Kalinyaprak’s concerns squelched questionable project
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Editor,
Polson Water Superintendent Tony Porrazzo involved himself in a project that was far from being in the best interest of resident taxpayers. Mr. Porrazzo hired a hydrologist, at taxpayers’ expense and without City Commission approval, to submit an application for a well permit to be built on a lot belonging to developer Dennis Duty. The DEQ application was approved before Mr. Porrazzo brought the issue to the city commission to review the agreement to purchase the lot. Murat Kalinyaprak researched the issue and found Porrazzo did not disclose to the DEQ the city would have to remove buildings, clean up a 70-year-old septic system and drain field and that a 60-foot road and utility easement would take up 41 percent of an area which ran through the lot from Highway 35 to the 11-lot Mission Bay Preserve Phase III subdivision. The map the hydrologist drew for the DEQ application distorted the 100-foot diameter circle showing the wellhead protection area would fit within the lot when it would not. Neither the appraisal nor the map for DEQ showed additional private property owners, outside the Duty subdivision, had a 30-foot road and utility easement through the lot for access to Highway 35. Mr. Duty required architectural approval for structures built on the lot with no limit as to the increased cost of the structures. The hydrologist and Porrazzo misinformed DEQ and the city commission that the city could expect to find good water at the location chosen. The hydrologist had done a study in 2004 which identified where the city could expect to find good water. The Duty site was identified in the study as not in a location where the city could expect to find good water. Mr. Kalinyaprak questioned why the water superintendent would chose the Mission Bay Preserve access lot as a viable place to build a city well when there were many other possible options for purchasing property along Highway 35 free of such encumbrances? Murat’s disclosures concerning Porrazzo’s proposal caused the deal to quietly fade away.
Margie Hendricks
Polson
