Future of Council Trail Committee Discussed

SEELEY LAKE - To be or not to be? Should the Seeley Lake Community Council (SLCC) be in the business of building and maintaining trails through its Trails Committee was the topic of much discussion at the council's May 14 meeting. The council also welcomed two new members and elected officers.

The SLCC Trails Committee has been in existence for around 20 years and has been responsible in some way or another for many of the existing trails in and around Seeley Lake. The committee has worked on trails for several different user groups including motorized and non-motorized.

Long time Trail Committee member Ron Cox explained that when the committee was first formed they questioned if they could apply for grants and sign contracts. He said they interpreted the council's bylaws as being able to do that because the "community council can do things of benefit to the community".

After several years of obtaining grants and building trails, Missoula County informed them that they could not get grants or sign contracts. In the last couple of years Cox said the committee has been mostly idling along with small maintenance items.

Cox said that when the Trails Committee was formed there were not as many non-profits in Seeley Lake as exist today. He listed off a couple of groups including the Seeley Lake Community Foundation, Clearwater Resource Council (CRC) and Seeley Lake Regional Outdoor Center for Kinetic Sports (ROCKS). He questioned if one of these groups could take on the trails and pick up where the council has left off. He would like to see the committee kept alive but he has been running out of energy. He said he could act as an advisor to the group that picks it up.

Council member Lee Boman said he recently toured a number of trails with Cox that had been created through the committee as well as some trails the committee has been working toward completing. Boman said he sees a lot of benefits to continuing the trails committee's work. Boman said if the council wanted to shed the committee he thinks it might fit ROCKS' mission and they may have the energy to take it on. Boman volunteered to contact the groups and at least see if there was any interest ahead of the council's next meeting.

The Trails Committee currently has about $10,000 in its budget that came from various sources that has accumulated over the years. There are no requirements on how the budget must be spent but council members felt it should be used for trails one way or the other. Cox has a letter from the county stating that the council can transfer the funds to "an eligible trails and parks related non-profit organization."

Cox said he would like to see the funds designated for maintenance rather than use up the money on a new project. He further explained that there are all kinds of grants available for building trails but very little is available for maintenance. Cox's proposed budget for next year shows about $2,000 in maintenance but he thought the fund could be stretched to 8-10 years.

The council will continue discussion on the Trails Committee at its next meeting.

In other business, Bruce Friede and Klaus von Stutterheim have been sworn in as new members replacing Jan Guelff and Chris Stout. Friede and von Stutterheim were the only two candidates who applied for the two positions so there was no election.

The council elected von Stutterheim as the council's Chairman, Jack Greenwood as the Vice Chair, Duane Schlabach as the Secretary and Sally Johnson as the Treasurer.

The next council meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m., June 11 at the Seeley Lake Historical Museum & Visitors Center. Pizza and beverages will be provided starting at 5:30 p.m.