Libby council by narrow margin grants CD to Troy

After approving it in May, then voting to withdraw approval, then discussing it and voting on it two more times at Monday’s meeting – Libby City Council presumably made the final decision, by a narrow margin, to transfer ownership of a certificate of deposit to the City of Troy.

Mayor Doug Roll voted for the measure to break a 3-3 split. Councilmembers Bill Bischoff, Walt McElmurry and Ron Carter voted in favor, while D.C. Orr, Lee Bothman and Peggy Williams voted against.

The $114,000 CD came from an $8 million federal appropriation, and was set aside to back a loan on Troy’s Kootenai Senior Center. Its interest has been paying for the center, and the CD will mature in 2012.

Libby was given the appropriation in 2000 following discovery of asbestos contamination, and the money was intended for economic development of southern Lincoln County, said Brady Selle, superintendent of Troy Schools, at Monday’s meeting.

“We (City of Troy) would not ask for half of it, we would not ask for a quarter of it,” Selle said, “but maybe 1-2 percent of it would be helpful.” 

The appropriation provided grants and loans to build the Memorial Center, improve Turner Mountain and the Lincoln County Campus of Flathead Valley Community College, and expand the Cabinet View Golf Course, among others.

Selle and Troy School Board members Steve Garrett and Sylvia Maffit attended the meeting to implore the council to surrender ownership of the CD to the City of Troy. Selle and Garrett said that Libby and Troy are “joined at the hip,” and that Libby residents would benefit from the CD even if Troy retained ownership.

Selle explained that a lack of funding forced the school district to curtail some of its plans for its new activity center. He expressed a desire to use money from the CD when it matures if the council were to give it to Troy.

Questions arose about whether or not the council placed a moratorium on the CD about three or four years ago. Bischoff and Roll did not believe the council had, but Bothman and Orr wanted to look into the matter further. Bischoff pointed out that the city has since borrowed against the CD and paid it back, so if there was a moratorium, the council has violated it.

Orr said that though he valued a close relationship with Troy, he had to look out for the best interest of his constituents, so he did not favor the measure. Bothman said he had no qualms with the CD going to Troy, but wanted time to address the possible moratorium.

Bischoff made a motion to grant the CD to the City of Troy, but it died when no one seconded it.

“They won’t second the motion,” Roll said to Garrett, who had just addressed the council. “They turned you down again. I’m sorry. I really am.”

After moving on in the agenda, Carter explained that he hadn’t seconded the motion because he needed clarification about the matter. To adhere to parliamentary procedure, the council had to first vote to revisit the matter, and then, after discussion, voted on the measure for the final time.

The council had first approved the measure May 4 in a 5-0 vote, with Williams absent, but then voted to withdraw the measure until the legality of the matter could be reviewed.

In other news at Monday’s meeting:

• The council voted unanimously to become part of the City/County Health Board to present a more unified voice concerning asbestos-related health needs and cleanup.

• Rebecca Thomas of the Environmental Protection Agency briefed the council on the cleanup status of the export plant site. She anticipated having the remedial investigation and feasibility study out late this month or early August. A proposed plan is scheduled to come out in August, which will be followed by a public meeting in September, and then a Record of Decision. Roll wanted to hold off on discussing possible institutional controls for the site until the City/County Health Board is formed.

• The council had its first reading of a resolution to prohibit any kind of rubber wheels or bottoms at the Fred Brown Pavilion that scuffs or damages the floor, with exception to wheelchairs, food carts and shoes.

• The council voted unanimously to allow the Class of 1984 to hold a concert at the Lee Gehring Field on Aug. 15.