Lincoln County Commission approves dog-control agreement with Libby, adds $2,500 for animal-shelter clinic; grants two preliminary plats

Lincoln County commissioners on June 3 approved a 2026–27 dog-control agreement with the City of Libby, moved the county payment to the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office budget and added an annual $2,500 contribution to the Lincoln County Animal Shelter to assist with spay-and-neuter clinic fees.

“Those two changes were made,” the chair said, summarizing staff’s revisions before seeking the commissioners’ vote. The commission voted in favor and asked staff to forward the executed agreement to the City of Libby so it can be placed on that city’s agenda for approval.

The board also accepted a locally sourced bridge funding award for two county bridges, including the “17 mile” bridge, a commissioner reported. Documents were signed through DocuSign and the projects will proceed to repair those structures.

In land-use actions, the commission granted preliminary plat approval to the Sheileley subdivision (legal description given as Huner’s Ridge, Lot 1A) and to the Montana Lakes 4 subdivision (Montana Lakes 2, Lot 14), each subject to 15 standard conditions and the findings in the staff reports.

Planning staff told the commission the Sheileley proposal splits an roughly 11.004-acre parent tract to create an additional residential lot. Both lots will rely on individual wells and septic systems; staff noted the parent tract is entitled to up to 10 acre-feet per year of water under the applicable well provisions and concluded the proposal did not present significant impacts to agriculture, natural resources, wildlife or public safety.

For Montana Lakes 4, staff noted the owner, Greg Sandon, already secured a DNRC—an approved notice of intent to appropriate groundwater—for up to 68 acre-feet per year, and that DNRC’s authorization carries a five-year timeline for drilling a well. Commissioners and staff agreed to add a condition requiring the DNRC notice of intent to be recorded with the final plat so it appears in title records.

Both subdivision approvals followed staff presentations, a motion and second, and voice votes in favor. Planning staff said the plats will return for final plat recording once required conditions and agency approvals (for wells and septic) are satisfied.

The commission also voted to draft and sign a comment letter to the court regarding an estate partition for the late Miss Emory; staff will prepare the letter with recommended conditions addressing emergency access, driveway construction standards, sanitation concerns and water permitting.

What’s next: staff will forward the dog-control agreement to the City of Libby for that city’s approval; planning staff will monitor conditions and recordation requirements for both preliminary plats; and the county will finalize and submit its letter to the court in the Emory estate matter.

Attribution: Comments about the agreements and plats in this story were taken from public remarks by the meeting chair and presentations by planning staff during the June 3, 2026 Lincoln County Commission meeting.