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out in reply. Several local business owners had expressed as much throughout the meeting, siting burocratic overreach and unnecessary fees during times of inflation as some of their primary concerns. Prior to the revelation about the ending of state fire inspections, there was little public understanding shown regarding the need for funding for what was thought to be additional fire inspec-
tions. The city also clarified that Fire Assistant Chief Straub already has the authority to inspect businesses and cite issues in need of change. This proposal would not grant the city any additional authority, but rather fund the staff needed to conduct the already state mandated fire inspections. An additional benefit of this, Straub mentioned, would be the ability for fire department members to create “pre-plan” blueprint-like layout docu-
ments for each business to be added to the fire department’s Geographic Information System (GIS) system for increased safety for firefighters during an emergency response. The draft of the proposal discussed at the meeting, with changes made from the previous workshop meeting highlighted in red, can be viewed online at https://www. cityofpolson.com/sites/default/ files/fileattachments/community/page/4514/bus_lic_packet_6_13_22_version.pdf.
Several additional changes were suggested by the public by the conclusion of the workshop, including updating the “all other applicable codes adopted by the City of Polson” to a more specific list related to fire codes to prevent possible overreach, adjusting the number of garage sales mentioned in the exemptions to not restrict locals unnecessarily, and clarifying in writing how grandfathering certain standards would work for older buildings.
The next meeting, set to take place in August, will either be another workshop or an official first reading of the proposal by the city council, either of which will still allow for public input and feedback. The next meeting will be announced on the city website, on social media, and via a flier distributed to local businesses via the mailing list provided by commercial utilities bills. Written public comment can be submitted to the Polson City Hall.
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Swimming closed at Riverside Park due to strong currents By Kristi Niemeyer for the Valley Journal
POLSON — Temperatures Saturday were in the 70s, and Riverside Park in Polson would typically be overflowing with families and kids frolicking in the still frigid (in this reporter’s opinion) waters of Flathead Lake. While the playground still had a few customers, the swim area was closed Friday due to high water and dangerous currents. Energy Keepers, which operates Séliš Ksanka QÍispé Dam a few miles downstream, reported on its Facebook page Friday that inflows to Flathead Lake were finally matching the amount of water exiting the outlet at the bridge in Polson at approximately 57,100 cubic feet per second. The post predicted the lake level, which was about six inches above full pool Friday, would begin to
KRISTI NIEMEYER PHOTO
Riverside Park’s popular swimming area is currently off limits due to high water and dangerous currents in the lower Flathead River.
recede in coming days, hopefully reaching its preferred summer level of 2,893 feet soon. Until then, the SKQ Dam “remains on a complete free-flow operation, the post said, while predicting “relief is in sight!” High lake levels have swamped docks and caused issues for boaters
and other recreationists. “We have more water coming through the Flathead Basin right now than we’ve seen since 1964,” said Energy Keepers CEO Brian Lipscomb. During the last decade, he said spring and early summer water levels in the lower Flathead River
SUMMER GODDARD / VALLEY JOURNAL
have been increasing over historical flows, with a peak flow of around 50,000 cfs gushing downstream in about half of the past 10 years. “We have more droughts and we have more issues with high flows, like we’re seeing right now.” Compared to much of the West, which is in
Valley Journal
the grips of prolonged and extreme drought conditions, late-season snowfall and recent rains have caused flooding in the Flathead Basin and other parts of Montana. Still, Lipscomb says, conditions could change in a hurry. “It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if in August we
see what’s called a ‘flash drought,’ where we have high winds and extreme temperatures and the countryside just dries out.” Meanwhile, all the water coming through the lake is gushing over the dam, which is capable of managing flows of
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