County slaps new contract on Sliter Park

The Flathead County parks board last Friday demanded that the Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork pony up $3,500 to maintain Sliter Park.

And the payment is due June 1.

Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork president Paul Mutascio said he learned of the payment request at the end of the business day Friday, and was informed that the Sliter Park issue would be on the county parks board agenda at 8:15 Monday morning.

“I was furious after I read it,” Walter Kuhn, owner of Bridge Street Cottages, said about the contract that was presented Monday morning. “I think the parks department needs to quit threatening to close Sliter Park.”

He called the contract “extortion.”

In February, members of the Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork met with the county parks board to discuss the county’s lease of Sliter Park from PacifiCorp.

The parks department had said it cost about $7,500 in 2013 to maintain the park, located in downtown Bigfork. Earlier this year the county parks board agreed to extend the lease for another year, contingent upon having a “Memorandum of Understanding” in place with the CFBB by June 1.

The CFBB submitted its Memorandum of Understanding to the county parks board on April 14, according to Mutascio. 

The mixup seems to have stemmed from miscommunication between the county parks board and the county attorney’s office, Mutascio said.

A county attorney who wasn’t aware of what the board and CFBB had previously discussed drew up the new, proposed contract between the foundation and the county parks department, Mutascio said.  

Mutascio said he doesn’t know if parks director Jed Fisher had a chance to look at the document before the Monday meeting.

Because of the rushed contract, the foundation and county parks board will have to meet again to come to an understanding. There is no date set for that meeting. 

Mutascio said Sliter Park will remain open.

The contract the county drafted stipulates that the CFBB needs to pay Flathead County Parks and Recreation $3,451.41 by 5 p.m. on June 1. The money would be used for the 2014 yearly lease rate, monthly utilities and annual liability insurance.

The contract also stipulates that the Community Foundation for a Better Bigfork must reimburse the county for costs to relocate the electrical breaker by the stage and pay for any cost associated with vandalism at the park. 

The one-year contract requests the foundation continues to earn donations for the park and immediately forward them to the parks department. The contract demands that the Flathead County parks department will be given “priority in distributions from a trust fund.”

Mutascio asked the board why they were asking for a full year of expenses, if the contract only spanned five months, through November 2014. He reminded the parks board the CFBB has always paid the lease and currently has it paid through 2016.

Mutascio said the contract arrived last minute, and expressed his concerns about what would happen to the park if an agreement wasn’t reached by June 1.

“Our fear is that we’re going to see Sliter Park go away,” he said.

He said the county’s “Financial Contribution Agreement” went beyond what was discussed and agreed to at the previous meeting between the foundation and parks board.

The Memorandum of Understanding drafted by the CFBB in April stated that the community would help provide financial support for Sliter Park if the county kept Sliter Park open through the remaining 20 years of its lease with PacifiCorp.

The CFBB asked the county to maintain the lease with PacifiCorp until 2031, and beginning in July of this year the CFBB would take over payments of water and electric, a cost they estimated to be about $3,000 a year. The CFBB stated they would take over insurance payments of $220 annually and continue to pay the lease in a five-year prepaid basis. The lease cost is $250 a year. They said the CFBB would also attempt to generate an additional $1,000 to help offset the park department’s maintenance costs, as well as continue to help with maintenance through Wilcoxen Painting.

Wilcoxen Painting is hired as an independent contractor by the foundation to help maintain Sliter Park. The foundation considers it an in-kind donation to county parks of $5,500 a year.

The county’s new contract states that the CFBB would continue to be in charge of the services provided by Wilcoxen Painting, but it stipulates that the only maintenance Wilcoxen Painting may do is pick up trash, and remove and install toilet paper and paper towels in the bathrooms. Flathead County Parks and Recreation would pay for the can liners, toilet paper and paper towels, as well as other general maintenance. The county would reserve the right to seek a financial contribution from the CFBB for these expenses.

Mutascio would like to be able to have Wilcoxen Painting do more than restock toilet paper. “If a toilet overflows, we don’t want to call you guys,” he told the board.

The agreement submitted by the CFBB earlier this year also included having the Bigfork Chamber of Commerce assisting with advertising of Sliter Park, with the goal being to increase park usage fees so the park could be self-sustaining.

“It’s a valuable park that does indeed pay for itself,” Mutascio told the parks board. “We’re not deadbeats, we’re making our own donations. We want to work with you. It has to be a fair and reasonable approach.”

Kuhn questioned why Sliter Park is singled out for private financial contribution to the county parks department.

“Sliter Park is an easy target because it’s a lease,” Kuhn said at the board meeting.

Fisher, parks directory, said “There has not been an attack on Sliter Park.” He said funding parks is always a struggle, and the department is last in priority when it comes to distribution of tax dollars.

Sharon Hopkins, who was representing the Bigfork Parks advisory committee, said the whole thing was a big miscommunication. 

She said the county parks was never planning to just close Sliter Park, but the advisory committee had at one time asked the county board if it was possible to turn over the lease.

Mutascio and Bob Keenan said that was the first they’d heard of that.

“One hand didn’t know what the other hand was doing all of a sudden,” Hopkins said. She said if nothing else, at least the situation has brought the groups together so the issue can be worked out.

Mutascio asked for a fresh start in negotiations. “We can step in and help, and that’s what we want to do,” he said. “I want to start over on a positive foot.”