By Josh Margolis
HAVRE, Mont. (NMB) – The Hill County Commission convened on Thursday morning for their weekly business meeting and announced that Nick Siebrasse had resigned from the Park Board, effective immediately.
Commission Chair Diane McLean read the resignation letter out loud, which read in part:
Management of park grazing is going to cause more problems and possibly worse decisions to be made. Questions are being raised about the current policies for park grazing. For example, there are disparities in grazing allotments – 400 units to some and 40 for others. Questions about residency in Hill County, what county the cattle are taxed in, etcetera. The composition of the grazing committee needs to be addressed at the very least, outlined with existing rules. I, like most of you, have been friends with all parties involved. I also work with and along these folks at branding, shipping, calving, 4-H functions, etcetera. I’m not at all comfortable sitting on the board to make decisions that could change their financial situations for their respective futures. I know these situations are not pleasant for any of you, however, I don’t feel I can be effective on the board with the deep-rooted relationships I have with the grazers at the park. When conflicts of interest are involved in the decision making process, I believe the person involved should recuse themselves from the process. This is how I came to the decision to resign from the Hill County Park Board immediately. My resignation is no way an indictment of anyone on the past or present boards. Unfortunately, at this time in my life, I cannot continue serving on this board.
The resignation comes after a contentious Park Board meeting earlier this month where Siebrasse acknowledge there were likely conflicts of interest on the grazing committee that need to be rectified.
The Commission has scheduled a ‘Park Board Decision’ meeting for this upcoming Thursday in their office at 1:30 PM.
In a brief phone conversation with New Media Broadcasters Friday morning, McLean said they will review the Park Board’s recent decision to deny a grazing request from Ray and Debbie Kallenberger.
