City council goals center on parks, infrastructure

The Columbia Falls City Council last week outlined its goals for the coming year. Most of the goals centered on either enhancing the city’s parks, promoting the city and creating a good business climate, or both. Here’s a look at some of the priorities councilors and the mayor had:

• Councilman Dave Petersen said he’d like to see the city get the right-of-way at Nucleus Avenue and U.S. Highway 2 between the city and the Montana Department of Transportation clarified so the city can explore the possibility of building a welcome arch over Nucleus Avenue. Nucleus had a wooden arch years ago, but it was removed long ago. Petersen also suggested the city explore creating a new logo.

Changing the logo on everything the city owns would be expensive, noted City Manager Susan Nicosia — about $15,000 to $20,000. Petersen suggested the new logo could be phased as equipment and stationery was replaced over time.

• Councilman Mike Shepard said the city should continue to pursue building a fishing pond at River’s Edge Park. He said the city needs to start replacing its fire trucks and he said the city need to push for paving the North Fork Road to Camas.

• Councilwoman Jenny Lovering and Councilman Darin Fisher both called for looking at the bigger picture and how the city could support regional projects like bike paths to Glacier National Park and a wave park in the Flathead River. Those projects wouldn’t necessarily cost the city any money, but would enhance the quality of life here. Lovering would like to see the city become a leader in recycling as well.

• Mayor Don Barnhart said the city needs to maintain and upgrade its uptown alleyways, bring its sidewalks up to standards and improve its parks, such as improving the basketball courts at Columbus Park and planting more trees there. Columbus should see upgrades to the basketball courts this summer, Nicosia said. He also said the city needs to improve its entrance, though he wasn’t buying in on the idea of an arch just yet.

• Councilman Doug Karper said the city needs to maintain what it has and Councilman John Piper said the city’s ball fields need some attention. Some of the city’s baseball fields need maintenance and upkeep.

Nicosia said council should revisit the goals once the city’s budget gets clearer in a couple of months. 

The city will have some tax increment finance funds this year, but not too much — the TIF is set in January and places like the Cedar Creek Lodge were only partially complete at the time.