County needs long-term plan, not another Band-Aid

The Evergreen Chamber of Commerce has noticed a stark contrast in spending priorities by Flathead County that impacts the Evergreen community. In one week, the Daily Inter Lake reported on: (1) the county wanting to purchase the CenturyLink building to expand and relocate several departments, and (2) the county still needing a long-term solution for jail space, and (3) the county placing a moratorium on the construction of new pedestrian trails.

In a Feb. 13 editorial, the Inter Lake summarized the county’s extensive spending on recent building projects. Since 2011, $15.4 million was spent to renovate, relocate, or expand the following: the old courthouse, commissioners’ office, City-County Health, Planning and Zoning, Agency on Aging, County Attorneys, the jail, MSU Extension, and 4-H. Now, the county wants to purchase the 60-year old CenturyLink building to relocate and expand County Elections, Treasurer, Superintendent of Schools, Justice Court, and District Court.

This new project will cost $6 million, according to one commissioner, pushing total spending on campus and office expansion projects to over $21 million in a decade.

We do not question the county’s need for space, but believe it only fair for our friends at the Commissioners Office to balance those needs with other needs, including those of the Evergreen taxpayer.

The Evergreen Chamber of Commerce questions the county’s spending policies.

First, the county is constantly spending to improve its campus and facilities, but is completely shutting down the development of new pedestrian infrastructure. The county’s proposed trails plan calls for a moratorium on new trails and requires communities, including Evergreen, to develop a plan in perpetuity for how the community’s residents will pay for construction and maintenance before new trails can be built.

Second, it appears the county is looking for short-term rather than long-term solutions to its space needs.

Evergreen needs more pedestrian infrastructure. It is the second-largest community in the county and the 12th-largest in Montana with approximately 9,000 residents. The Evergreen School District is the largest in the county and fourth-largest K-8 district in Montana. Although urban in scale, Evergreen lacks certain urban necessities like adequate sidewalks and trails. Pedestrians, including schoolchildren, navigate over or around unpaved surfaces, muddy and icy trails, and snowbanks. People are walking and riding bikes on rough narrow shoulders or in the roads, including U.S. 2, where vehicles drive 50 mph. We have told the county the Evergreen Chamber wants to make Evergreen better and safer for pedestrians, but are told there is no money for new trails.

In contrast, the county continues to spend millions on its campus and facilities.

The CenturyLink building is questionable as a long-term solution for the county’s space needs. It is 60 years old and within a block from the congested U.S. 2 and U.S. 93 intersection. Getting to and from this building will be challenging. When that intersection expands, the building could be condemned. Commissioner Holmquist referred to the CenturyLink purchase as a “Band-Aid.”

Additionally, purchasing the CenturyLink building is a confusing departure from the county’s recent priorities. In the last five years, the county indicated a new detention center and sheriffs office was a top priority by trying to purchase the Wal-Mart building in Evergreen and the Cedar Palace in Columbia Falls. Now, the county is shifting its focus and resources from law enforcement to other departments. The jail commander called a recent $1.3 million addition to the jail as a “Band-Aid.”

We ask our friends in the County Commissioners Office to pause on the purchase of the CenturyLink building, stop putting Band-Aids on space needs, and develop a long-term plan for what the county needs and how to pay for it. After all, that is exactly what our commissioner friends are telling Evergreen to do before the county will develop new sidewalks or trails in our community.

Connie McCubbins is executive director of the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce.