City adopts Downtown Master Plan after some argument

After some argument on the issue, Havre City Council voted to adopt the proposed Downtown Master Plan, a framework for revitalizing the city's downtown area encouraging economic growth, at a meeting Monday evening.

The plan, which lays out goals and methods for making a better downtown area includes things like increasing housing in the area, making the streets more walkable, beautifying the area and, most controversially, potentially reducing the width of First Street.

Master Plan Steering Committee Co-Chair Debbie Vandeberg presented the plan, saying it is not binding and adopting it will not force the city to implement any aspect of it, but it will be a guide for them as they work to improve downtown.

Vandeberg thanked the committee for their work developing the plan, in conjunction with High Plains Architects, as well as the Havre Area Chamber of Commerce for its support and the council for hearing them.

She said the document isn't just a plan for the council's benefit, but its adoption will allow businesses and organizations to apply for grants and find funding partners that require some kind of plan like this to lend support to projects, and some businesses have already had success.

Sarah Strissel and Julea Robbins of Bear Paw Development Corp. also spoke in favor of the plan, saying they were able to cite it in their applications for a pair of grants, both of which they got, totalling $70,000.

Robbins said one of these grants was for evaluating a business for potentially adding residential space to their upstairs area, and if that effort is successful it could encourage others to do the same, increasing the amount of people living in the downtown area, one of the plan's major goals.

Havre Area Chamber Commerce Director Jessica Fagerbakke also spoke in favor of the plan, saying her organization is devoted to improving the business climate in town and the plan will be a tool to do just that.

Fagerbakke said if the city doesn't plan for the future and find ways to attract and retain talented community members as well as tourists, their economy will stagnate.

She said the effects of plans like this have a tendency to not just improve downtown areas, but spread throughout town, revitalizing them as a whole.

She also echoed Vandeberg, saying the document is not binding and can easily change, but having it will open a lot of doors for the downtown area and Havre as a whole.

The majority of the public who spoke at the meeting were in favor of the plan's adoption, but it did find one outspoken opponent in council member Josh Miller, who said he would speak for those unwilling to come before the council themselves.

"I can't and I won't support the downtown master plan," Miller said. " ... it's not just a 'no' from me, but more like a 'hell no.'"

He said the intentions of the plan are good, but the city clearly doesn't have its priorities straight and should instead be focusing its efforts on helping first responders, firefighters and police officers as well as improving road conditions.

He brought up the ongoing problem of surface contamination at the section of city hall used by the police and fire departments, which the city has been working to remediate, a process he said is taking too long and is far more important.

"Where's our master plan for that?" he asked. "It's taking way too long to remediate that issue, so instead let's get some grants to make First Street a logistical nightmare. That's what people are saying."

Indeed, the issue of potentially narrowing First Street, potentially to two lanes with turning lanes, was the crux of most argument at the meeting.

Many of the plan's supporters, including multiple members of the public who spoke at the meeting and other members of the council, said they agree with Miller that that specific element of the plan is not practical, but that wasn't a reason to throw the plan out and waste a valuable tool for funding.

Council member Andrew Brekke said the idea that they would be able to do it even if they wanted to is unlikely, given that it is under the jurisdiction of the Montana Department of Transportation, which he guaranteed would never let it become two lanes anyway.

"I'll eat my hat if First Street becomes two lanes," he said.

The sentiment was echoed by Havre Public Works Director Dave Peterson, who said it's just never going to happen.

"If that is the worry, this is a great plan," he said.

Council member Lindsey Ratliff was another who spoke in favor of the plan, saying she also has serious misgivings about the idea of narrowing the street but that is one element of a plan with seven other goals, all of which are great.

Miller said even without the matter of First Street he still believes the city is focusing its efforts in the wrong places and they should be focusing on bigger problems instead of beautifying the city.

"You can put lipstick on a pig and it's still going to be a pig," he said.

Ratliff said the plan, which has been worked on for more than a year, was largely developed by its committee and without taxpayer dollars, so the work that's already been done didn't come at a cost to the city's time or money so they are completely unrelated issues.

She said the surface contamination issue mentioned by Miller is certainly a problem, but it's one that is being dealt with, the city having held meetings, commissioned studies and gotten the ball rolling with the remediation.

"We can walk and chew gum at the same time," she said.

Miller said he's heard from "more citizens than he could imagine" against the plan, but Ratliff asked why so few of them ever talk to the council.

Miller said that was because of responses like Ratliff's.

"Look how you're responding, confrontationally," he said.

There were two public commenters who responded negatively to the plan.

One was Havre resident Trevor Wilkerson, who said the plan was a bad idea because it lacks details on how to maintain existing infrastructure, and while it's not costing the city anything now, its adoption may encourage them to pursue projects that eventually would cost the city.

Another commenter seemed to have their concerns addressed during discussion.

After the council argued about the issue, multiple members of the public echoed the sentiments of the plan's supporters, saying while some ideas in the plan for First Street are good, making it two lanes doesn't seem like a good idea, but that is not a reason to reject the plan.

Havre Trails President Lindsey Brandt-Bennett said that area of Havre isn't designed with pedestrians in mind and there are things in the plan that can improve that without going to two lanes.

She also spoke to the advantages of the plan, which makes grant applications much more competitive when mentioned.

Another Havre Trails member, Trevor Mork, said he was born and raised in Havre, but he's lived in a lot of different places and he's seen first-hand the benefits of master plans like this.

Specifically, he said, Augusta, Georgia, not only revitalized their downtown, but reduced crime in the area by making it more walkable.

He said increasing the amount of human activity in the area dropped the rate of crime which saved the local police time and money.

After public comment the council then briefly discussed the possibility of delaying the vote to adopt the plan.

Havre Mayor Doug Kaercher said after they sent out the agenda for this meeting they got an email from MDT asking them to delay the vote for a month.

He said he thinks there has been plenty of time for comment on the plan to be registered and he doesn't see a reason to delay, but that is up to the council to decide.

Brekke agreed saying he understands that MDT might have some questions but their email made clear that they are not looking to express an opinion on the plan as a whole one way or another, so he'd rather just vote.

The council then voted 7-1 to adopt the plan with Miller voting against.

During the meeting Kaercher also proclaimed the beginning of Honouring National Scout Week and members of local Scout units lead the meeting's pledge of allegiance.

"I ask all citizens to recognize and appreciate these Boy Scouts of America Units and their contributions to our community," Kaercher said.

During general public comments the council heard from Mork again about a map he developed of places in the city that could be good places to create bike lanes or trails.

He said there are streets in Havre with low speed limits that people don't heed, but installing bike lanes makes people drive slower, so there's a safety benefit for pedestrians as well.

Mork said the changes he's proposing could work in tandem with the master plan to make the city more walkable.

Kaercher and members of the council thanked him for his work, with the former saying he would refer the matter to the Parks and Recreation Committee, recommending that they try the plan in a specific area and see how it works before expanding it out.

The council also heard from Havre Beneath the Streets Office Manager Christy Owens, who said the alley between the Frank DeRosa Railroad Museum and Norman's Ranchware is becoming problematic for both businesses.

Owens said the area has been paved over many times and as a result has developed a hump that is preventing drainage.

She said she was hoping the city might be able to mill that area, and Kaercher said they would certainly look into it.