City manager leads impact fee discussion
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POLSON — Using the whiteboard in council chambers, Polson City Manager Todd Crossett took the mayor, city commissioners and audience back to their school days when he facilitated a discussion on impact fees at the March 19 city commissioner meeting.
Impact fees have been a hot topic for the commissioners for the last eight or nine months with discussion on whether or not the Mansion, the large office building on Polson hill, paid the correct amounts of impact fees and whether Polson City Attorney James Raymond owed impact fees for his new house. (He does not.)
As a preface to the discussion, Commissioner John Campbell said, “Let’s use our time tonight to make something better and not beat us up over mistakes we made in the past.”
One item was eliminating impact fee exemptions on properties. After discussion, a straw poll in the room showed that there was general support for eliminating that exemption.
Other items suggested for discussion included whether or not a holiday on impact fees would be a good idea, a definition of how the impact fees are collected, whether or not the owner of a vacant lot who has been paying taxes should be charged impact fees, and a definition of the review committee.
Crossett will compile the items and suggestions into a draft to return to the city commissioners.
In a flurry of appointments, the commissioners selected Karen Sargeant for the board of adjustment, Joslyn Shackelford for the city/county planning board, Mike Lies and Chad Newman for the golf board members-at-large and Bill Boettcher for the Ward 2 representative on the golf board.
Polson resident Murat Kalinyaprak noted that the last application date for golf board members was Dec. 3, 2011. At that time, Kalinyaprak said only he and Lies had applied. The other applicants’ letters arrived on March 5 and March 13, and Kalinyaprak wanted to know what procedure city government followed to find the additional two members.
During the city manager comments slot on the agenda, Crossett thanked all the men and women who volunteer for the Polson Volunteer Fire Department and were honored at the Firemen’s Ball March 17.
“Some of them have over 100 hours (per year) in just training,” Crossett noted. “We can compete with professional departments throughout the state.”
The Skyline Project team spent all day March 15 discussing upcoming final plans for the project and construction issues for the two seasons of construction, the summers of 2012 and 2013.
Crossett also mentioned the old roadway leading out of Riverside Park.
A triathlon spearheaded by Envision Polson will be held in Polson on Aug. 18, and triathlon participants would like to use it as a way to exit the park since the triathlon would use Riverside Park as a starting and finishing site.
City Commissioner John Campbell noted that under the dirt and grass, the road is paved.
In a phone confirmation, Crossett said the city staff would scrape the roadway and see what’s under there. Gravel might have to be added, and then city crews would roll it and pave over the roadway creating a path.
During public comment, Polson resident Andrew Speer said he visited Polson City Hall on Feb. 28, filled out an information request form, revisited on March 5 and March 7 and still has not received a copy of the Orton Family Foundation/City of Polson agreement and its attachments.
In answer, Crossett said as soon as the document is received, it will be available on the City of Polson website at www.cityofpolson.com.
The next city commissioner meeting will be held April 2.
