Libby city officials talk growth

Growth and its effects were part of a recent Libby City Council meeting.

During the Oct. 3 meeting, council approved an extension for the first phase of a 20-lot residential development.

Plans for the Creek View Estates subdivision include two cul de sacs, both supporting mostly single-family-home sized lots.

The proposal had already been approved by the council, but after it changed ownership the timeline for the first phase had expired. Phase two will have to be approved by the council at a later date. The new owners of the subdivision are Levi and Riki Thompson.

The city attached several conditions to the application, including the need to develop a noxious weed plan and adhere to current subdivision regulations for the city of Libby.

Parts of the residential lots in the application bordering Flower Creek are within the floodplain, and permits will be required for fill or construction on the affected lots, according to the platt approval documents.

In addition to an extension request, the Thompsons submitted a revised preliminary plat because the lot layout associated with the approved plat did not meet the city’s current subdivision standards due to it not incorporating sidewalks along proposed access roads. Therefore, the property boundaries around the cul de sacs were not set back properly.

The property is not within city limits, but the zoning is anticipated to be the “Residence C District. The lot layout was revised to follow city subdivision standards, and the extension was granted unanimously.

In other business:

• Police Chief Scott Kessel presented police reports for August and September. The month of August was one of the police department's busiest on Libby’s record, Kessel said. Calls include emergencies, traffic crashes, welfare checks or other instances where police were involved.

The month of September was representative of a normal month for the city of Libby, the chief said.

• Community member George Gerard presented the council with a Peace Pole asking for it to be installed in a city park. The pole stood at about seven feet unburied, and except for the phrase “May peace prevail on Earth,” is written in four languages.

The Peace Pole Project is responsible for nearly 240,000 poles worldwide, Gerard said. The movement was started in 1955 by the late Masahisa Goi from Japan, according to the Peace Pole website.

Goi was inspired to create the poles after having lived through the Hiroshima bombing in World War II, Gerard said. The bombing, which took place on Aug. 6, 1945, killed 140,000 people, according to the Associated Press.

After Goi’s death the poles began to emerge all over Japan, and eventually the world, Gerard said. The poles are supported by Rotary, and Gerard asked that the city council consider letting him install the pole in a public space.

The council voted unanimously to install the pole in the park, which is still unnamed, next to the police department, and install cement around the pole to prevent the need for weed-whacking.

“The only downside is that you have to mow around them, or if you’re opposed to peace,” Gerrard said.