At the end of the month, property owners in the planning doughnut surrounding Whitefish will receive a survey from Flathead County asking a single question: Do you want to be governed by Whitefish or the county?
In an ongoing tussle over jurisdiction in the doughnut area, Flathead County Commissioner Jim Dupont said he has heard numerous claims for residents favoring both the city and county. This survey, he said, seeks to clarify for the official record which party the residents prefer to govern them.
Dupont said the survey must be returned by Nov. 11.
“Who do you prefer to govern your property rights?” Dupont said. “Just check the city of Whitefish or the county. It’s just one simple question and it comes with a stamped return envelope.”
Meanwhile, voters in Whitefish have the option on their mail-in ballots of voting to repeal a 2010 revised interlocal agreement between the city and county regarding land-use authority in the doughnut. The county has asked to terminate the agreement.
Since the survey is not a voting ballot measure, Dupont said, it doesn’t require a public notice process. It’s just a “tool in the toolbox” in the effort to bring clarification to an issue in need of it.
“Then we’ll have exactly what the people in the doughnut think because I don’t know – I hear so much one way or the other,” Dupont said. “I don’t know why anyone would want to complain about it. It’s a simple answer.”