City OKs initial lease with KPFL
By BRENT SHRUM Western News Reporter
The Libby City Council on Monday approved a preliminary lease agreement with Kootenai Pets for Life that will allow the group to move ahead with plans for an animal shelter on city property adjacent to the county's animal control facility along Pipe Creek Road.
KPFL had initially submitted its proposal to the council in November, along with an alternate plan for a variance that would allow the shelter to be built on private property inside the city limits near the cemetery. The alternate proposal was rejected by the council because of concerns about the potential for noise from the shelter disturbing visitors to the cemetery. The council directed KPFL to develop a more detailed proposal for the site across the river, which was reviewed at a meeting on Jan. 9. KPFL representative Eileen Carney presented the council with information on various steps that are planned to minimize the problem of barking dogs.
At the January meeting, Councilman Stu Crismore said the city-county liaison committee was recommending against granting the requested lease. He noted opposition from county animal control officials and from area residents, more than 20 of whom had signed a petition against the new shelter.
Other council members, however, suggested that the plan deserved a closer look. Councilman Gary Huntsberger suggested that Crismore's committee put its reasons for recommending against the proposal in writing, so KPFL could respond and the rest of the council could look at both sides of the issue.
On Monday, Carney said she never received anything from Crismore, who was not present at the meeting. Huntsberger, who since the January meeting has resigned from the council because he no longer lives within the city limits, provided the council with written information he put together following discussions with various people involved in the issue, including county officials. He offered his support for the proposal.
"I would have a hard time arguing against it at this point in time," he said.
Mayor Tony Berget said the city wants a good plan from KPFL but doesn't want to micromanage the project. Huntsberger suggested that the city grant KPFL an option to lease the property provided the group is able to obtain financing for construction, which is estimated at $500,000.
Councilman Doug Roll moved to accept KPFL's proposal, which will allow the group to seek financing, and the motion was approved by those council members present.
In other business, the council:
* Approved a request from Munro Investments for a tax incentive on a new business mall at the corner of Sixth Street Extension and U.S. Highway 2. The request was initially submitted in December under a state law allowing local governments to provide a tax exemption and abatement for the remodeling, reconstruction or expansion of an existing commercial building or structure that increases its value by at least 5 percent. The new mall, which will house five different businesses, is built on the site of the former Caboose restaurant and bar.
The property will receive a five-year break on city taxes. The increase in value will be exempted from taxation for the first year and taxed at a rate of 20 percent of full value in the second year, 40 percent in the third, 60 percent in the fourth, and 80 percent in the fifth.
* Received a report from Libby Community Interagencies director Barb Guthneck that Lincoln County Crisis Solutions, formed last year as a local agency to aid victims of domestic violence, is ready to take over the house formerly used by the Lincoln County Help Line as a shelter.
The city took ownership of the house after the Help Line disbanded in 2003. At the request of Guthneck and others who planned to form a new organization to replace the Help Line, the city put the house up for rent and has been using the income to pay the mortgage in anticipation of renewed use as a shelter. At Monday's meeting, Berget said the city will give the current tenants 60 days notice to vacate the house.