City ready to pursue move of radio towers

Kalispell's government plans to formally tell KGEZ radio station owner John Stokes that it wants to move his two broadcast towers at the city and federal governments' expense.

If Stokes says no, the City Council plans to take a condemnation vote - which would start the process of doing the same thing against his will.

KGEZ's two 325-foot towers are in airspace south of the Kalispell City Airport that the Federal Aviation Administration says must be cleared for the airport to receive federal funds.

The city has obtained an option to buy 20 acres next to some Lakeside sewer district land where it can move the towers without diminishing KGEZ's broadcast signal, Airport Manager Fred Leistiko told the council at a Monday workshop session.

Stokes does not want the towers moved.

"I'll choose my site to relocate my towers, not them. I'm not going to locate next to a sewer lagoon. I'm quite happy where I'm at," Stokes said Tuesday.

He contended any potential city airspace condemnation process would be illegal.

Stokes has a history of court battles, appealing every loss to Montana's Supreme Court, which tends to rule against him. Those litigation losses included a lengthy legal battle over how much the state paid Stokes for a narrow U.S. 93 right-of-way along the edge of KGEZ's site to widen the highway.

Two months ago, a Flathead County District Court jury ordered Stokes to pay $3.8 million to Davar and Todd Gardner for slamming them with malicious false accusations on his radio show.

The city is not interested in buying the station and just wants to move the towers.

Last year, Stokes advertised the entire radio station for $4 million. Leistiko said the station's appraised value is $650,000.

On Tuesday, Stokes painted the tower dispute as part of a condemnation of the entire radio station site, saying the city must pay him fair market value for the site. He said Tuesday that the site has not been appraised and he did not know the fair market value.

The towers actually are on two neighbors' lands, to which KGEZ has an easement.

If the city tries to move the towers to the Lakeside site, easements on three adjacent pieces of land are needed to bury the towers' underground wiring. Two landowners tentatively have agreed, and the third -Êa farmer -Êis reviewing the proposal, Leistiko said.

The tower-moving project is estimated to cost $500,000.

The city would have to pay the costs up front with money set aside from the airport's tax-increment financing district, which saves money for improvements in the airport area.

Then the FAA would release $1.9 million in federal money stockpiled for the airport's planned expansion. That money would be used to reimburse Kalispell for 95 percent of the tower project's costs.

Reporter John Stang may be reached at 758-4429 or by e-mail at jstang@dailyinterlake.com