Compact back on commission agenda

In an unusual turn of events, the Flathead County commissioners on Thursday will consider approving a letter written by Commissioner Gary Krueger to Gov. Steve Bullock outlining the county’s priorities in the ongoing negotiations over the tribal water rights compact.

Discussion of Krueger’s letter, written on behalf of the other commissioners, begins at 9 a.m. The only opportunity for public comment is a 15-minute session from 8:45 to 9 a.m. in the commissioners’ chambers at the county courthouse.

A full-blown discussion and public comment session on the water compact planned today was abruptly postponed and has not yet been rescheduled.

Krueger’s draft letter takes a broad brush to the water rights issue, calling for adopted water policies “that protect Flathead County and its citizens from the need to uphold their water rights.

“Our development future depends on the acquisition of water that is currently legally unavailable within the Federal Reserve system,” the proposed letter states. “Please ensure this acquisition is part and parcel of a final solution to the water issue.”

The letter stops short of weighing in on the compact as it’s currently proposed.

Also on the commissioners’ agenda Thursday is consideration of a policy detailing how items are added to and removed from the commissioners’ daily agenda.

This latest political volley comes a day after Commission Chairwoman Pam Holmquist unilaterally removed from the agenda the discussion and public comment session on the water compact that had been scheduled for today.

The commissioners had set aside a two-hour block of time for the discussion, which would have included a vote on whether or not to rescind an earlier letter written to the legislative Water Policy Interim Committee that stated Flathead County supports a water compact process.

Holmquist said Monday she wanted to find a bigger meeting place for the public discussion and is considering rescheduling it to Nov. 19 at the fairgrounds. Although the Expo Building at the fairgrounds was available today for a bigger audience, Holmquist declined to consider that option.

She emailed Krueger and Commissioner Cal Scott about the postponement but apparently did not get a response from either commissioner before she removed it from the agenda.

As the commission chairwoman, Holmquist said, she has the authority to single-handedly add and remove agenda items.

On Monday, Krueger said he disputes that notion, saying when he asked to remove an agenda item, he was told it takes approval from two commissioners to take something off the agenda.

County Administrator Mike Pence, who is out of town, said in a phone interview that it’s also his understanding it takes two commissioners to remove an agenda item.

“Otherwise the chair has extra power and that’s not the intent,” Pence said. “It would be usurping the authority of the majority to govern.”

Pence said there’s no written policy about how agenda items are added and removed, but there was recent discussion about the informal policy and the mutual respect the commissioners should have for one another.

Scott said he had no idea Holmquist intended to postpone the water compact discussion. When Holmquist asked him Tuesday morning about the postponement, Scott said he told her it should have remained on the agenda.

“The citizenry has asked us to and demanded we address this issue as soon as possible,” Scott said. “I’m getting a little fed up with the political game-playing.”

Scott further said he didn’t know why Thursday’s agenda was amended to include only one element of the water compact.

“I have no idea why that’s happened, but I suspect many different scenarios, none of which have to do with the appropriate hearing of the issue.”

The issue of water rights has become a hot-button issue as negotiations continue between the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the Montana Reserved Water Rights Compact Commission for a compact that aims to quantify the tribes’ water rights. The two parties are striving to hammer out a water compact that will be considered by the Legislature when it convenes in January.

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