Commissioners move ahead on impact fees
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POLSON — Questions regarding impact fees on the Mansion, the large office building on Polson Hill, and the impact fees on Polson City Attorney James Raymond’s house again came up at the Polson City Commission Jan. 18 meeting.
Although no official statement was made regarding the impact fees on Raymond’s house, former city engineer Bob Fulton said he understood that Bob Long, a Lake County attorney, “has offered a legal opinion that Ordinance 624, as written, is flawed and cannot be enforced on the Hideaway Subdivision lots where the Raymond home is constructed.”
Fulton noted the ordinance was adopted on March 19, 2007, when Councilman Tom Corse made a motion that the impact fees in Ordinance 624 would not apply to those subdivisions with preliminary approval. The motion passed, but the published ordinance did not include Corse’s stated exemption.
Fulton contended that all subdivisons receive preliminary plat approval and asked, since no dates were mentioned, were all subdivisions exempted?
Speaking to the other commissioners and the audience about the Mansion, Commissioner John Campbell said he wanted to put an end to the issue and bring some resolution tonight to accept what’s been done and acknowledge mistakes were made in the process.
After a visit to the Mansion, Campbell said the improved area of the building was 6,617 square feet of the total square footage of 24,000 to 26,000. The city received a check for $5,704 for impact fees.
“I think we need retraining for department heads on Ordinance 624 to allow them to communicate with each other and to enforce this ordinance by assessing fees accordingly,” he added.
Department heads would no longer approve any variances or reductions in fees proposed by builders or homeowners, Campbell said, but would come in front of a review board, which would look at the issue and then make a recommendation to the full city commission to be approved or disapproved.
His motion, Campbell said, “was to accept the fee of $5,704 for the improvements that have been done on the 6,617 square feet of the Mansion. All other improvements, as I said, will be assessed using Ordinance 624. The water line and fire hydrant are on a service line, not a main. If future improvements are started on the project, then future assessment in total would be $14,347.”
The motion was approved unanimously.
Polson Police Chief Wade Nash introduced Officer Dave Bartholome, who recently completed his one-year probation period. Bartholome brings a tremendous amount of experience and over 1200 hours of training to the PPD, Nash noted, since he began his career with the Los Angeles Police Department in 1982 and then moved to the Santa Ana Police Department.
Nash also presented PPD Officer Jim Atkins and Lake County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Mike Carlson with awards for outstanding performance of duties. The two officers answered a call on July 23, 2011, to find a female unresponsive and not breathing and began CPR and continued it until an ambulance arrived.
On agenda item 12, Fulton said, “I suggest each of you as council people take it upon yourselves to address our questions.”
Each commissioner represents 600 to 800 people, he said. After numerous attempts and help from commissioners, Fulton said he finally got an item on the agenda to question Raymond’s impact fees.
“That’s a terrible way to address questions,” he commented. “There’s got to be a better way.”
Also Fulton found it frustrating to talk to Polson City Planner Joyce Weaver and have her tell him she couldn’t talk to him.
“That’s just not the way city government is supposed to work,” Fulton said, adding that if city commissioners would commit to responding to questions and responding to follow-up questions, the problem would be fixed.
Commissioner Mike Lies, running the meeting in the absence of Mayor Pat DeVries, answered Fulton.
“We will do our very best to answer questions, even if the answers don’t satisfy you. We will do our level best, ” he said.
In other business, Campbell moved to have city staff put together an ordinance prohibiting use of mobile telephones and other mobile communications while driving a motor vehicle.
PPD Chief Nash said the ordinance would be challenging to enforce and asked that the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ input be solicited. Nash agreed with the safety issue of cell phones and noted that the technology is available for hands-free talking while driving. The motion passed.
