Park Board hears updates on variety of issues

The Hill County Park Board Monday at its monthly meeting heard about a fundraiser and a complaint about its support for the group that held the fundraiser.

Ursula Brese of the nonprofit Friends of Beaver Creek Park, created in 2011 to help with the maintenance, operation and improvement of the park, said the group held its annual fundraiser Saturday, moving from Camp Kiwanis to the Havre Eagles Club this year.

She said about 75 people attended the fundraiser, including Park Superintendent Chad Edgar and members of his family and staff, but the board of Friends were not happy that members of the park board did not attend.

“We feel like the board is not backing (Friends of Beaver Creek Park),” Brese said.

Mariani said the board has no excuse for members not going to the fundraiser.

“You’re absolutely right,” he said.

Brese said the board of Friends is discussing a variety of projects it could fund in the next year and would be in touch with Edgar about what is needed and what can be done.

Cabin packets, websites and surveys

Mariani showed the board a project he has been working on, building a packet including a cabin lease agreement, lease transfer request and brochures and information about the park. The board discussed earlier this year putting such a packet together for prospective cabin site leasers.

Edgar said the new website being built for the park by Heather DePriest of Montana Grafix in Chinook, paid for by the Hill County Park Foundation, is coming along and he expects it to be fully up and running by the start of the year. He said he is planning to hold off on the reserving and paying for campsites until a little later, after the first rush of reserving sites is done.

Rose Cloninger of the park cabin owners association presented the board with initial results of a survey of cabin owners. She said 58 cabin owners returned the survey. Conducting the survey was suggested when the county commission said it wanted to see the opinions of cabin owners before changing rules about cabins on the park.

Cloninger said she is finalizing preparation of the surveys and will get them to the board shortly.

Several members of the board and the audience at the meeting also complimented Edgar for the work he has done in maintaining the park, both in general and in regards to dealing with the three years of flooding.

Upgrading committees

The board also had a work session during its meeting on the idea of revising its committees.

Lou Hagener of Havre has been spearheading an effort to revise the board’s committee organization. Monday, he presented a list of ideas on what committees the board should have, compiled after interviews with the board members, and asked them to sort them into their ideas of what committees should be created, what should be considered for future committees and what the board members think should be left out.

Hagener said he would compile the results and return them to the board for future discussion.

Board member Robbie Lucke said some committees have failed or dwindled but some — such as the grazing committee that oversees grazing leases on the park and the committee that has worked intensively on regulations and fees on the park — have been successful and should be maintained.

Hagener said a key will be deciding who should be on committees, including people not on the board with expertise in the areas the committees would cover, along with what committees should be formed. He suggested about three committees would be the appropriate number, rather than creating a large group of unnecessary committees.

“We don’t need committees that don’t need to meet,” he said.