Youth home on county agenda Tuesday

Several representatives from Intermountain will meet with the Flathead County commissioners Tuesday to provide updated information about an environmental assessment for a planned therapeutic youth group home near Somers.

The meeting begins at 11:45 a.m. in the commissioner chambers on the third floor of the main courthouse.

In January a $450,000 federal grant for the construction of the facility was put on hold amid questions about the environmental assessment for the project.

Flathead County was poised to ask the state Department of Commerce to release the Community Development Block Grant money, but declined to do so after receiving letters of concern from the Flathead Lakers, Citizens for a Better Flathead and the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

Intermountain, a Montana agency that serves vulnerable children and families, intends to build a $1.64 million, 5,500-square-foot facility on North Somers Road to house up to eight children in need of intensive therapeutic care and support. The property is adjacent to the Blasdel Waterfowl Production Area.

All three entities providing public comment by the Jan. 6 deadline found deficiencies in the environmental assessment completed as part of the block-grant process. They asked the county to mitigate concerns ranging from stormwater management and sewage treatment to the home’s proximity to the waterfowl area.

Among the Intermountain leaders at Tuesday's meeting will be Chief Executive Officer Jim FitzGerald and Chief Strategy Officer Dee Incoronato.