Council votes to nix LADC use

By Brent Shrum Western News Reporter

With only 10 percent of the original $8 million still available in the city¹s economic development account, the Libby City Council voted on Monday to stop using the Libby Area Development Co. to review funding requests.

Under the policy change approved by the council at a special meeting on Monday, the city council will directly oversee the fund instead of requiring funding proposals to first pass the LADC.

The council¹s vote followed a precedent-setting decision to bypass the LADC and directly consider a proposal from the Center for Asbestos-Related Disease that had been rejected by the LADC.

The LADC board voted 3-2 in September against recommending a $250,000 grant for the CARD to help fund the establishment of an asbestos research center in Libby. CARD representatives had been working with the LADC to develop the grant proposal but were told, along with representatives of Turner Mountain seeking a $300,000 grant, to revamp their proposal from a grant to a loan because of the dwindling amount of money in the fund.

The Turner Mountain proposal was later approved by the LADC as a grant, and the CARD group asked for the same consideration when it met with the LADC on Sept. 22. The request was rejected, and the LADC did not set another meeting with the CARD group after it reworked the proposal to include an annual $5,000 scholarship to a county resident pursuing a degree in health care as a form of payback to the community.

CARD board president Mike Giesey told the city council on Monday that he was disappointed with his organization¹s ³very dismal² meeting with the LADC and expressed dismay at what he called

the ³unprofessional and untimely manner² in which the CARD was treated by the LADC.

Giesey asked the council to override the LADC and directly consider the CARD¹s proposal.

³We do feel that the LADC does not reflect the will of the people,² he said.

The council voted 4-1 to agree to consider the request, with a vote to be held at next Monday¹s regular monthly meeting. Doug Roll, Lee Bothman, Charlene Leckrone and Walt McElmurry voted in favor of the measure while Gary Huntsberger voted against. Council member Stu Crismore was not present at Monday¹s meeting.

Huntsberger said he wasn¹t aware the issue would be coming up for a vote and expressed concern about deviating from established procedure.

³I have a little problem doing that unless we¹re doing something with the LADC that we¹re not aware of,² he said.

The council refused, however, to give the same consideration to a $250,000 grant request from the local Veterans of Foreign Wars organization. The VFW¹s request had previously been rejected by the LADC, and the city council refused at that time to override the LADC¹s decision despite direct requests from VFW representatives.

At Monday¹s meeting, the council invited VFW representatives to make another pitch for the funds, which would be used to pay off the debt incurred when the organization built a new hall following the collapse of its building under a heavy snow load during the winter of 1996-97.

Noting that the earlier request had been rejected at least in part because of a LADC bylaw disallowing the granting of funds to organizations for whom the sale of alcoholic beverages is a significant source of revenue, Cole pointed out services provided by the VFW including providing an emergency shelter, hosting distributions of surplus food and equipment to senior citizens and veterans, sponsoring a blood drive and loaning out medical equipment.

³What other alcohol-dispensing organization asks their bartender to take a key and go upstairs and bring down a wheelchair for somebody?² he asked.

Mayor Tony Berget asked Cole if the VFW would consider a lesser amount, such as $50,000 to be used as matching funds. Cole indicated that the organization needed the entire amount or nothing at all.

³Without at least $250,000 against our note in there I¹m afraid that¹s all folks,² he said.

Berget asked the council members if anyone wanted to make a motion, but no motion was made and the council moved on to a discussion of the role of the LADC.

Roll said he was not happy with the way the council was treated at a joint meeting last week with the LADC, Lincoln County Port Authority and Kootenai River Development Council. He said he though the council was treated poorly and Berget¹s leadership questioned.

Roll moved to discontinue the use of the LADC, and the motion was seconded by McElmurry. Huntsberger said he doesn¹t support the elimination of the LADC and that he thinks the move will further divide the community.

³I think this is a function that¹s needed,² he said.

The motion passed 4-1, with Huntsberger again casting the dissenting vote.

The LADC was formed after the city received an $8 million federal grant in the fall of 2000. A primary reason for the formation of the LADC was to free the city council from having to review every funding proposal in depth. The LADC was established as an independent organization with its own bylaws and a seven-member board.

Berget noted during Monday¹s meeting that the city had received legal advice indicating that while it could not disband the LADC it could stop using its services.

Around $800,000 remains in the city¹s account and not allocated toward any project. About $4 million more is due to return to the fund eventually through loans and certificates of deposit used to secure loans.