Station owner ordered to bury antenna cables
By NICHOLAS LEDDEN
The Daily Inter Lake
On Tuesday, an easement dispute between KGEZ radio station owner John Stokes and neighboring landowners that rose all the way to the Montana Supreme Court was back in Flathead County District Court.
Stokes was given 60 days to bury conduits connecting his radio station to two antenna towers just off U.S. 93 South.
And the cables have to be at least two feet underground, District Court Judge Stewart E. Stadler ruled.
"It's what we originally asked for six and a half years ago," Todd Gardner said Wednesday. He and his father own 65 acres of land adjacent to the radio station.
"We hope that the timeline is followed and we're glad to have that behind us," he said.
Gardner also said he doesn't believe the issue will have to be revisited.
"I have every reason to believe [Stokes] will comply with the ruling," he said.
Stokes accepted Tuesday's ruling with equanimity, saying the court made the right decision.
The cables will be buried by the court's deadline, Stokes said Wednesday.
Starting in 2001, Stokes began arguing that the easement contract, originally signed in 1949 by the radio station's former owners and the woman who then owned the land surrounding the station, covered 160 acres.
In response, the people who now own the land around the radio station sued to determine whether Stokes had a right to the entire 160 acres or just the 32 acres occupied by the towers and connecting cables.
And since the cables were not buried pursuant to the 1949 easement contract, the landowners wanted to nullify the whole agreement.
In 2005, Stadler ruled that the easement covers only the 32 acres and that the cables must be buried no later than Sept. 30, 2006. Stokes appealed the easement and cable rulings to the state Supreme Court. The cables were not buried while the appeal was decided.
Last week, the Supreme Court upheld Stadler's ruling, finding that the easement did cover only 32 acres and that Stadler correctly ordered Stokes to bury the connecting cables.
The land under contention is now owned by Doug Anderson, the original owner's son, and Davar and Todd Gardner, who also own Gardner RV on U.S. 93.
Much of that land is now being used to grow hay, but plans to develop it are under way, Gardner said.
Stokes contended that the cables only had to be buried so they don't impede agricultural work, and that the easement site isn't really agricultural land. The hay baling is a front to get the cables buried so the land can be developed, he said.
"What they really want is the towers gone so they can develop the property," he said.
Gardner said the land was being used to grow hay to keep it free of weeds.
Stokes also alleged that the Gardners allowed construction trucks to drive over the cables, which damaged them and interfered with the station's radio waves.
Stokes also has argued he wasn't required to bury the cables because the 160 acres is now owned by more people than Anderson and the Gardners, and that the lawsuit was invalid because the other parties weren't included. However, the Gardners say that the property with the 32-acre easement is owned solely by themselves and Anderson.
Stokes called Stadler's recent ruling a victory because he wasn't chased off his 32-acre easement and wasn't found in contempt of court.
Another hearing will be scheduled when Stokes' 60 days are up if he doesn't comply with Tuesday's ruling.
Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com