Several Polson residents expressed concern over losing part of the walking path at Linderman School during a Polson City Commission forum on school construction projects, held Dec. 4. 

No action was being taken by the commission. The hearing was strictly a fact- and opinion-finding mission with all public comment being forwarded to the Polson School District and LPW Architecture, which is designing the building projects at Cherry Valley and Linderman schools.

A drawing that showed the northern end of the walking path being replaced with asphalt for basketball courts had neighbors Carol Lynn and James Lapotka concerned. They noted the slab of asphalt didn’t appear on the map circulated before the bond election.  

County Attorney James Lapotka stated that he walked by Linderman School two or three times a day on his way to and from the Lake County Courthouse. “At any given time of day, there’s little kids, two-and-three-year olds, learning how to ride their bike on that path. There’s little old ladies with walkers rehabbing.” 

He said he wanted to “just make sure that someone’s thinking how important that (trail) is to a lot of people who voted to upgrade these schools but maybe don’t even use them.”

He also noted that the path meanders around a well-used regulation-size soccer pitch.

His wife, Carol Lynn Lapotka, questioned the process of letting the public know about the meeting.

She said the Lapotkas received a courtesy letter from the city and a second letter correcting the meeting time. They said other neighbors were not notified. 

Polson Community Development Director Rob Eddington said 52 courtesy letters were sent to adjacent landowners on both construction projects using information gleaned from Cadastral, and there was a legal notice that appeared in the local newspaper. 

Mayor Eric Huffine added that the letters weren’t required by law, and said he assumed that with 52 letters sent, the word would spread.  

City Commissioner Brodie Moll echoed Lapotka’s concern about the value of the walking path. 

“It really is a big part of the community,” he said. “People of all ages use that path, disabled people use it … it’s flat, it’s in a nice neighborhood.”

Polson High School Principal Andy Fors, who represented the school district at the meeting, emphasized that the drawings viewed by the public were “still somewhat preliminary. There’s definitely no intent to reduce the length of that walking path or the community’s access to that path,” he added.

He also encouraged the public to attend monthly school board meetings, held the second Monday of every month at 5:30 p.m. at the district office.

“At a minimum, we provide a construction project update,” he said. 

Thanks to bond levies passed last spring, building projects are slated at all four schools in the district, including Cherry Valley, Linderman, the middle school and the high school. Eddington explained that state law requires the city to hold a public hearing when local schools plan a major construction project. 

While schools are exempt from zoning requirements, the district will be required to meet city building and fire codes, and acquire appropriate building permits for all four projects. 

For more information on the building projects, visit www.polson.k12.mt.us/bond.