Rally planned Saturday to protest bridge
Dave Hadden anticipates at least a hundred boats, kayaks and other watercraft will gather at Flathead Lake’s North Shore this weekend to protest the nearly complete bridge connecting Dockstader Island to the mainland.
Dubbed the “Restore the Shore Rendezvous,” the rally is from 4-7 p.m. Saturday.
Hadden is the chairman of the Community Association for North Shore Conservation, which is hosting the event and began organizing opposition to the Sortino family’s bridge project last year.
“We hope to raise some money and have some good fun and to demonstrate broad public support for restoring the North Shore of Flathead Lake and having the bridge removed,” Hadden said.
In June, the Flathead County commissioners unanimously extended the permit for bridge construction— the fifth extension since the project initially was approved in March 2011.
Hadden’s organization is suing the county over the bridge permit, and Hadden said he expects to submit a motion for summary judgment in the near future. The suit alleges that the county did not give full consideration to the proposed bridge’s impacts to the lakeshore protection zone, failed to allow sufficient comment and should have first sought the approval of the county planning department.
The county has maintained that the bridge is not being built in the protection zone and concluded it does not extend to the adjoining wetlands on which part of the structure is constructed.
The evening event will include a volleyball setup and water games, according to Hadden, who said the rendezvous won’t be tightly coordinated.
“I think people will generate their own energy,” he said. “The principal message is that people will see there are a lot of other people who really support them and their desire to have the lake shore restored.”
More information about the event can be found on the organization’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/CANSCFlathead.
Reporter Samuel Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.