City-county merger proposed

Members of the Havre City Government Study Commission expressed disappointment at the turnout of a public hearing Tuesday night, but said they were pleased with some of the suggestions made by the public.

Three people from the general public and two reporters were on hand for the session, aimed at getting ideas on what form the city’s government should take.

Bob Nault said he hoped the commission’s work would be the first step in revitalizing the town he has lived in all of his 76 years.

He called on the panel to propose that Hill County and the city of Havre merge operations, following a model established by the city of Butte and Silver Bow County.

He said there was too much duplication between the services provided by Hill County and Havre.

The commission is looking at the idea of a city manager. Nault said Havre couldn’t afford a city manager, but if operations of the city and county were combined perhaps there would be enough money to fund the position, he said.

He said less money should be spent on the bureaucracy and more on projects the city needs to fund. The city is doing nothing to prevent the spread of blight, he said, noting that residential and commercial buildings are decaying around the city and the city says but it cannot afford to do anything about it.

In the 1960s, he said, the economy was booming in Havre, there were more than 10,000 people and the city was served by “about five or six police officers and six firefighters,” he said.

Today the population is less than 10,000 and the police and fire departments are several times that size.

“We have a champagne taste and a beer budget,” he said.

City Council member Andrew Brekke, the council’s liaison to the commission, told Nault that charter changes were not needed to deal with the blight problem, other solutions were available. He added that there doesn’t appear to be the political will in Havre to do that.

“I would suggest that you make some calls to council members,” Brekke said.

Creation of urban renewal districts would enable neighborhoods to solve at least some of the blight problems, but he cannot convince other council members to get interested in the idea, he said.

Commission Chair Dave Brewer said his panel is not authorized to take action on behalf of the county, but in its final report, the commission can recommend that the city-county merger be studied.

Another Havre resident, Val Murri, asked whether the city could afford to hire a city manager. The commission is considering doing so.

“How much would it cost?” Murri asked commission chair Dave Brewer.

“We’ve been told about 100,000,” Brewer said.

“Dollars?” Murri said, sounding surprised.

Brewer said several cities smaller than Havre have managers, including Lewistown.

The commission will hold another meeting Tuesday, March 29, at 7 p.m.