 Sixth Ave. W., just south of Plum Creek. It won preliminary plat approval in February as Davidson Condos, but the developers want the properties designated as townhouses instead.

. Hold public hearings on street lighting and street maintenance assessments, and a tax levy increase for employee health insurance premiums. Resolutions follow to change the lighting and maintenance district boundaries and set levies.

. Amend the city's flood-plain ordinance.

The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in City Hall.

Reporter Nancy Kimball may be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com