Whitefish confident of doughnut pact

Whitefish City Attorney John Phelps said on Tuesday that he's confident the city's interlocal agreement giving Whitefish planning control in the two-mile "doughnut" area is a valid agreement.

Last week Kalispell attorney Tammi Fisher, who was hired by Tom Thomas of the People of the Doughnut citizens group to study the interlocal agreement, questioned the validity of the agreement.

She contended that once the county growth policy was adopted last May, Whitefish no longer had control over the doughnut area.

"None of the grounds she cited caused me any concern," Phelps said Tuesday. "I'm real comfortable there are no grounds for challenging" the interlocal agreement.

Phelps said he's drafting a formal letter this week to respond to Fisher's review.

County Commissioner Gary Hall said he's pleased with Fisher's findings regarding the city's jurisdiction over the doughnut area, but noted that he's not working with the People of the Doughnut group.

Hall is working on the county's behalf to make sure county residents in Whitefish's planning area aren't disenfranchised.

Hall supported the interlocal agreement when it was formed, but he has been a vocal opponent lately of how the city has decided to exert control through regulations such as the critical-areas ordinance. Hall sent a letter to city officials earlier this month saying that the county may sue if the city doesn't remove the doughnut area from the critical-areas law.

Commissioner Dale Lauman also opposes the city's control over the doughnut area with the critical-areas law, but Commissioner Joe Brenneman said he believes the ordinance will help protect water quality.

THOMAS HAS been one of the most vocal opponents of the city's control of the doughnut area.

"I'm here for the people of the doughnut," Thomas told the City Council last week. "We just want out. There's no room in between."

He told the Inter Lake last week that he intends to fight the interlocal agreement, even if he has to sue the city.

Thomas' property next to Hellroaring Creek, where logging and bulldozing was done over a number of years, was the focus of several complaints over stormwater runoff.

Managing stormwater runoff to protect water quality is a big part of the city's critical-areas ordinance that is expected to be adopted by the City Council on Monday.

The state Department of Environmental Quality issued an administrative order in July 2006 that cited Thomas for three violations of his state discharge permit for construction: Exceeding water-quality standards for turbidity in Hellroaring Creek; failing to install and maintain best-management practices such as erosion control; and discharging significant sediment leaving a construction site.

According to state environmental enforcement specialist Scott McCollough, Thomas consented to the administrative order.

He was fined $13,200 and ordered to hire a consultant to evaluate best-management practices. Other mitigation measures included having a consultant develop written recommendations and a plan for removing sediment that was deposited outside his property, and putting best-management practices in place.

Thomas eventually satisfied the conditions of the administrative order, but a year later the state found more violations, McCollough said. Even though the first enforcement case is closed, it's possible the state could open up another case against Thomas, he said.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com