Park Board talks Beaver Lodge, fees, vote controversy

Editor’s note: This version corrects the quote of Hill County Park Board member Pam Wilson on Beaver Creek Park usage fees.

The Hill County Park Board discussed retaking a controversial vote from last month, park fees and plans for the new Camp Kiwanis Beaver Lodge at their monthly meeting Monday evening.

Members of the board did not take action on any items on the agenda that night, because the agenda for that meeting was not published in the Havre Daily News, and was therefore didn't meet the legal requirements for being an announced meeting.

Due to an editorial error by the Havre Daily News, the Park Board agenda was omitted from Friday's paper.

During the meeting the board addressed a comment made by cabin owner Rose Cloninger, who said she believes a vote made at last month's meeting was improper.

The board voted to adopt using the three-year average as their gauge for grazing allocations this coming year, a number recommended to them by their Grazing Committee.

Cloninger said because the two board members who made and seconded that motion, Tony Reum and Larry Kinsella, and voted in favor of it, run cattle on the park, which is a major conflict of interest.

Members of the board said Reum doesn't run cattle on the park, just his family, but board member and Hill County Commissioner Mark Peterson suggested they redo that vote at the next meeting, under the advisement that Reum and Kinsella abstain from voting.

Board Chair Jeff Jensen, who attended the meeting remotely, said he was fine with doing that.

During the meeting the board also discussed the procedures for appointing members of the grazing committee, which board member Lou Hagener said he's concerned about as members of the board didn't seem to be in agreement about how the process works.

He said under the boards policies an procedures, the board examines the candidates, makes recommendations and passes that on to the commission for them to either approve or deny.

Peterson asked why potential grazing committee members would come before the board if they commission is the one that makes the appointments.

Community member Lowell Alcock said the board and committee should be careful when picking committee members, so that situations like the county recently faced with the Kallenbergers don't happen again.

Last year the Kallenbergers alleged that their requests for grazing land allocations were treated improperly, and that members of the board and grazing committee have significant conflicts of interest that are being ignored.

The Kallenbergers sued the county over this dispute, but the matter was settled out of court.

During the meeting Alcock requested a copy of the settlement and the documents related to the agreements mediation.

Peterson said he would call the county attorney to request those documents for him.

The board also discussed ongoing efforts to replace the Camp Kiwanis Beaver Lodge, and discussions with their chosen architects.

Beaver Creek Park Superintendent Chade Edgar said they met with the architects recently and had a discussion about what they need and want and the architects provided some ideas and aside.

Peterson said the architects showed them designs they had made for previous buildings, and while those designs were a bit fancier than what they are looking for for the lodge, some of the underlying concepts of those buildings prompted some interesting discussions.

He said they discussed the building's placement, view, how many floors it would have, what its kitchen area would look like, the requirements for a sprinkler system, lighting, electrical installations the heating system and more.

He said they also discussed what features to prioritize within the initial building and what could conceivably be left out and payed for with grants.

Peterson said he's been looking into a few of the grant possibilities discussed at that meeting, and it seems unlikely at this point that they would be able to use grant funding for the initial building, hence the discussion over what could be left out of the initial designs in the hopes that they can add it later.

Hagener voiced his concerns about the company asking for a contract before providing some kind of design for them, calling it a "chicken and egg situation."

Jensen said an architecture firm isn't going to do a comprehensive design before a contract is in place and he's still waiting on the contract's legal approval.

Hagener said there will be another meeting with the architects later this month.

During the meeting the board also briefly discussed park fees, which board member Pam Wilson said really need to be raised.

Wilson said the cost of living for nearly everyone has gone up but park fees have stayed stagnant and considering the recent concerns expressed by Edgar about being able to pay park employees enough to recruit and retain a suitable workforce, it seems like a rise in fees is overdue.

She said the yearly fees don't really make sense to her, with people buying access to the park for a full year for $55 when a single day costs $10. She said there are a lot of people practically living on the park the whole season, moving from site to site for just $50 which seems really excessive.

Hagener said he agrees and he thinks this is an issue that's perfect for the board's finance committee, a sentiment Wilson concurred with.

During the meeting Hagener also said he wanted to discuss possibly improving that park's communication with the public, saying that they need more ways of letting people know about meetings like this, including, perhaps a physical bulletin board outside the courthouse, electronic newsletters or notices on the county's website.

Hill County Commissioner and board member Sheri Williams said they are still working on the county's new website, but when it is done it will be a great place to post things like this.

She said they would announce when the site is due to go up through traditional media so people are aware that they can find notices like these in a new place.

During the meeting Edgar also provided a report on park usage and conditions, saying business has slowed significantly, with the exception of Labor Day weekend, which was very busy and went very smoothly.

He said the park is still pretty dry.

Hagener said he's done some monitoring lately with the Hill County Conservation District, which he said was a good opportunity to train some of them in monitoring.

He said some areas of the park are seeing average vegetation production, but others are well above average, though it seems like that is mostly due to introduced species in those areas.

As for recent work on the park, Edgar said, the new kiosk at the north entrance of the park is complete but repairs to the park's spring tanks haven't begun yet, as they are still prioritizing what they want to work on first.

He said work in the spring tanks would probably begin soon, however.

Edgar said the Lions Club recently brought in gravel to improve their campground, which is much appreciated.

He said all campsites now have posts and new signs for the park's various districts are also now installed.

He said cattle are now on the park and they have put up all the necessary signs and infrastructure to facilitate them.

Hagener thanked the Havre Daily News for doing a story on the cattle going on the park, which he said was very helpful to people.