City commissioners hear public comment on 'Mansion' issues
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POLSON — With no new business items and only public comment under old business, the Polson City Commission meeting on Dec. 5. looked to be a short meeting, but issues about the Mansion, the large office building on top of Polson hill, cropped up at the meeting and extended its length.
Before the consent agenda was passed, Commissioner Judy Preston moved to add an agenda item — discussion of Bob Fulton’s letter regarding the mansion and other issues with the Ridgewater subdivision to the commissioners.
According to Polson City Attorney James Raymond, items cannot be added to the agenda the night of the meeting because the agenda needs to be noticed. It would have to wait until the next meeting, Raymond said.
When asked by local realtor Rory Horning if she had made a public request for this item before the agenda was published, Preston said she accidentally sent it to Polson City Manager Todd Crossett’s personal e-mail instead of his City of Polson e-mail, and she withdrew her motion.
After the commissioners approved the proposed agenda, the consent agenda and the minutes of the Nov. 21 meeting, Bob Fulton spoke during public comment on items of significant interest to the public not on the agenda.
Fulton said he wrote his letter because he was confused about the impact fees for the building, if they were paid and if there are five or eight parcels in Certificate of Survey 6864.
“As a citizen sitting in the audience, I want to know the correct impact fees for the mansion and were they paid?” Fulton added.
Correcting a couple of mistakes in his letter, Fulton said his calculations were based on a 24,000 square foot building. The mansion is 26,000 square feet. Fulton came up with $32,457 in impact fees, considerably more than Polson City Manager’s Todd Crossett’s figure of $5,704.
According to the City of Polson’ s development code, a building permit cannot be issued unless the impact fees are collected, “not promised but collected,” Fulton reiterated.
Preston said her questions began with Dean and Tarri Duncan, homeowners on South Ridgecrest in the Ridgewater subdivision, and their issue with traffic to and from the Mansion in their housing development.
Also Preston explained that “The impact fee thing ... I don’t think it’s right.”
Weighing in, Commissioner Fred Funke noted the commission needs to get answers to all six of Preston’s questions.
Commissioner Mike Lies, conducting the meeting in the absence of Mayor Pat DeVries, agreed.
“We need to get some straight answers once and for all,” Lies stated.
The next meeting will be held on Dec. 19 at 7 p.m.
