College board gives green light for land sale

Flathead Valley Community College trustees heard support Monday from three business leaders for the planned sale of 8.8 acres of college land for a proposed Reserve Drive South road.

Trustees later voted to approve the president working with the Montana Department of Transportation on the final compensation for the property.

Just before the public hearing, FVCC President Jane Karas explained that the college began working with the Department of Transportation on the road more than two years ago. She said the original proposed route bisected campus land, which didn’t benefit the college or public.

Karas said the college hired Stelling Engineers to come up with an alternative design for the connector road.

“We worked really closely with the Department of Transportation to put together a design that meets everybody’s needs,” she said.

A map of the proposed design shows a new road running from West Reserve Drive south along a strip of college land behind Home Depot, Target and other stores, intersecting with Hutton Ranch Road near Walmart. The design includes a roundabout for future access to the north end of the campus property.

The new road, a long-planned extension of Reserve Loop, is anticipated to take some traffic pressure off of the busy U.S. 93/West Reserve Drive intersection

The college received this land as part of a swap in 2005 of 109 acres and $300,000 from a developer for 25 acres of college land that fronted on U.S. 93 north. 

Karas pointed out that the 8.8 acres represents a small fraction of the 209-acre campus. 

During public comments, Joe Unterreiner, director of the Kalispell Chamber of Commerce, said this road project was one of the top three priorities of the Chamber along with completion of the bypass and extension of commercial air service.

“We see this as achievable and the money is available,” he said.

Unterreiner said the project will provide jobs as well as benefit the long-term interests of the college and community.

Tim Larson representing Costco also spoke in favor of the project. He said the road would relieve traffic and reduce accidents. He asked the college to move in a timely manner to complete the project.

Marc Rold of the Flathead Business and Industry Association also supported the road and encouraged the college to act quickly.

“I think this is an incredibly important opportunity that has a deadline — this money can go away,” Rold said.

He said the road would help distribute the traffic flow, save lives and benefit people on the east side of the Stillwater River. Rold said this road would enhance access for those people better than anything short of a new bridge across the river.

He urged college representatives to remember during negotiations that the public provides the money to both the highway department and the college.

“Please let’s get this project moving as fast as we can,” he said.

Karas told the trustees that she is just waiting for the final plan and she expects to have negotiations for the price of the land wrapped up by the end of the week. She will bring the final plan and agreement to the trustees for approval at a special meeting.

Also at Monday’s meeting, the trustees approved the fiscal year 2012 general fund budget of $16,789,762 and a continuing education budget of $865,000. No one testified at the hearing on the budget.

Karas said the general fund number was revised slightly down from the first reading in June due to a drop in property taxes collected last year.

In her president’s report at the meeting, Karas reported “a great turnout” for her annual community conversation outreach. She noted the start of the President’s Lecture Series on Tuesday evening and reported some verbal commitments of donations to help raise $1 million to add to the $4 million received from the Broussard family for a nursing and health education center.

Reporter Candace Chase may be reached at 758-4436 or by e-mail at cchase@dailyinterlake.com .