County commission OKs Port Authority reorganization

The Lincoln County Commission, by a 2-1 vote, approved the reorganization of the county’s Port Authority Board at the July 9 meeting.

District 1 Commissioner Brent Teske (Libby) and District 2 Commissioner Jim Hammons (Troy) both voted for the resolution to reorganize while District 3’s Noel Duram (Eureka) voted against it.

Resolution 2025-25 called for rescinding Resolution 999, which was passed in 2018. The prior measure called for the Port Authority board to be made up of five individuals, including all three county commissioners.

The new resolution states the Port Authority board will include a maximum of seven members, including one county commissioner. The Port Authority Board recently updated its bylaws, determining seven members, with six of them being at-large, is better suited to manage the Port Authority and encourage public representation.

The current board includes Teske and four other at-large members. They include Jerry Bennett, Kevin Peck, Tony Petrusha and Chris Bache. Two spots are still vacant. Port Authority members serve five-year terms.

Bennett’s term ends Dec. 31, 2027, Peck’s ends Dec. 31, 2025, while the terms of Petrusha and Bache each end Dec. 31, 2029.

During the public comment portion of the hearing, a number of residents expressed concerns and doubt about the decision, some of which are the result of a lawsuit filed earlier this year against the county commission and Port Authority, alleging violations of public meeting laws and selling Port land without public participation.

“If you’re not following the rules now, why would we believe you’re gonna follow them now by changing them?” Martin Dunbar asked.

Dunbar also questioned why the Port Authority Board can’t be elected by the people.

“You three guys should be on the Port board,” Dunbar said. Flathead County does that, why can’t Lincoln County?”

Dan Torgison, a former Libby businessman who filed the suit, asked why the rules were being changed.

“Why are you not representing Troy and Eureka?” Torgison asked. “That land was given to Lincoln County, not Libby. You dropped the ball.”

Bennett, a former county commissioner and Montana state representative, said going to seven members was the original plan.

“We had nine members originally (2003) and we never got anything done,” Bennett said. “We’ve gotten pretty much all the Brownsfield work done and what’s not done, we have a letter of intent with the state DEQ to finish up the other 120 acres.”

Bennett also pointed out that the county committees have been structured to be appointed rather than elected to avoid costly elections.

“Why are you increasing the number of board members?” Ann German asked. “You just said when you had nine members you didn’t get anything done. You need to be held accountable to your constituents. People don’t trust what’s going on.”

Jennifer Nelson also expressed her belief that the new resolution is an effort to legitimize prior actions that were not properly authorized. 

She expressed concern over the new bylaws passed in February and that they did not meet MCA (Montana Code Annotated).

“I was additionally concerned about the language concerning audits, which was changed from ‘shall be audited annually’ to ‘may be audited annually,’” Nelson said.  

She also pointed out that while state law permits the sale of property, the original Port Authority resolution does not directly address that. She encouraged the commissioners to review the history of all resolutions relating to the Port Authority for legal consistency.

The aforementioned suit, is still pending.

In the lawsuit filed April 2 by Torgison, he accused the Lincoln County Commissioners, Port Authority and John Does 1-15, of hiding its business dealings with Noble Investment Properties, Inc., specifically the sale of 185 acres, owned by county taxpayers, from the Port Authority to Noble in 2023.

The suit alleges that Torgison became aware the Port Authority entered into transactions with Noble Investment Properties that may not have been fiscally sound, didn’t include public participation and competing businesses expressed a concern of favoritism.

Following credits for property cleanup, Noble agreed to build a county road on the property to be purchased and with a reimbursement from a county grant, Noble Investments paid about $3,600 per acre to buy prime highway frontage real property owned by the county taxpayers.

It is believed that the market value of similar property is $50,000 per acre, the suit alleges.

Fifth Judicial District Judge Luke Berger heard arguments June 20 on the preliminary injunction request, but has not ruled on them.