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Vote for Egan Slough zoning initiative
A friend recently asked me about the Creston water plant issue, perhaps since I live in Creston and it got me thinking.
It is my understanding that the state of Montana owns the water in Montana. It permits the use of the water by residents of the state under a permit system. Most of these uses, if not all, are for in-place use, like watering the lawn, providing drinking water to its people and irrigation to the lands of the state, both private and public. This uses the water in place and returns it to the drainage, thereby continuing the water in place although perhaps not in its original condition.
What the Creston water plant is proposing is not the same. The water plant’s intention is to take the water, remove it from the basin, to another river system, someplace other than Montana and profit from said sale. It is my understanding that the state of Montana, its citizens and residents, are not compensated for this taking. But the river system is definitely shorted the water.
In my thinking about the matter, I wondered aloud if this was such a big deal as it is just one plant. But then I got to thinking, what about if one person does it, is it not OK for another person to do it, and if the water situation in California is as it is reported, there are many more people who may want to make some money doing this also. If it is right for one it is right for all. As the numbers rise, do we know how much water is really underneath our valley and how much can be removed from the basin without adversely affecting it. At what point in time do we with existing wells in the area have to drill deeper to get the water we depend on and is there a point where no further drilling is productive.
And then I got to thinking about the issue of putting this water into plastic bottles and shipping it out of state, contributing to the already impossible to comprehend amount of bottles that are already in use and will remain in use way beyond our lifetimes, especially since the reuse of plastic bottles has become exceedingly impractical as recycling options disappear. How much plastic can our planet absorb? We are rapidly finding out not so much as it accumulates in the oceans in floating islands and fills our borrow pits and landfills.
And then my friend asked me, is this so different than all the people who are presently doing just the same thing, mixing the water into their jellies and jams, their beers, their sodas, their barbeque sauces, lotions, and everything else the people of Montana make, using water, putting it into containers and shipping it out of state. About this I said no, it is different. Their use is incidental use of water, not the marketing of the water in and of itself and no value added to it.
So after my thought about the matter, I came to the only conclusion I thought any concerned valley resident could come to and that is to vote no for the Creston water-bottling plant and vote yes for the right of self-determination on June 5 for the extension of the Lower Valley zoning extension. —Fritz Royer, Creston
Where is the silent majority who support property rights?
For two years now I have been listening to the yapping of a small band of ill-informed people about how one man is going to single handedly ruin the water quality of the Flathead Valley. This group of people and their “Chicken Little” mentality have been very vocal in trying to stop a man from exercising his rights as a landowner to use the natural resources that are available to him.
I have often thought that this very vocal group of people, that know what is best for the rest of us, was a small minority. I am now starting to see how well-organized and funded they really are. They couldn’t stop Mr. Weaver in the courts because he had complied with all the state requirements, and it was proven that there were no negative impacts to the environment. After this loss, it seems to have become a personal vendetta for some to stop him at any cost.
I sure hope I am right about there being a silent majority out there that hasn’t been brainwashed by all by all the venom and hype that has been directed at Mr. Weaver. He deserves our support on June 5 for everything he has had to put up with. Vote AGAINST Initiative 17-01. I for one would like to toast his success with a nice cold bottle of his crystal clear Flathead Valley water. —Tom Simensen, Kalispell
Stop water-bottling plant
Please vote for the Egan Slough Initiative 17-01.
We are opposed to the water bottling plant. It will be bad for our farmers, our wildlife and Flathead Lake.
Wells and ponds and wetlands water levels will shrink.
It could open a door for huge companies like Nestle, Coke and Pepsi to take our water when we need it here.
Our valley is growing at a fast rate. People’s wells could run dry and they would have to pay to dig another well. We need to protect our precious resource and plan for the future of a bigger population, farming, protecting water fowl and migrating birds. We need to keep Flathead Lake pristine and not dump bottle-cleaning waste into it.
We do not want the truck traffic and we do not need more plastic bottles in our quickly mounting landfill. Now that we cannot recycle plastic, our landfill will be growing at a tremendous rate.
It is time to make a stand for the majority of the people and the negative impacts this water-bottling plant would have on our valley. Stop a huge bottling plant from taking over Creston and our valley. We all need to look at the effects on the future and the larger picture.
Vote FOR initiative 17-01. —Darrell and Lael Gray, Bigfork
Krueger doesn’t really listen to the people
After reading the article about Gary Krueger in the paper and having been in two meetings with him over the closings of the Marion and Kila green box sites, I have to comment.
Mr. Krueger sat in these meetings with somewhere around 50 people in both meetings and NOT ONE person spoke in favor of shutting them down, yet he ignored everyone and shut both down — even though the sanitation department is flush with cash. Doesn’t sound like a public servant to me.
I find it laughable that he can say in the interview that “our job is to hear the public” when he didn’t listen to the people at all when we told him what we wanted. As far as I am concerned, you can thank Gary Krueger for all the trash alongside the highway from Kila to Marion because he is the one responsible for NOT doing what the people wanted and leaving the green box sites both open. Now we have one site with razor wire and the gestapo there to send your picture to the sheriff if you “repurpose” anything out of a box.
I also find it interesting that he is for the water compact, when every conservative legislator I have talked to is against it. Mr. Krueger is a RINO commissioner and needs to be put out to pasture to play with his bees.
I will put my vote behind Randy Brodehl, who is a man who I think will really listen to the people and be a public servant instead of another bureaucrat. —Bud Salyer, Kila
Impact of bottling plant has been exaggerated
With regard to the proposed bottling plant out Creston way — Egan Slough:
It is hard to explain just how anyone in his right mind can come close to explaining how they can come up with saying there will be 90 to 150 truckloads of water being transported from such a small operation in comparison to what Coors at Golden, Colorado, or Budweiser at Fort Collins, Colorado, has for their shipping and staging area. And I could go on and on — like Miller at Irwindale, California.
I have hauled beer from these plants over the years and what is being put out there for the public is just plain bull to say the least. Considering all that goes into packaging the product, whether it be a six-pack or 12-pack, it takes time — along with loading. At the very most, perhaps two to three trucks a day will roll down the roads — not 90 or 150, no way, no how.
When it comes to trucks, just where are your major grocery stores located and gas stations in every town in Flathead County? Highway 2 ... Highway 93 ... does this present traffic issues? Delivery is set up at times where there is little if no issue — at, say, early morning hours. In short, you would not even notice any more traffic than you already have. —Francis Flanigan, Kalispell
Vote yes on 17-01 to help control plastic pollution
Sometimes we are forced to choose between two evils — in this case, plastic or zoning. Throw in water pollution and draw-down of the water table, truck traffic or marginal roads and the choice is clear. The Egan Slough zoning expansion would involve 530 acres next to an established zone, a drop in the bucket.
Most of the heavy truck traffic from the proposed water-bottling plant in Creston would go on Highway 35 on the east shore of Flathead Lake. Would seasonal road limits be established which would curtail heavy traffic like our logging and grain trucks have?
Even our oceans and children have problems with plastic. Is the solution more plastic? We are all guilty of this. Personal property rights should not overshadow public well-being. I don’t like the choice, but a YES vote on Initiative 17-01 is the best option.
PS: Will the real Mr. Weaver please stand up? Lew Weaver was a leader is establishing the Egan Slough Zoning District to set an 80-acre land minimum. This prevented the Salvation Arly from establishing a youth facility for training and water activities. This action took rights and quality of life away from thousands of our youth.
Now, Mr. Weaver’s property rights are not to be questioned. His planned water-bottling plant will degrade his neighbors’ property values, cause re-drilling of many wells, and pollute the Flathead River, Flathead Lake and Egan Slough.
He will also require extensive road improvements for heavy trucks and add millions of plastic bottles to the environment. There is no easy answer to these problems.
A yes vote for Resolution 1594C, the Egan Slough Initiative 17-01, will prevent the expansion of the plant. —Larry Passmore, Kalispell
Vote yes on 17-01 to protect the environment
As a citizen of Flathead County who cherishes the natural splendor and beauty of this area, I am deeply concerned about the proposed water bottling plant on the Flathead River near Creston.
We are all aware of the toxicity and damage that plastic water bottles cause to the natural environment. The vast majority of plastic water bottles end up in our landfills and oceans, even inside the seafood we consume. In addition, what will a steady stream of plastic runoff do to the fish and ecosystem of the Flathead River? Is that a chance we are willing to take in the name of a product that generates massive waste, pollutes our oceans, and is totally unnecessary in the first place?
I support new jobs and needed business in Flathead County, but wouldn’t it be better to invest in sustainable, environmentally friendly business concepts that don’t have the potential of damaging the very thing we all cherish about Montana?
Please say YES to fish, clean water, clean air, and our pristine natural environment by voting FOR the Egan Slough Initiative 17-01 on the June 5th ballot and say NO to bad business ideas in Montana.
You can find out more at waterforflatheadsfuture.org. —Cindy Sherbeck, Whitefish
Brodehl for commissioner
I first met Randy Brodehl when we both served in the 2011 session of the Montana Legislature. When I found out we were both going to be sitting in the front row of the House Chambers, I was uncertain of how we would get along together. I knew he had played an influential role in the Kalispell city government when he served as the Kalispell fire chief. As such, I worried he would vote to give government all the money it could spend, while I have always been frugal with the taxpayers’ dollars.
But I was pleasantly surprised to find that he consistently voted as a taxpayer — not as a government bureaucrat. I found I could count on Randy to vote pro-family, pro-property rights and pro-freedom. It was interesting to see how much we could sway the legislator who was sitting between us to follow our votes.
Therefore, now having developed a great respect for Randy, I am happy to support him in his race to be our next Flathead County commissioner. —Jerry O’Neil, Columbia Falls, Republican candidate for HD3
Vote FOR the Egan Slough Initiative 17-01
I am writing to urge all voters in Flathead County to vote FOR enactment of Resolution 1594C to add property to the Egan Slough Zoning District. Initiative 17-01 would add 530 acres of farmland (presently Unprotected) into the now existing Egan Slough Zoning District FOR protection – keeping this area in its agricultural uses. It would also protect the water, lakes, and fish from the negative impacts of the water bottling plant. It has been estimated that the water bottling plant will draw down the water from 2,000 wells in the surrounding area. This drawdown could even reach wells within Kalispell. There will be many families that will have to drill new wells AT THEIR OWN EXPENSE. The citizens of Flathead County have a right to protect their wells, and all citizens of Flathead County have a right to protect our surface waters.
The permit given to the water bottling plant would allow operations to continue 24/7, 365 days a year pumping more than 230 MILLION gallons of water annually from OUR aquifers, bottling it, and sending it out of state. The carcinogenic residue from the manufacture of the plastic bottles would enter Flathead River and from there into Flathead Lake. This poisoning of Flathead River and Flathead Lake must be stopped. Our priceless fisheries are in jeopardy. Flathead Lake’s clean water is at stake. Our tourist industry would be adversely affected, and property values around the Lake would take a terrible hit.
NO ONE has a right to sell OUR water. The County Commissioners and State agencies chose not to listen to the citizens of Flathead Country or to the expert witnesses and their testimonies. It is now up to the voters safeguard Flathead County. —Christina Granrud, Kalispell
White has experience to be the best sheriff
I am writing this letter for those that are still riding the fence on which sheriff candidate to endorse. I am a retired deputy sheriff from Michigan and moved here in 06. During my career I served two sheriffs in Michigan. For the entire time I’ve been in Montana I’ve served with an agency and served under Mike Meehan and Chuck Curry. I believe I have enough experience to say that I know what it takes to be a sheriff.
As you look at all four candidates they all bring something to the table. Jordan White has vision and determination to get things done in a way the other three do not. Three candidates on what I have seen and heard talk a lot about past statistics, current numbers and possibilities with no end result, while Jordan has made sound decisions through his tenure at the sheriff’s office as the undersheriff.
As the undersheriff, you are the right hand man of the sheriff and in many aspects by proxy you become the sheriff for day-to-day operations. Jordan has had two unique visions. One, to develop a dive team for the sheriff’s office, and the second to develop Two Bear Air Rescue. Through his singular vision and determination he made both of those happen. Without that vision chances are we would not have a dive team for the sheriffs office and we definitely would not have the resource of Two Bear Air Rescue.
So when you go to the polls on June 5, ask yourself, do I want a candidate to talk about past/present numbers or do I want to endorse a candidate that has vision and direction to carry out our future. —Brian “BJ” Johnson, West Valley