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Boys and Girls Club mulls C-Falls plans

| March 16, 2020 1:00 AM

The Boys and Girls Club of Glacier Country continues to work out costs and logistics of building a new structure in Columbia Falls or using the old junior high for its programs, board President Justin Lee said last week.

Lee and other club members recently toured the old junior high with school officials. The Columbia Falls School District will no longer need the building, its 13 classrooms and its two gyms on a regular basis after the new Glacier Gateway Elementary School is built. The school plans on demolishing the north wing of the building, but everything south of the gyms will remain.

The club initially considered building an entirely new structure next to Ruder Elementary. That project is still an alternative, Lee noted. Right now, a committee is looking at both options — build new or renovate the old. The new building would likely come with lower maintenance costs. But the older building is pretty much turn key, though costs like utilities and such would be higher.

The club hopes to have a final determination in the next few months.

Right now the club serves about 150 youths in Columbia Falls and the Canyon.

The club has received community support both individually and from businesses. North Valley Hospital recently pledged $25,000 toward the project.

Folks can also help the club next month. The club along with PureWest Real Estate, and other local sponsors are hosting the Montana Suitcase Party April 17 from 7 to 10 p.m. Guests will arrive with a packed suitcase to an airplane hangar in the Glacier Jet Center to enjoy an evening of cocktails, food, music, dancing and entertainment. A pair of tickets will be drawn and the winners will board a private jet that will head directly to Las Vegas, and enjoy their complimentary room at the Paris, along with spending money for their weekend getaway. Two more pairs of tickets will be auctioned off to give additional guests the ability to join in on the Las Vegas weekend getaway. On Sunday afternoon, the private jet will leave Las Vegas to have our guests back in the Flathead Valley so they can return to work Monday morning.

For more information on sponsorship, or how to purchase individual tickets, contact Mandy Anderson at 307-797-1189 or email manderson@bgcglacier.org.

— Hungry Horse News

The city of Whitefish has created a parking permit committee to look at parking in downtown.

The committee is expected to provide suggestions and feedback with respect to a pilot employee parking permit program, and also evaluate potential residential parking permit programs.

In October 2019, City Council adopted the Whitefish Parking Management Plan that makes several suggestions for ways to improve parking in the downtown area.

The committee is set to consist of stakeholders in the retail establishment, bar, restaurant, professional office, or hotel/lodging establishments in the parking study area; representative of the Whitefish School District; and members residing in the parking study area and/or within the city limits and two city staff members.

The pilot parking permit area focuses on downtown from Miles Avenue east to Columbia Avenue, and Depot Street south to East Fifth Street.

— Whitefish Pilot

The community of Paradise is a step closer to getting a centralized wastewater collection and treatment system, but probably will need a loan to cover the gap, according to the Sanders County Ledger.

Located in Sanders County, Paradise is not an incorporated city, but the Sanders County Sewer District at Paradise has secured just over $3 million in federal and state grants, including a $561,000 grant two weeks ago and received a $676,000 U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development Loan, but roughly $2.9 million is still needed to complete the project.

The ultimate goal is for the nearly 200 residents of Paradise to switch from individual septic systems to a centralized collection system and wastewater treatment system.

— Sanders County Ledger

Polson is now a member of the Montana Department of Commerce’s Montana Main Street Program, an effort that helps Montana communities strengthen and preserve historic downtowns by supporting economic development, urban revitalization and historic preservation projects.

City Planner Kyle Roberts said the city has been working with a community group for the last four months to get into the program, and now will have access to grants.

The program was established in 2005 and currently serving 34 communities across the state. It’s a collaborative effort between the Community Development Division and the Montana Office of Tourism.

Other communities accepted into the program this year include Baker, Ekalaka, Havre and Lincoln.

For more information about the Montana Main Street program visit comdev.mt.gov.

— Lake County Leader

Concern with the coronavirus led the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to postpone its annual firefighter stair climb in Seattle last weekend. But for firefighters from the Plains-Paradise Rural Fire District who were prepared to climb the 69 levels of the Columbia Tower in Seattle, they were undeterred.

Instead, firefighters hiked to the “M” on Mount Sentinel in Missoula in their full turnout gear and self-contained breathing apparatus.

According to a Facebook post, the men climbed in honor of junior firefighter Franklin Reed. Reed is the son of department Captain Brian Reed. Franklin was diagnosed with leukemia and died in 2015.

With individual donors and McGowan Grocery contributing to the fundraising effort, the climb raised $970 toward finding a cure for blood cancer and providing patient services from The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. The climb was 640 vertical feet and three-quarters of a mile in length.

Plains-Paradise Chief James Russell, Captain Brian Reed and Hot Springs firefighter Lyle Fisher trained for months in preparation for what would have been the Society’s 29th climb at the Columbia Tower in Seattle, but the threat of the virus led the nonprofit organization to postpone the event. No announcement has been made when or if the Seattle climb will be rescheduled.

— Clark Fork Valley Press