The account below is copied and credited to the Missoula Independent. Source of internet URL at bottom of this blog. This blog is taking the liberty to publish the comments as well as the article. In Montana Lee Enterprises convicts people on agenda of the local Governments.
I was in a county meeting when it was asked if it were OK to talk about the articles coming out the next day. Four (4) of Five (5) articles were discussed. Scam, scum, corruption, cozy are all words you can use here for Lee Enterprises papers in Montana USA.
I was in a county meeting when it was asked if it were OK to talk about the articles coming out the next day. Four (4) of Five (5) articles were discussed. Scam, scum, corruption, cozy are all words you can use here for Lee Enterprises papers in Montana USA.
HOW TO BUILD IN THE BITTERROOT FLOODPLAIN
BY A RAVALLI CO. GEOLOGIST
Never-ending story
Controversial home on Bitterroot continues to languish
by Alex Sakariassen
Back in December 2007, Tom and Charlotte Robak were ordered to halt construction of a high-end estate along the West Fork of the Bitterroot River. The couple had already spent an estimated $700,000 on the property. Ravalli County officials claimed the structure was going up not just in the river’s floodplain but in the floodway, an overflow channel that can fill up during high-water events. The Robaks promptly sued the county, sparking a contentious and protracted legal battle.“The placement of a home in the floodway is of significant concern to everyone,” then-Deputy County Attorney Alex Beal wrote in a letter to the Robaks’ attorney in 2008. “Not only is there great probability of the Robak house becoming inundated with flood waters, but there is the possibility the home could wash down stream and destroy other property.”
Five years and countless hours of courtroom haggling later and the Robak house still sits unfinished on the banks of the Bitterroot southwest of Darby. The case is scheduled for another status hearing Dec. 13, at which point Deputy County Attorney Howard Recht says the parties will continue to iron out a number of unresolved regulatory issues. Recht says the hearing is just one more minor step on the road to resolution.The Robak case has grown particularly nasty at intervals, with both parties exchanging barbs not just in court but on the pages of local newspapers. The Robaks have accused county officials of tampering with case files, and District Court Judge Jim Haynes has alluded to a greater agenda by the Robaks to challenge the validity of state floodplain laws. But both parties managed to reach something of an understanding this May; the county agreed to drop its counterclaims of public nuisance and punitive damages after the Robaks agreed to drop their own claims of defamation, negligence and violation of due process.The issue that neither party has firmly addressed in the past year is the status of $116,458.80 in outstanding sanctions against the Robaks ordered by Haynes in 2010. Haynes wrote that the Robaks had “sponsored misleading affadavits” and “made affirmative representations that no fill was brought to their property.” The county subsequently had to enlist “a platoon of experts and professionals” at significant expense “to bring Robaks’ misrepresentations and misdeeds to light.” The sanction includes compensation for county staff time as well as depositions, transcripts and $10,215.14 for soil testing. Such sanctions are typically imposed to preserve the integrity of the legal system and deter frivolous legal pleas.“Robaks hold the privilege of a citizen to decline to apply for a floodplain permit,” Haynes wrote in his July 28, 2010 order. “However, citizens have a duty to comply with the locally enacted floodplain laws. Citizens have no right to come into Court and misrepresent material facts regarding their willful non-compliance with the existing floodplain laws and regulations.”The Robaks’ lawyer, Dustin Chouinard, filed a motion to reduce those sanctions in October 2010. That motion has yet to be resolved. The sanctions were not included in the May settlement, and Recht says he doubts the matter will come up during this week’s hearing. Recht says the county is currently focusing on resolving regulatory matters.Even if Haynes’ sanctions do stand, County Commissioner J.R. Iman says he would be “surprised” if the full dollar amount is strictly enforced. Personally, Iman believes the prosecution was “a little over aggressive.” “As far as I’m concerned, it needs to go away,” Iman says of the case, which began the same year he first campaigned for office. “I think [the sanction] is kind of a ‘pound of flesh’ situation.”Iman also suspects former Ravalli County Attorney George Corn’s dogged pursuit of the case played a role in Corn’s loss to current County Attorney Bill Fulbright in the 2010 election. That election saw a rash of Republican victories by conservative candidates who proved popular among anti-zoning advocates.Tom Robak has certainly been active in anti-zoning circles over the years. He spoke out against a countywide growth policy in 2008, believing it would negatively impact real estate values and local jobs. He also founded the Big Sky Coalition in 2007 with the primary intent of promoting increased logging in the Bitterroot Valley, though the group was briefly active in opposing a streamside setback ordinance as well.The Robaks attempted to secure a permit from the county last year to remove a gravel bar and stabilize the riverbank upstream of their home, which is about 80 percent complete. The application went up for public comment last month and is still being reviewed. See Comments BELOW.......
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Comments (3)
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Here's some additional context for this story. People may recall that back around 2006 Tom Robak started a Bitterroot Valley pro-logging group called the "Big Sky Coalition: Environmentalists with Common Sense."
The basic thrust of the group was that the Bitterroot wildfires were caused by timber sale lawsuits from environmentalists (even through the Bitterroot National Forest had seen only three timber sale lawsuits in the previous 15 years). The Big Sky Coalition wanted to see our nation's environmental laws weakened/gutted and the public citizen review processes suspended, to facilitate more logging. (Hmmm....almost seems as if Senator Tester and his mandated logging "collaborators" at Montana Wilderness Association had a similar idea....but that's for another story).
At the time, around 2006/07, the Missoulian and Ravalli Republic were giving quite extensive, sympathetic, one-sided press to Mr. Robak and his Big Sky Coalition.
It seemed as if nobody at the Missoulian or Republic (at the time) paid much mind to looking into Mr. Robak's background, or explore many of the Bitterroot Valley rumors that circulated about Mr. Robak's home allegedly build in the floodway of the West Fork of the Bitterroot River or Mr. Robak's alleged bank-rolling of Ravalli County's anti-streamside setback organization, ironically called "Higher Ground Foundation."
In fact, in the fall of 2007, even the Big Sky Coalition was spending thousands of dollars running anti-streamside setback ads in Bitterroot Valley papers, prompting some to wonder just what a pro-logging group has to do with opposing streamside setbacks. The connection clearly was one Mr. Tom Robak.
Anyway, here's some more information for people to explore and consider. In the meantime, here's a little nursery rhyme:
Ro Ro Robak your house,
Gently up the stream....
Big Sky Coalition Founder Built Home in Floodway
http://www.newwest.net/main/article/big_sky_coalition_founder_built_home_in_floodway/
Ravalli County Anti-Zoning Campaign Draws Scrutiny
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/ravalli_county_campaign_groups_draw_scrutiny1/C559/L559/
The basic thrust of the group was that the Bitterroot wildfires were caused by timber sale lawsuits from environmentalists (even through the Bitterroot National Forest had seen only three timber sale lawsuits in the previous 15 years). The Big Sky Coalition wanted to see our nation's environmental laws weakened/gutted and the public citizen review processes suspended, to facilitate more logging. (Hmmm....almost seems as if Senator Tester and his mandated logging "collaborators" at Montana Wilderness Association had a similar idea....but that's for another story).
At the time, around 2006/07, the Missoulian and Ravalli Republic were giving quite extensive, sympathetic, one-sided press to Mr. Robak and his Big Sky Coalition.
It seemed as if nobody at the Missoulian or Republic (at the time) paid much mind to looking into Mr. Robak's background, or explore many of the Bitterroot Valley rumors that circulated about Mr. Robak's home allegedly build in the floodway of the West Fork of the Bitterroot River or Mr. Robak's alleged bank-rolling of Ravalli County's anti-streamside setback organization, ironically called "Higher Ground Foundation."
In fact, in the fall of 2007, even the Big Sky Coalition was spending thousands of dollars running anti-streamside setback ads in Bitterroot Valley papers, prompting some to wonder just what a pro-logging group has to do with opposing streamside setbacks. The connection clearly was one Mr. Tom Robak.
Anyway, here's some more information for people to explore and consider. In the meantime, here's a little nursery rhyme:
Ro Ro Robak your house,
Gently up the stream....
Big Sky Coalition Founder Built Home in Floodway
http://www.newwest.net/main/article/big_sky_coalition_founder_built_home_in_floodway/
Ravalli County Anti-Zoning Campaign Draws Scrutiny
http://www.newwest.net/topic/article/ravalli_county_campaign_groups_draw_scrutiny1/C559/L559/
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Posted by Matthew Koehler on 12/13/2012 at 7:32 AM
This is all the 20 year legacy of George H Corn, who now is a flunky shyster for one of Missoula's biggest "Greek bearing gifts" law firms. Corn was involved in every kind of scam to profit from the "Flood Plain" regulation. There are not many sections left on any part of the Bitterroot that have not been raped and pillaged by the big buck developers. One needs to go no further than a stones throw from the "Ravalli County Courthouse" and look to the left of the Main street bridge, to see the same thing in process. This one gets more involved because it is within the "city limits" of the Bogus community of Hamilton. Hamilton never Incorporated, skims off all kinds of payoffs if you want to do something that would be illegal anywhere else. A town of less than 4000 people with 15 paid cops, that is not incorporated and is listed as the County Seat? Bitterroot motto, "we know we do it wrong, but thats the way we always do it."
Posted by Roy P Pilkey on 12/13/2012 at 11:07 AM
This article brings out the obvious role of the Lee Enterpise publications; the Ravalli Republic and the Missoulian, as the instigators of the George H Corn syndicate during his 20 year reign as County Attorney. There were few if any things that would come to court that had not already tried, convicted, and executed by the "Ravalli County system of Injustice". Lee Enterprises declared Bankruptcy to avoid the massive lawsuits piled up in court due to their scandalous corrupt journalism, and I use that term loosely. There is plenty of room in prison for the County and city officials, Judges, and Shysters that were all a part of this pile of human dung.
Posted by Roy P Pilkey on 12/13/2012 at 11:21 AM
