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Polson commission
Polson establishes task force to regulate recreational marijuana
By Kristi Niemeyer for the Valley Journal
The City of Polson has established a Marijuana Task Force to begin developing initial strategies and recommendations for regulating recreational marijuana. Sales of legal pot are set to begin Jan. 1 under guidelines passed by the 2021 Legislature.
At the city commission meeting on Sept. 8, city manager Ed Meece noted that the commission and public can review documents compiled by the task force on the city website at www.cityofpolson.com/ citymanager.
He hopes to present recommendations to the commission at its meeting Oct. 18. Draft strategies would prohibit the use of marijuana on all city property, including streets, sidewalks, alleys, buildings and facilities; and stipulate that marijuana must be transported in or through town in sealed, non-transparent, childproof containers.
Marijuana retailers would require special business licenses, tentatively set at $300 annually, need to be located at least 500 feet from schools or churches, and confine hours of operation to 9 a.m.-9 p.m. The preliminary ordinance bans vending machines or drive-up windows and prohibits those under 18 from frequenting the premises.
The task force also recommends meeting with all local municipalities, and county and tribal government to “to collaborate on consistent regulation.”
Meece plans to meet with the Lake County Commissioners Tuesday, Sept. 14, to encourage a ballot initiative imposing a local 3% tax on recreational marijuana.
In other matters, Meece mentioned that city staff is crafting a business license ordinance with input from the Polson Chamber of Commerce and business community. Meece expects to introduce the proposed ordinance at the meeting in mid October.
Matters before the commission included the approval of the city’s first comprehensive update to fee schedules in several years. After a brief public hearing to present fees for the coming year, the commission reconvened and unanimously approved fees for the building and planning departments.
Finance officer Cindy Dooley was praised for her efforts to develop a more accessible, public-friendly document, “which will definitely make it easier for Polson citizens to understand fees,” said commissioner Carolyn Pardini.
Fees for the Parks Department weren’t included, but will appear later this fall for commission consideration. The city recommends that park fees be returned to their full amount after being reduced by 40% in 2016.
In other business: • The commission unanimously adopted an amendment to the city code, changing the number of members on the Economic Development Council from seven to ten, with three permanent seats for members of the Polson Chamber of Commerce, Polson Business Community and the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes. • Commissioners unanimously voted down a request from the Polson School District to waive impact fees of $18,441 for a meter connection at the new Linderman Gym. Initially, the district planned to abandon an existing two-inch connection in favor of a new threeinch connection, which the city considered a neutral impact. The district later decided to keep the two-inch connection as well for irrigation purposes, which significantly upped the school’s water-meter capacity.
As required by city ordinance, an impact fee review board met Aug. 31, and after hearing from both city and school representatives, voted 5-0 to recommend the commission deny the district’s request.
AIS inspectors encounter unusual situation at Wibaux
News from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
HELENA – Watercraft inspectors at the Wibaux inspection station intercepted a motorboat entering Montana with mussels attached. The Wibaux inspection station, located on the Montana-North Dakota border on Interstate 94, has intercepted 12 of the 54 mussel-fouled boats intercepted so far this year. This boat was unique in how the mussels were attached to the boat.
Invasive mussels have byssal threads they use to attach to underwater surfaces. The threads or “hairs” are an adaptation found on invasive zebra and quagga mussels but are not found on North America’s native freshwater mussel species. Invasive mussels can move from one waterbody to another when their threads attach to the hull or motors of trailered watercraft or when microscopic mussel larvae floats in standing water inside vessels.
The motorboat that Wibaux inspectors encountered on Sept. 6 had just pulled out of Lake Lida in Minnesota that morning after two days on the water. A close check by inspectors found tiny mussels that were hydrostatically clinging to the motor, transom and hull rather than attached with byssal threads.
The hydrostatic process allows water molecules to bond surfaces together, in this case mussels and the motorboat, and maintain that bond after the water has dried. It’s presumed that invasive mussels were floating near the Lake Lida boat ramp and were able to cling to the boat as it was loaded onto the trailer.
“It alarming that this boat had mussels attached after only two days in the water,” said Zach Crete, AIS Prevention Coordinator for FWP. “Normally, a boat would have to be moored in the water for several days before mussels would have time to attach.”
Inspectors performed a viability test on several mussels and found some were still alive and siphoning water.
FWP staff remind anyone transporting motorized or nonmotorized boats into Montana that an inspection is required before launching, and stopping at all open watercraft inspection stations is required. Failing to stop at an inspection station can result in a fine of up to $500.
Boaters should ensure their watercraft, trailer and all equipment that is in contact with water (anchor, lines, swim ladder, etc.) is clean, drained of water and dry.
Learn more at CleanDrainDryMT.com or call the FWP Aquatic Invasive Species Bureau at 406-444-2440.
- ZACH CRETE FISH, WILDLIFE & PARKS AIS PREVENTION OOORDINATOR
