The commission eventually voted to include language that it was unclear whether the consultation had occurred.

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Right after that, the commission voted to say Octagon had not made a “good faith effort” to find an alternative that would result in preserving the building.

HPC member Cathy Bickenheuser said Holloran’s repeated statements that renovation was not economically viable only referred to it being viable for him and HomeBase. Hagen added that other developers had expressed interest and belief that the building could be renovated, and that interest means there are alternatives.

Julia McCarthy-McLaverty, another HPC member, said she feels Octagon Partners made a good faith effort to try to find a developer who would reuse aspects of the building, but were not able to.

Hagen said the Missoula Public Library had signed a letter of intent to buy the building, but that during that four month period, Octagon Partners “raised the price from under three million dollars to $4.5 million dollars.”

Schwab provided a record that the library later said that statement was an error, and had struck it from their own records.