homeless/unhoused Public Comment from Carmen CuthbertsonAimee Brunckhorst
From: Carmen Cuthbertson <cuthbertsoncarmen@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, January 23, 2023 6:51 PM
To: Kalispell Meetings Public Comment
Subject: EXTERNAL homeless/unhoused
My name is Jon Cuthbertson. I'm contacting you as a concerned citizen and business owner. My business,
Montana Environmental Lab, is located at 1170 North Meridian, 1/3 of a mile north of the Flathead Warming Center. We
test drinking and waste water samples.
I have had two incidents with transients entering my business. The first one wanted to use the bathroom and I
let him. I've since decided that I can't do that again. It is too easy to get around the receptionist and her desk and enter
the actual laboratory, which is filled with glass vials, testing equipment and toxic chemicals that are handled only by two
educated and experienced chemists. Having an out -of -control person rampaging through that space will endanger the
health of everyone in the building.
The second incident involved a man who asked for water. The receptionist informed him that we don't sell or
provide water. The man then ran down the stairs to the basement with my employee in pursuit telling him he couldn't
go down there. He turned on her and she raced back up the stairs, locking the interior entrance door behind her. The
man banged on the glass door, yelled at her and then grabbed the only item available to be stolen, which happened to
be an empty wooden box, and ran off. This incident has left my receptionist badly shaken.
I have never, in 20 years at the current location, had a single problem with an intruder. Since the Warming
Center has been in operation, homeless people hang out all up and down Meridian Road, and it is only a matter of time
before another violent incident occurs. One of my employees was forced to draw her weapon in the parking lot to fend
off a homeless person so she could walk from her car to the building early one morning.
If the situation gets worse, I will have to move my business. I have been a law-abiding, tax -paying Flathead
citizen for close to 30 years, and I love Kalispell, but I will be forced to leave if it becomes impossible to keep my
employees and my livelihood safe.