May 30th Public Comment from Jeffrey MullerMay 3011
Jeffrey Muller
45 Tronstad Dr.
Re: Tronstad Meadows/Whitetale Crossing Proposed Subdivision, Annexation, Re Zoning
and Development
Honorable Mayor Johnston and City Council Members
I attended the Council Meeting on the 28t" of May along with a few of my neighbors in hopes
of speaking, amongst them, Colby Shaw whom you have recently received his latest letter
and comments. I fully agree with Mr. Shaw that the timing for such comments was not the
right time or place given the circumstances involving the Warming Center. My heart went
out to both the Homeless and the Property owners. The City has a major problem on their
hands and you as Council Members have a hard choice to make. On one hand you have a
neighborhood whose lives and property values have drastically changed for the worst and
on the other hand you feel for the people without shelter, food and water. What I learned
from the Council Meeting on these discussions is that you are caring people and have
concerns for both. I believe if you had to do it over again, you would have put a little more
thought and investigation into how these changes were going to effect the future which is
now the present.
We all have learned that decisions start with applications to City Planning Department
which creates a Staff Report referencing information supplied on this application. What we
also learned from a previous subdivision, Quail Meadows which is now in our backyard
that the City solely relied on the Developers Engineers, Survey team and Traffic studies.
Original discussions and concerns at the city planning meeting had little impact except to
change the exit from Tronstad Rd. onto Hwy 93 to a right turn only lane. What we later
discovered was that the City Engineering Department failed to review the plans and
designs and what the possible environmental impacts could be to the surrounding area.
The civil plans showed no differential between the Lot lines to the East of the subdivision
yet because of the Sewer being a positive flow and not a pump station design the developer
raised the back of the Quail Meadows Subdivision 6 feet to accommodate the flow. When
concerned neighbors met with the City Engineer on site to discuss this we learned the city
relied solely on the Developers Engineer when doing the review. There was no mention to
the city or residents when they decided to make the changes to raise the development. No
evaluation of the impacts to the Tronstad Dr. or surrounding neighborhoods were ever
discussed. A 10 acre parcel now a raised subdivision originally filled with water every spring
from run off drained from the Konig Farm now to be Tronstad Meadows/Whitetail Crossing.
The Water flow passed over the back area of the Shaw residents. In years past when
snowfalls were more significant water levels at the Shaw residents at times filled most of
their backyard. The City now faced with this problem created a small retaining area along
the back of the subdivision to hopefully mitigate the problem. Along with the flood problem
the Shaw's are now possibly faced with homes were built on these elevated lots looking
right down into their backyard and house. With all this being said, the residents of this
community have very little faith that the City has done their due diligence in regards to the
Tronstad Meadows/Whitetale Crossing subdivision. Have the Engineers designs been
thoroughly evaluated? Was the Traffic Study done correctly and at the time of year to
understand the full impact on the road system and current infrastructure, has the impact
from a well on this property operating at full capacity going to cause changes in
surrounding wells. Has the city allowed for public comment when proposing a light at
Tronstad and Hwy 93. Is the city willing to take the risk that city residents might seriously be
harmed by the lack of Emergency Services due to severely inadequate response times.
Mayor Johnston and City Council, this change proposed could change the Flathead Valley
forever. Given the fact that the Developer has spent 9 months as previously stated working
with the city planners and so many legal and technical issues have been brought forward,
is there reason for doubt that the Developers team was negligent on their application.
Given the fact that the application took 9 months of preparation with the City Staff's help
and then given to the city planning board for approval only 4 days prior to the Board
meeting allowed no time to do a full review and scrutinize the documents. The approval by
the planning board was based solely on the Staff Report and passed on the City Council
who in turn relies on the Planning Board's decision. Being that there was no scrutiny of the
documents whatsoever brings to question why and how this development could ever be
approved.
There is nothing positive to be gained by introducing 380 attainable homes/lots in this rural
area with little to no improved infrastructure to accommodate it.
Public comments were overwhelming asking the Council to help with doing what they can
to help with creating developments that create affordable housing. I'm in agreeance with
this request. Allowing this Subdivision to proceed as planned will not help the community
in this manner. Please review all the facts, comments and reports before making any hasty
decisions that will change Flathead Valley forever
Respectively
Jeffrey Muller