By Ron VandenBoom
The Havre City Council gave final approval to three projects that will receive more than $100,000 in Community Transportation Enhancement Program funds.
Craig Erickson, the planner for Bear Paw Development Corp., told the council Monday that $53,130 will be given to the Heritage Center for replacement of the building's roof. The H. Earl Clack Museum Foundation now has to come up with $7,300 in matching funds.
Another $40,000 will be used at Wahkpa Chu'gn Buffalo Jump to construct a pathway through the exhibit buildings and an entrance area at the top of the site. The H. Earl Clack Museum, which operates the site, has to provide $6,200 in matching money.
The Sixth Avenue Ball Park will also receive $43,890 and must obtain a $5,890 match. The funds will be used to install a sidewalk around the facility and for landscaping.
A final vote on a $16,000 grant to the Havre Ice Dome was not taken Monday. Erickson told the council it would probably be after the first of the year before Bear Paw Development receives confirmation on that project.
Erickson said he is very pleased with the results of a recent visit to Havre by CTEP bureau chief Thomas Martin.
Martin visited all of the primary tourist attractions in Havre and cleared up many of the issues that had put some of Havre's tourist attractions in jeopardy of losing CTEP eligibility. CTEP rules require that all attractions receiving funds be visible from a major public conveyance such as a highway.
Erickson used Fort Assinniboine as an example, explaining that the fort, which has already received some CTEP funding, became ineligible because the bureau did not believe it was visible from U.S. Highway 87.
Martin visited the site and took pictures from the highway of a truck passing the fort, with the buildings clearly in the background.
"Settling once and for all the issue of Fort Assinniboine's eligibility," Erickson said.
The same issue applied to Wahkpa Chu'gn.
Martin was ready to declare the site ineligible when the Amtrak train passed the site, Erickson said. The unexpected happenstance worked in favor of Wahkpa Chu'gn as Martin, realizing the site was visible from the train, confirmed that it too is eligible.
Erickson told the council Martin was impressed by the recently completed windows project at the Heritage Center and by a demonstration of how the sidewalk leaks over Havre Beneath the Streets. When Martin was below ground, City Council member Tom Farnham ran water from a hose on the street level and the water ran into the underground.
"He left saying that Havre represented the true spirit of the CTEP program," Erickson said. "He was very impressed."
Erickson encouraged the council to visit Wahkpa Chu'gn and see the work that is being done on the pathway construction.
"It's really going to be nice," he said.
Erickson also thanked the council for having the patience to stick with the CTEP program, despite years of waiting and having deal with mounds of paperwork.
Mayor Phyllis Leonard told Erickson she was most grateful for all of his hard work related to the funds and expressed her belief that this funding was providing for "some really nice projects." Bear Paw Development takes care of the grant application process for the city.
