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Havre Ice Dome gets money for landscaping project

The Havre Ice Dome is one step closer to getting its landscaping project finished after a Havre City Council vote on Monday night.

The council unanimously approved an additional $37,508 in CTEP funding for the project after the March 28 construction bid came in about $40,000 over the amount budgeted.

The lowest bid was $164,000, Bear Paw Development Corp. planner Craig Erickson told the council. The city's construction budget for the project before the increase was $120,735.

The bid was submitted by Badland Tree & Landscaping of Havre.

The Havre Youth Hockey Association has committed to the $5,800 local match, and the city will help with some of the work, Erickson said.

CTEP is the Community Enhancement Transportation Program, which is administered by the Montana Department of Transportation.

Under the program, federal highway dollars are made available for various local improvement projects.

Every project using CTEP dollars requires a 13.42 percent local match before the money can be used.

The Ice Dome project will create landscaping on both sides of the road going to the parking area, as well as on the south and west sides of the area, Erickson said. It will include new curbs and gutters, sidewalk, fencing, trees and shrubs, and a retaining wall.

"Instead of being an open field, it will be a landscaped parking area," Erickson said. "I think the people of Havre are going to be very, very pleased with what they see when it's done."

The current parking area will be leveled and landscaped, he said. A new parking lot will be put in, but not with CTEP funding.

Erickson said construction will begin in late May or early June, and should be completed in late July.

"We're really excited," said Pat Patterson, president of the Havre Youth Hockey Association. "We've been working on it for a lot of years."

"We have a lot of people from around the state that come to our rink every year, and I think it'll be a lot more presentable and give them a better idea of Havre," he said.

Patterson said the association made the match with the proceeds from ticket sales and concessions at hockey tournaments this year, and added that the project could not have been done without the help of Bear Paw Development and the city.

Erickson said the original project, which began in 1998, called for a walking path to be built to the Ice Dome. After encountering some right-of-way problems, the project was changed to its current form about three years ago.

"This is one of the oldest CTEP projects the city of Havre has," Erickson said.

 

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