No bridge causes troubled matters

By B.L. Azure

Mike Brown of the CSKT Safety of Dams and Roads Department answered queries related to a bridge design the Tribes commissioned for a new South Valley Creek bridge. (B.L. Azure photo)

ARLEE — A couple dozen Valley Creek area residents gathered in the Brown Building Friday evening to vent their frustrations over the Lake County Board of Commissioners decision to close the South Valley Creek bridge due to safety concerns.

The bridge was recently inspected by the Montana Department of Transportation and was found it to be structurally unstable. The Lake County Commissioners then voted to close the bridge effective Sunday, August 30. The county sent impacted property owners notice of the intent to close the South Valley Creek in late July.

The notice caught the residents off guard and they feel the existing bridge is still safe enough to use.

South Valley Creek resident Tim Morin expressed his concerns about the proposed closing of the South Valley Creek bridge at the end of this month. (B.L. Azure photo)

The MDOT inspects the bridges every two years and their recommendations have seen the weight limitations on the South Valley Creek bridge go from eight tons, five tons and three tons.

The Arlee District school busses and Arlee volunteer emergency responder and firefighting vehicles were eventually prohibited. Now at the end of August all vehicle traffic will be prohibited from using the bridge.

The residents in the South Valley Creek bridge area will then have to use the North Valley Creek bridge, which will add approximately five more miles to their trips each way.

That steamed the affected property owners, as did the lack of notification time and the extra time it will take emergency personnel to respond to fires or medical emergencies in the area.

“It is arrogant and irresponsible for Lake County to give us one month notice that they plan to close the bridge,” said Tracey Morin, spokesperson for the affected property owners. “The tribal government got notice of the closure but didn’t tell any of their members who live in the area.”

Morin, an attorney by profession, said the people in the area would keep the bridge open or they would drive through the creek. She also dished out a heaping of blame on the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes for their alleged complicity in the decision to close.

Mike Spade, South Valley Creek area resident, examines the South Valley Creek bridge inspection report that recommended closing the bridge. (B.L. Azure photo)

“The two governments are responsible in varying degrees and at different levels for the closure,” Morin said, alleging that both the Tribes and Lake County knew about the impending closure for three years and have recently accepted federal stimulus money that could have been used to build a new bridge or bring the existing steel girder up to standard. She said Lake County received $200,000 in stimulus funds and the Tribes received $1.8 million.

The Lake County Board of Commissioners weren’t there to respond to the allegations but four members of the CSKT Council were and time and time again bristled at the notion that they have any culpability in the decision to close the bridge. Morin said the Lake County commissioners were invited but none showed up. Paddy Trusler and Chuck Whitson were out of the area and Bill Barron had a schedule conflict, Morin said

Tribal Council members Steve Lozar, Charlie Morigeau, Ernest “Bud” Moran and Jimmy Malatare as well as Mike Brown of the CSKT Roads Department did show up and repeatedly reminded the attendees that the bridge and the road belong to Lake County not the Tribes. And they took umbrage with Morin’s take on the Tribal Council’s role and responsibility in the matter.

“My family comes from this area through the Morigeau allotments. But there are a couple of things I have to say with respect to you all here. I take issue with being called irresponsible and rude,” Lozar said. “We don’t have deaf ears to people down here. I’m here to listen and find out what’s going on. We want to make it a better situation for all of you here. We have four councilmen here and some staff but we didn’t come to get accused of being responsible. We are here. If we can help, we will help. Please see us in the right light and don’t alienate us from the outset.”

CSKT Vice-Chair Moran acknowledged that the Tribes received stimulus money but that was specifically earmarked for shovel ready projects. The Tribes recently commissioned $30,000 to engineer a design for a 90-foot long, two-lane replacement bridge that they figure will cost approximately $800,000.

“We won’t have any money for this type of thing for a couple of years from now,” Moran said, adding that the Tribes willingness to help is shown with the decision to fund the design so that if stimulus money does come down the pike for either Lake County or the Tribes they will have a shovel ready project to apply it to. “But I don’t like sitting here getting fingers pointed at us. We are not responsible for the bridge, the county is and we don’t know their intentions. We don’t know.”

Brown said the Tribes Road Department found out in June that the county was going to close the bridge.

“The county said it was a liability thing. That’s when I notified the Council and they told me to come up with a design for a bridge here,” Brown said, adding that the engineering design work should be done by the first part of October. “It will be a bridge that will last 100 years. It will be longer, wider and stronger.”

Brown said it would be irresponsible to do anything less than put up a good sturdy long lasting bridge. He said it is best to go with a new one because the bridge inspectors have told him that there is no way to repair the existing bridge to where it would pass state inspection.

Architect Jay Kirby wondered if a cheaper bridge can be built other than the $800,000 one depicted in the CSKT commission design. (B.L. Azure photo)

Brown said there are other funding sources besides stimulus funds that the Tribes may have access to including the Bureau of Indian Affairs bridge replacement project. “Since we are on the reservation we can seek BIA funding but we have to come up with an environmentally friendly design,” Brown said, adding that if the South Valley Creek bridge is as bad as reported and if the Tribes design is environmentally sound it is possible to seek the funding in the 2010 fiscal year.

Morin reiterated her belief that both governments were responsible for the present situation said the commissioners told her it was the Tribes who were holding things up.

Brown reminded Morin that as soon as the Tribes found out about the proposed closing in June they commissioned the engineering design for a bridge that would pass state and federal muster.

Some South Valley Creek residents said an alternative and cheaper design should be considered to which Brown responded, “We will have the best and cheapest design, a steel beam and concrete bridge,” he said. But added that if the county and the residents don’t like the design they could do another but should keep in mind the federal funding cycles.