Glacier plans east-side housing for workers

Glacier National Park has released a proposal to develop new employee housing at two locations on the east side of the park, replacing 10 dilapidated trailers in St. Mary.

Each summer, between 300 and 350 temporary employees are hired in Glacier, with many of them requiring housing in the park. The proposed buildings would provide housing for between 18 and 44 employees.

“The lack of safe and functional housing on the park’s east side has been problematic for several years, especially for seasonal employees,” the plan’s environmental assessment states. “Inadequate housing on the east side of the park has contributed to low employee morale and may influence some seasonal employees’ decision not to return.”

The plan calls for three new housing buildings: two at the Swiftcurrent housing area in Many Glacier and one at the park service compound in East Glacier for new employee housing facilities.

In a 2012 scoping document, the park service stated that both locations, while requiring long commuting distances for employees, are preferred for their existing utility infrastructure and prior development which would require the least disturbance at the sites.

Construction at Swiftcurrent would include a one-story fourplex building with six bedrooms and a two-story eightplex with 12 bedrooms.

The East Glacier building would be a one-story duplex with four bedrooms.

A 2011 analysis of housing opportunities found that rentals in the area were prohibitively expensive — in excess of $750 per month — and usually required at least a six-month lease.

The previous site at St. Mary contained 10 housing trailers built in the 1960s.

The park stopped using the trailers by the 2010 season after they had “deteriorated from age, rodent infestations, mold, leaks, safety issues and other factors,” according to the assessment.

Using the St. Mary location for the new construction is precluded by the agency’s flood-plain construction policy. The park’s 1999 general management plan required it to relocate all the existing infrastructure out of the Divide Creek flood hazard zone, where the trailers had been.

The housing plan would cause temporary, construction-related noise audible from the Many Glacier Campground and some recommended wilderness, but the park does not anticipate any other negative effects.

The park is accepting public comments on the proposal until Jan. 19, 2016.

For more information on the proposal or to comment online, visit parkplanning.nps.gov/EastSideHousing.

Comments can also be mailed to: Superintendent, Glacier National Park, Attn: East Side Housing EA, P.O. Box 128, West Glacier, MT, 59936.

Reporter Sam Wilson can be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.