County takes over Hungry Horse Fire Department

Flathead County commissioners voted Wednesday to take control of the Hungry Horse Volunteer Fire Department as the taxing district tangles with a dissolved board of trustees and a $71,000 deficit.

Commissioners Joe Brenneman and Dale Lauman voted in favor of the move while Commissioner Jim Dupont was absent.

Only two of five members remain on the fire department’s board of trustees, which is tasked with monitoring the district’s finances and overseeing operations, according to the resolution approved by commissioners.

Brenneman has said the board hasn’t met in at least a year. Commissioners now will be in charge of the district’s finances until the board again becomes functional, according to the resolution.

“It’s my understanding that this is only to be done until we get the district back in order and until a new election is held and the positions are filled,” Lauman said Wednesday.

The county has requested applicants to fill open positions on the board, but no applications have been received.

County officials in November told the Inter Lake that the district’s general fund has a negative cash balance of about $71,000.

One former board member has been charged with felony theft.

Ross Barker is scheduled to be arraigned in Flathead County District Court Dec. 9 on allegations that he bilked the district of more than $2,500 between July 1, 2007, and Feb. 1, 2010.

Barker allegedly wrote checks to his wife in the amount of $1,052 and purchased $1,537 in parts for his personal vehicles.