Tuss, city officials talk trash

Paul Tuss and Havre city officials met this week to discuss ideas for a program in which area businesses and community organizations could clean up parks.

Tuss, who is executive director of Bear Paw Development Corp., met Havre City Council members Terry Lilletvedt and Caleb Hutchins, who sit on the council's parks committee, and Havre Parks and Recreation Director Chris Inman at City Hall.

Tuss said at the April 3 Council meeting that he wanted to talk with city officials about possibly forming an adopt-a-park program, where area businesses or organizations could volunteer to regularly pick up litter at a specific city park of their choice. The program would be similar to the state's adopt-a-highway program.

Tuss said the idea for such a program came about during a group conversation he had on Facebook. Though he does  not have a detailed plan for how such a program would look, Tuss said, he imagines it should would be a low-cost, high-impact way of instilling civic pride in the community.

Inman said that each day, Ray Sedahl, who handles park maintenance, picks up two to three pails of garbage at Carpenter Park. Deaconess Park at also has to deal with large amounts of litter, she said.  

Lilletvedt asked how often a group can clean a park.

Tuss said that how frequently a group can clean up a park depends on the culture of the business or organization. He said he talked with his employees and can envision them getting off work early to clean up a park every Friday afternoon.

"That's not going to work for everybody," he added.

Lilletvedt said her husband is a member of  the Rotary Club and they take part in the adopt-a -highway program but  they can only go out and clean up the highway twice a year. As an organization that has gotten smaller as its membership decreases, she said, the Rotary Club is unable to do it more than a few times a year.

"I think if you can talk your group into doing it every month then God bless you, but I think we probably have to think realistically about maybe what people would do," she said. "It might not be as helpful, but it might be more realistic."

Inman said not all the city's parks need cleaning, adding that the smaller parks don't need  as much attention. The skate park on the east end of Ninth Street is an example of a park where users pick up their trash and clean up after themselves, she said.

Inman also had questions about whether people volunteering in the parks would have to get a liability waiver, in case someone gets hurt while cleaning the parks. Inman said she would ask Havre city attorney Jennifer Forsyth if there is a need for such waivers before presenting a plan to the council.