[MissoulaGov] Parks Committee Update 4-29-09

[Stacy Rye]

I thought I would add the summary of Administration and Finance and
dealing with the Parks and Rec department portion of the Capital
Improvement Program.

We looked at a few projects for Parks and Rec that weren't General Fund
projects.  Here they are:  Milwaukee Road trail from Russell to Reserve,
the Tonkin Trail, Grant Creek Trail, new park for 44 Ranch subdivision out
Mullan and adding meters to park irrigation systems.

This will be the sixth year that Parks will not get $250,000 for park
maintenance.  In 2004 we used the Parks maintenance budget to help with
the Aquatics project which came in over budget.  We did that for four
years, I think.  Last year it was removed again, and this year it's
nowhere to be found.

Missoula has about $20 million worth of backed-up parks maintenance
projects.  This is stuff like decent bathrooms, updated playground
equipment (has anyone experienced the chunks of wood, sorry, I mean
slivers you can get from the structure at Sacajawea park? Lovely, aren't
they.), tennis courts, etc.

There's a couple of ways to get at this problem given if you think
neighborhood parks are essential to Missoula.

We could raise our levy by 2 mills this Fiscal year and years after.  This
would equal about $200,000 per year and cost a homeowner about $6 per
year.  The other thing we're also discussing parks maintenance districts
where we all would pay maybe around $30 a year and the money would go
towards parks in your district and maybe a portion for the urban forest. 
This would actually raise a lot of money for parks.  I understand a lot of
cities go this route instead of trying to fund Parks and Rec out of the
general fund.

I really like the idea of maintenance districts instead of looking under
rocks and in crevices for funding for P and R every year.  I think
neighborhood parks are fantastic and critical to a city.  My family uses
the n-hood parks like mad in the summer and they were crucial to my sanity
when my daugher was a toddler.  Speak up if you have any thoughts on this.

Stacy




> Greetings,

>

> This morning we learned about the new PM 2.5 air quality standards in

> Public Safety committee from Ben Schmidt of the health department. PM

> 2.5 refers to the really fine particles in the air. The EPA has changed

> the standard from 65 micrograms per cubic meter down to 35. 35 is where

> we are today. So we need to take steps if we are going to avoid becoming

> a "non-attainment area" in the future.  Being a non-attainment area

> means that more severe measures must be put into place. Things like

> mandatory replacement of woodstoves and industrial sources having to

> install expensive technology. The cost of that technology cannot be

> considered a mitigating factor if we are a non-attainment area.

>

> So, if we can maintain our status below the 35 limit with voluntary and

> softer restrictions all the better.  The primary contributing sources

> are woodstoves (55%) , Ammonium Nitrate (19%), and Hog fuel boilers

> (12%). Ammonium Nitrate comes from Nitrous Oxide which comes from a lot

> of things but mostly cars.  Hog fuel basically means wood chips. I

> learned that when I did a job for a company that makes those giant

> grinders.

>

> We already have pretty strict wood burning rules inside the "Air

> Stagnation Zone." This is the Missoula valley and inside slope of the

> surrounding hills. The problem is that the fine particles can come from

> far away. So the new rules will affect the whole county. From Seeley

> lake, to Lolo, to the Nine Mile. The health department is proposing new

> standards that will restrict the installation of new wood stoves in

> these areas.  It will also require that during the worst air days people

> in these areas use alternative heating sources if they have them. Based

> on the history of recent years this type of restriction would only

> happen one or two days during the winter.

>

> There is a fairly lengthy public process involved in making these rule

> changes that is just starting. If you would like to learn more please

> visit the health department web site:

> http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/airquality/

>

>

>

> We also learned about what the county health department is doing about

> swine flu.  They expect we will see it in Missoula before long since

> there is a lot of travel in and out of here.  They have set up a hotline

> and all doctors in the state are requested to send in samples from

> anyone with symptoms.

>

>

>

> The main item in Conservation was an update from the Conservation

> District. They get funding from a few mills in the taxes and do a lot of

> cool projects. My favorite is the cost sharing programs they offer for

> weed and erosion control projects for land owners.

>

>

>

> We traded our PAZ time for COW today to have our quarterly OPG review

> interlocal meeting with the county commissioners. This time we heard all

> about the Missoula Forum for Children and Youth.  This is an umbrella

> organization comprised of a number of entities that are all involved in

> stuff like reducing teen drug and alcohol use and teen pregnancy.  It

> reminded me of something Wolf A. from the job service was saying at that

> Missoula Economy meeting this week. He talked about how we have all

> these different entities that do various parts of the economic

> development puzzle. In other places they have these services coordinated

> together and can present prospective employers with a more complete

> package.  I'm pretty sure he was suggesting we need something for the

> economic development world like the Forum is for youth substance abuse

> and prevention programs.

>

>

>

> They have all sorts of great programs to provide activities, support

> families, and offer resources for troubled and at risk kids.  The one

> piece that rubs me a little wrong is the whole abstinence/prohibition

> approach to alcohol. They seem to understand that teaching kids healthy

> choices about sex is more effective than teaching abstinence. But they

> still think abstinence is the right approach with alcohol. I lean more

> towards the idea that teenagers, especially 18+, should be learning how

> to responsibly appreciate alcohol in an honest and open way. The illicit

> nature of the whole thing leads to binge drinking and poor decisions.

> That's my opinion but my kids are still a little young for this to be an

> issue for our family. Maybe I'll see it different in a few years. The

> stats and pretty much all of our personal experience tell us that a lot

> of teenagers drink. Pushing it all into the dark just seems like the

> wrong approach.

>

>

>

> In Public Works we heard a cool presentation about a project to put

> artwork on the big signal control electrical boxes around town. Here is

> a link to the presentation with some neat pictures:

>

> ftp://www.ci.missoula.mt.us/packets/council/2009/2009-04-27/Referrals/Tr

> afficSignalBoxArtAttch.pdf

>

> We also discussed waiving the noise ordinance for the reconstruction of

> the Scott Street bridge this summer. They plan to work 16 hour days and

> on some occasions straight through the night. The committee approved the

> proposal but is expecting it to come back on Monday night with some more

> specificity as to just how late they will go and how often.

>

> We revisited the discussion of offering some kind of temporary discount

> for folks who hook up to sewer.  It used to cost $350. Last year we

> raised it to $1400. This more accurately reflected the costs of the

> sewer development program. The issue was raised by someone who received

> the notice that we were requiring folks to hook up when they sell their

> property, but then waited a couple of years to actually come in and do

> it.  Then he found that the price went up 375%.

>

> As a compromise solution I moved that we offer a $500 rebate coupon for

> any existing homeowners in the city who want to hook up to the sewer

> before 12/31/09. The money would come from the sewer development fund.

> The fee wouldn't actually change so we would not have to go through the

> routine of amending the ordinance. It would still be $1400 but a chunk

> would be getting paid for by the sewer development fund. This way we

> give an incentive to folks to get switched over and give one more chance

> for everybody to get the word that the price is going up.  We actually

> send them a $500 coupon as part of the publicity.  The idea was still

> met with some skepticism but it narrowly passed. We will see what

> happens to it on Monday.

>

>

>

> I had to skip out on A&F for some work obligations so I'm not sure what

> happened with the rest of the CIP discussions.

>

>

>

> Thanks for your interest,

>

>

>

>

>

> Bob Jaffe

>

> Missoula City Council, Ward 3

>

> bjaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us <mailto:bjaffe at ci.missoula.mt.us>

>

> 406-728-1052

>

>

>

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Stacy Rye
(406) 543-9784