CVFSA dissolved by figures
The Cabinet View Fire Service Area is no more, and despite the formal announcement that came at 11:33 a.m. Wednesday, the agency’s demise actually occurred on Aug. 13, because the number of signatures on the submitted petition was determined to be less than needed.
Presiding Commissioner Marianne Roose read a statement from the Kalispell attorneys of Moore, Cockrell, Goicoechea & Axelberg, P.C. announcing an end to the FSA.
“…Lincoln County has not received protests from the required 50 percent of the real property owners in the CVFSA,” Roose said. “As a result, the June 13, 2012, resolution dissolving the CVFSA was effective on Aug. 13. … Libby Volunteer Fire Department and Libby Volunteer Ambulance will now be dispatched to emergency calls within the boundaries of the former CVFSA.”
The attorneys representing Lincoln County in the statement are Sean Goicoechea and Jinnifer Jeresek Mariman.
Roose explained Cabinet View officials needed to have 50 percent of the “real property owners,” which attorneys determined to be 295. On Aug. 6, Cabinet View FSA officials turned in a petition with 232 names, of which county officials determined 121 were valid.
County Administrator Bill Bischoff advised the number of accepted signed petitioners was considerably less because attorneys determined mobile home owners and spouses who both may have signed the petition were determined to be just one property owner.
It was that explanation that drew the attention of Bruce Witt of 225 Mount Zion Road.
“You mean to tell me these (people) who are paying the $125 fire service fee are not considered property owners?” Witt said. “That’s taxation without representation.”
“That’s what the attorneys interpreted,” Roose shot back.
It was then John Fredin of 169 Mount Zion Road entered the conversation.
“Do you understand how goofy this sounds?” quipped Fredin. “…Obviously, it’s a power situation. … This is insane.”
Russell Bache, a captain with the Cabinet View Fire Department, was the highest-ranking official with the department to attend the meeting.
“What this county needs is a government for the people, not for the few that are only out looking for their own selfish interests,” Bache said.
“We need to have honesty, integrity and ethical behavior back in this county’s government and community, not these secrets, rumor-mill and back-room deals,” Bache said.
The announcement Wednesday seemed almost anti-climatic to the previous gatherings at the packed Ponderosa Room and crowded Commissioners’ meeting room. On Wednesday, 23 people came to hear the Commissioners’ announcement.
Upon the conclusion of that portion of the Commissioners’ meeting, a little more than a one-page statement was released to the media.
The release was clear and concise, providing Montana Code Annotated statutes supporting the case for dissolution.
Cabinet View proponent Patty Rambo contested concerns of the fire agency were neither answered by the Commissioners nor addressed in the judgment from 20th Judicial District Court Judge C.B. McNeil.
“We never got our points answered,” Rambo said.
Commissioners Tony Berget and Ron Downey were chastised by CVFSA supporters Wednesday for what those in the audience perceived as not doing enough to bring all sides together for a resolution.
“We did try, repeatedly,” Berget said. “It just seems there was too much bad blood.”
Berget specifically mentioned a lawsuit that not only named the Commissioners, but Sheriff Roby Bowe, Libby Volunteer Ambulance and Troy Dispatch.
Berget questioned the lawsuit as an impedience in the waning months toward dialogue and a resolution.
Said Downey: “We all tried to get this resolved.”