Finally, Hughes Creek Road declared public

The move comes less than one week after the Ravalli County Commission sent a letter to Suzanne Raski and Michael Mikolaichik, who own the land on which the gate sits. In the letter, the commission said the couple needed to remove the gate by Aug. 1. If they did, the county said it wouldn’t seek repayment of costs or fines from them or other landowners.

“If the gate is not removed by that date, the county will remove the gate and may seek fines and costs to the extent allowed by law,” the letter states...

Jim Olson with the Ravalli County Fish & Wildlife Association has been fighting to get the road opened for about 10 years with the help of the Public Land/Water Access Association and a group of retired foresters. He noted that the Hughes Creek Road families have a right to pursue their legal options, but added that the Montana Supreme Court tends to rule in favor of public access on public roads.

“They’ve had that road to themselves for 40 years and don’t want to give it up. Maybe this is what it has to be to finalize this,” Olson said. “But there may be public benefit down the road. Talking to some of the PLWA members, Montana’s Supreme Court has been friendly toward them in cases like this.”

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A hearing scheduled for last Monday on the removal of the gate across Hughes Creek Road was postponed indefinitely at the request of the Ravalli County Attorney’s office.

According to documents filed in Ravalli District Court, the county believes that the court can hold just one hearing, instead of two, on a lawsuit and a temporary restraining order that bars the county from removing the gate or fining the landowner if it’s not removed...

Instead of having a hearing on the restraining order and another on the lawsuit itself, the county wants to tackle the matters together.

“We are preparing our response so we can do everything in one fell swoop,” said Deputy County Attorney Daniel Browder. “We expect to have something filed by the middle of September.”

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As the battle over the gate across Hughes Creek Road headed to court, attorney Jesse Kodadek filed what he considers a once-in-a-lifetime Montana Supreme Court brief — in the form of a play.

He figures that judges get a little bored reading legal briefs all day, every day. And since the Hughes Creek Road-gate case has taken so many twists and turns, he thought writing the opening brief as a play might make it a little easier to understand.

“I think about it all the time, especially with appellate judges, who read people’s writings every day,” said Kodadek, who is based in Missoula. “The Montana Supreme Court can’t tell what’s going on half the time, so I tried to be as clear as possible and lay out the story. I think there’s one time in your lifetime you can do something like this.”

After stating the three issues for review, Kodadek then makes his statement of the case in “Act I: The Political Process,” which appears to have some potential for comic opera.

“County: Hey, some people want us to make you take down that gate.”

“Landowners: The gate in front of our house? The one that has been there since at least the 1970s?”

“County: Yes, that one. Some people say a county road continues beyond it.”

“Landowners: Didn’t you sue us in 1984 to try to get the very same gate removed?”

And on it goes for four more pages, with Act II taking place at the courthouse. A footnote reminds the Supreme Court judges that this isn’t a verbatim transcript.

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