Flood study recommended for proposed development
By GWEN ALBERS Western News Reporter
A state official has recommended studying the chances for flooding in the area of a proposed 70-acre housing development on Farm to Market Road.
Larry Schock, a certified flood manager with the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, made the suggestion in a report to the Lincoln County Department of Environmental Planning.
"The fact is that this area floods and has a history of flooding during snow melt and spring runoff events," Schock wrote.
The statement was included during a Wednesday public hearing at the courthouse for the proposed 16-lot housing development 12 miles south of Libby near Libby City-County Airport.
The hearing will continue at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 8, at the courthouse because not all county commissioners could attend. It also will give the public another chance to comment, said Commissioner Marianne Roose.
"We know this is very controversial and there are a number of people that have input," Roose said.
She was the only one of three commissioners at the hearing. Commissioner John Konzen was on a long-planned hunting trip and commissioner Rita Windom left town for a family emergency.
At least two commissioners must decide whether or not to grant developers George Wood, Mike Munro and Don Brown permission to divide the land into lots ranging from 1.5 to 6.5 acres.
Fifty-two people prior to the hearing had turned in a petition against the development.
Their main concern is flooding from the McMillan watershed. The area experienced flooding in the 1930s, 1970s and 1990s.
Part of the problem was created in 1945, after an Army B-24 bomber made an emergency landing in the Amish pasture down to Libby Creek. To fly the bomber out, a 4,200-foot runway was built in the field with bulldozers and other heavy equipment. Irrigation ditches crossing the field were filled or diverted.
The 1,000-acre flood plain was condensed into an 80-acre piece of property, thus giving water no place to go, Andrew Foote had told The Western News. Foote is a neighbor and spokesman for the McMillan Neighborhood Conservation Alliance and Homeowners Association.
In 1997, flooding water came with a few feet of basements adjacent to the property proposed for development, according to the petition. Two to three feet of water flowed through the Amish hayfield to the Amish store and down to Hammer Cutoff. Dozens of neighbors sandbagged and dug emergency ditches.
Resident Dan Leavall supports Schock's suggestion of a 100-year flood study.
"The 100-year flood study needs done and I recommend that a partial third-party do it," Leavall said. "It's like a fox measuring the henhouse."
Resident Bill Buhl expressed concerns for his water supply, while resident Charlie Clough invited the commissioners to see the area.
"I think it would be worthwhile," Clough said.
Resident Bob Halvorsen noted that since the area was logged, the flooding could be worse.
"We don't know how much water will get on Farm to Market Road since all the sponges have been removed," Halvorsen said.