On Tuesday, Oct. 22, 20 Missoula County officials participated in the “Swan Valley Community Conversation,” held at the Swan Valley Elementary School. The event, designed to foster communication between county government and the more outlying Swan Valley community, had a unique format and was met with positive reviews by attendees.
Rather than a large open meeting, eight “stations” of citizens were seated at tables, and the officials rotated every 10 minutes, so that each group of three to five attendees had face-to-face interactions with representatives from various areas of county government.
Departments ranging from public works to the sheriff’s office were represented, with staff members explaining their roles and answering questions.
All three county commissioners were present. Commissioner Dave Strohmaier expressed his preference for this type of meeting.
“Sometimes the big open meetings get contentious, whereas the personal interaction seems more useful,” Strohmaier said.
Jeanna Miller and Michelle Voight of the public health department outlined the significant involvement of the county in maternal and child health, immunizations, school nutrition programs, as well as animal control.
Betsy Spettigue, a long-time Condon resident, appreciated the format of the event, the contact sheet provided and the handouts detailing the many products available from the Missoula County communications department. The list contained websites, Facebook pages, podcasts and flyers promoting community events such as this one.
Like many attendees, Spettigue had questions about dust abatement and road maintenance.
Missoula County has 451 miles of roads and 132 bridges. To replace an asphalt road costs $130,000 per mile, according to county road officials. Bridges are extremely expensive, and most often federal and state funds are necessary to supplement county tax revenue. Missoula County applied for a federal grant to take care of five broken bridges across the county, including Glacier Creek bridge in Condon and Boy Scout Bridge in Seeley and the application was unsuccessful. A different $17 million grant application was submitted in March to cover Glacier Creek, Boy Scout Road and Sunset Hill Road (Greenough) bridges and has not yet been awarded.
Commissioner Juanita Vero said the county budget is $212 million, only a third of which comes from property taxes, the rest from state or federal sources. Commissioner Josh Slotnick said the Condon area generates about $80,000 in tax revenue apportioned to roads and road maintenance, which funds one position, yet there are five positions assigned to the Seeley-Swan area.
“Areas of higher population density often fund projects in other areas,” Slotnik said.
Condon resident Dan Stone was impressed with the evening, especially the format. He had a chance to visit with Adriane Beck, director of emergency and disaster management.
“We talked about communication during disaster events, especially when cell phone systems are overwhelmed,” Beck said.
Jase Dicken of the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office discussed recruiting challenges for his department.
“We advertised a job fair event, got 60 applicants and eventually six of them completed an application. The old-time sheriff willing to live in a small town and take calls has gone away,” Dicken said. He also said law enforcement in smaller communities has its own unique challenges — one may not like all the drugs coming to the area, but is reluctant to turn in someone needed on a jobsite.
The attendees seemed engaged, so much so that the main criticism of the evening was the noise level in the gymnasium. The pizza and Pepsi provided were mostly untouched.
An evaluation sheet was provided at the end of the meeting, and the marks appeared to be high. Person to person discussions, the comfort of smaller groups and the absence of opportunity for the “big talker showoff,” as one resident termed it, seemed to enhance buy-in from both sides.
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