Open Space Bond

City of Missoula Accepts County Open Space Bond, Won’t Push for More

By Brenna Moore, 6-29-06

With Missoula County Commissioners voting this week to put a county open space bond on the November ballot, city officials have decided to hold off for now on a Missoula-wide bond. City officials say there might be room for another city bond in 2010, but this year, the city and the county are working toward one together.

As the Missoulian reported earlier this week, the county bond would be for $10 million to use over 20 years. Half of the money will be designated for the city and its urban areas, while the other half will be specified for the county.

If the bond passes in November, it will allow for the city's open space program to carry on while also creating an open space program for the county. The city and county will work together on making that happen, said Jackie Corday, Open Space Program Manager for the City of Missoula.

"This is such a wonderful opportunity for the city and the county to work together on such an important issue," Corday said.

In August of 1995, both the City Council and the County Commissioners adopted an open space plan for acquiring open space over the past 10 years with the $5 million bond city voters approved in the same year. With the bond money almost depleted and ten years having passed since the adoption of the open space plan, the advisory committee has revised the plan to accomodate Missoula's present open space needs. The newly updated plan serves as a guideline for aquiring future open space and maintaining the open space we have now with the available money, Corday said. Citizens of Missoula are encouraged to review and comment on the new plan before July 11, when the Planning Board will hold a public meeting to review the updated plan and receive public comment. The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in room 201 of the Missoula County Courthouse. The city urges those interested in the issue to review and comment on the plan by , visiting the Parks Department Web site or stopping by the Parks Department at 100 Hickory Street or the Office of Planning and Grants to review a copy of the plan.

Booming growth, urban sprawl and population increase makes $5 million over a 20 year period hardly enough for the Open Space Advisory Committee to realize its recently updated open space plan, Corday said. But for now, the city is planning on accepting the money it will receive from the bond and won't push for another city-centered open space bond right now. Mayor John Engen and the County Commissioners have been discussing the idea of implementing another open space bond in as little as three to four years if this bond is spent quickly, she said.

The open space program doesn't get all of its money from bonds, Corday said. The program also receives grants and general funds from Missoula, but those funds are minor in comparison to a bond, which allows the program to go after big pieces of property instead of just small bits of several different areas, she said. Corday hopes that the bond in November will succeed so that there might be a possibility of passing another bond in four years. Gallatin County, for example, passed a $10 million open space bond in 2000 and another $10 million bond in 2004, due to the high desire for open space.

The open space program is meant to "preserve the quality of life that Missoulians so cherish," Corday said. As Missoula continues to grow, we need to aquire more open space in order to maintain what we love about where we live, she said.

For more information on this subject, read Greg Lemon's New West article about open space from this winter.

Like this story? Get more! Sign up for our free newsletters.