Slope work made sense all along

It never made sense to most of us for Flathead County to reject a sizable federal grant to stabilize a steep bluff near the Village Greens subdivision and golf course that is prone to landslides.

The commissioners cited their concern about the county’s liability for future landslides when they turned down $298,000 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and a homeowners match of $102,000 a year ago. Our county leaders were worried the FEMA grant could set a precedent for handling other slump-prone areas.

This notion always seemed misguided, especially since the county doesn’t have to spend a dime of its own money on the stabilization project. Its only role in the process is to serve as the pass-through governmental vehicle for the grant money.

Homeowners worked on the grant project for four years with the blessing of the commissioners every step of the way. At the last minute, though, the commissioners voted to terminate the grant.

Two of the homeowners who live on top of the slide-prone bluff and worked toward getting the stabilization money sued the county.

Now a District Court ruling says that what the commissioners did was unconstitutional because it interfered with the homeowners’ rights under the landowner agreement that was part of the four-year-long grant process. Judge Ted Lympus has ordered the commissioners to follow through with the grant, which thankfully is still viable.

Judge Lympus last year granted a temporary restraining order stopping the commissioners from sending a letter to the state Department of Emergency Services that effectively would have terminated the grant. That put the process on hold. FEMA released the money to the state, and the state held it while the lawsuit played out.

As we’ve stated previously, the commissioners should be encouraging this kind of citizen involvement in improving their neighborhoods and making their homes safer, not doing everything in their power to stop such a project.