07/01/2024
“Helena This Week” is reported and written By JoVonne Wagner. Send your Helena news and tips to jwagner@montanafreepress.org.
A study released by the Helena Regional Sports Association for a local indoor recreation and pool facility indicates that the project would be economically sustainable and would mainly rely on events and membership fees.
The sports association commissioned consultants Ballard*King & Associates for multiple studies on “The ARC” project. The most recent report, released last month, detailed The ARC’s five-year revenue and expenses projections. It showed the facility’s first-year expenses of about $4.8 million and revenue of about $5.2 million.
The report also stated that the facility’s revenue model is slightly aggressive and would require its staff to balance event scheduling between the arena, courts, turf field, and pool for the facility to offset expenses.
According to the report, Helena is a central location to house a facility of this size that would address local, regional, and state recreational needs. The facility would have the potential to bring in about $26 million annually to the local economy from those attending tournaments and other events.
The ARC would cost about $112 million to build and would be located in the Lewis and Clark fairgrounds, according to the sports association board member Heather Grahame. The project would be publicly funded, and the sports association plans to discuss with county commissioners the option of issuing a county-wide bond in 2025.
However, Lewis and Clark County Commission Chair Andy Hunthausen told Montana Free Press that he wants to hear from the community before moving forward with the bond request.
“What I’m wanting to learn about is if the community is supportive of this,” Hunthausen said. “Whether they do it through polls or survey or something, if we get information back that says a high percentage of the community is supportive of this, then it gives me an indication that at least they want it on the ballot so they can consider it. If there is no support for it, then why would we subject our community to that process?”
Programming Note
In what is quickly becoming one of our most beloved workplace traditions, Montana Free Press employees will be taking the week of July 1-5 off to celebrate summer and recharge our batteries for the rest of the year. Subscribers will note the absence of a Helena This Week newsletter next Monday, July 8. Worry not. We’ll be back in your inbox with a brand-new newsletter on Monday, July 15.
Public Notice
Helena is looking to fill several vacant board positions and is seeking applications. The positions are:
- One resident to serve as a banking and finance representative for the Affordable Housing Trust Fund Advisory Board
- One resident to serve as an alternate for the Board of Adjustment
- Four residents to serve as representatives for the Downtown Urban Renewal District/Tax Increment Financing Advisory Board
- One resident to serve as a board member for the Golf Advisory Board
- One resident to serve as a housing authority dwelling resident representative for the Helena Housing Authority
- Two residents to serve as representatives of the Lewis and Clark County Heritage Tourism Council
- Five residents to serve on the Parking Advisory Committee
- One resident to serve as a property owner or manager representative for the Tourism Business Improvement District Board of Trustees
The positions have varying term lengths and requirements. The deadline to submit applications is Monday, July 8, at 4 p.m. For more information about each position, contact city commission deputy clerk Alyx Montiel at amontiel@helenamt.gov.
5 Things to Know in Helena
Trail dedication: On Monday, July 1, the city commission will dedicate a trail on Mount Helena honoring the late city commissioner, and labor and education advocate Eric Feaver. The ceremony will take place at 10 a.m. at the trailhead by LeGrande Cannon Boulevard. Community members are encouraged to attend the ceremony.
Sign ordinance update: City staff presented updates for the sign ordinance during a city commission administrative meeting last week. The updates would bring the code up to compliance with a 2015 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that concluded that content-based regulations on noncommercial speech are unconstitutional. Other updates within the ordinance are meant to simplify the allowed sign types, sizes, and locations. The ordinance changes will go before the city commission during the next meeting on Monday, July 15, at the City-County building at 6 p.m.
A healthy health department: City-county health department officer Drenda Niemann reported to the commission that the department was recently reaccredited by the National Public Health Accreditation Board.
Helena’s sister city?: Helena Mayor Wilmot Collins recently traveled to Armenia with other U.S. mayors and met with the country’s president. Collins and Armen Grigoryan, leader of the Stepanavan community of Lori Marz, an Armenian city, both signed a tentative memorandum of understanding to establish a friendly relationship between Helena and the Armenian community in hopes of providing both parties with mutual benefits. Specifically, Helena would act as a sister city to Stepanavan to support democracy, ethical decision-making, and a more transparent government. The city commission will discuss goals and possible benefits for both Helena and the Stepanavan community.
Fourth of July in Helena: Helena Ambassadors will host the annual Capital City Fourth of July celebration at Centennial Park, 1200 N. Last Chance Gulch, at 11:00 a.m. The celebration is free to the public and will feature live music by the local band Justin Case, bounce houses, food, and other family attractions.
3 Questions For
Earlier this year, Helena city officials asked voters to decide whether to fund additional emergency services personnel and a third fire station through a mill levy and bond. The levy would pay for nine police officers and 15 firefighters, and the bond would fund the construction of the fire station. The levy to add officers and firefighters failed while the bond to build the fire station passed by less than 100 votes. Helena Fire Chief Jon Campbell spoke with MTFP about his reaction to the vote and the next steps on the third fire station. His comments have been edited for length and clarity.
MTFP: What were your initial thoughts after seeing the levy failed but the bond passed?
Campbell: [I’m] incredibly thankful to the voters for showing up and demonstrating their support. We understand that there’s never a great time to ask for money, particularly some of the factors that were out of our control, with tax season and assessments on people’s properties. But nonetheless, the bond passed, and a third station has been needed in Helena for quite a few years. It’s been identified in previous fire department studies, so it’s a movement of the needle in the right direction and it will be a valuable asset for the city of Helena for decades to come.
MTFP: What are the plans for the building of the fire station and staffing it?
Campbell: Those haven’t completely crystallized. I believe our finance department’s gonna have to work with the city commission to get the bond actually on the tax bills, so that’s kind of the step one. Once those funds become available, we’ll be in a position to start to think about soliciting bids or requests for proposals. There are some administrative processes that we have to follow for tax funds to be expended legally and responsibly. I don’t know exactly how those march out, but that will be part of the time and the process to react to the voter’s approval of this bond.
[Staffing] is going to have to be strategized at the policy level for the elected officials. We ultimately took a couple of years of analysis, master plan development, and the police doing their staffing study for our elected officials to be comfortable to put that to the voters for their yes or no answer. Because the answer was no, that doesn’t mean that the needs have changed, but it does mean that our city leadership and elected officials are going to have to re-strategize about how to address those deficits.
MTFP: When can the public expect to see future plans from the fire department and the city?
Campbell: We just look forward to navigating the re-strategization of this. The needs of the community continue to be expressed and how frequently they demand our services, whether it’s fire or police. Just because the community’s appetite for the financial implications wasn’t satisfied at this time, doesn’t mean that it isn’t going away as a need.
We look forward to figuring out a better way to continue to provide service, meet the demand but also link together the deficit with the actual next steps. Unfortunately, I don’t have those immediate answers, but we’ve got a handful of meetings planned to review where we’re at. We’ll be looking at what our next options are and putting those to work with the commission in short order.
Might Be Fun
The Archie Bray Foundation will hold an artist talk series featuring its current resident artists on Monday, July 1. The artists will present their work, inspirations, and future plans. The event, which is free and open to the public, begins at 6:30 p.m. at the foundation’s Frances Senska Center for Education and Engagement.
Helena History
A Fourth of July parade, photographed in 1902 by William H. Taylor, shows floats drawn by horses on Main Street, now known as Last Chance Gulch, at the intersection of Sixth Avenue heading north. Credit: Montana Historical Society.
