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Water and Sewer District considers land-water swap with BSCO for rec center, pool
Published
6 years agoon
Posted By
Outlaw PartnersBy Bay Stephens EBS Staff Writer
BIG SKY – In response to a proposal by Big Sky Community Organization Executive Director Ciara Wolfe at an Oct. 16 Big Sky Water and Sewer District board meeting, the district will allow a recreation facility in Town Center to connect to the local sewer system in exchange for a land swap, pending final approval.
If the board approves the agreement at its next meeting on Nov. 20, the district will gain a portion of parkland on the east end of the Big Sky Community Park, which is directly adjacent to the district’s water treatment plant. The cost of the plant’s inevitable expansion to meet rising water demands would be considerably less with this land available, avoiding the additional construction that expanding in other directions would require.
“From a business perspective, that land in itself is hundreds of thousands of dollars in construction benefit to the district,” board member Mike DuCuennois said.
In return, BSCO requested 40 SFEs—single-family equivalents—20 of which would be used for a recreation facility and park bathrooms on the 3.27-acre parcel in Town Center that the nonprofit is currently under contract to purchase. The Big Sky Community Organization requested the other 20 SFEs be set aside for an aquatic center, for which funds and land will eventually be procured.
Although the pool facility was an initial sticking point for the board, they came around to support the proposal, requesting that BSCO draft a purchase and sale agreement.
After trails, a public recreation facility was the highest priority item that Big Sky residents want to see realized, according to a community-wide survey that BSCO conducted two years ago. The organization has since raised $2 million to purchase the land encompassing Town Center park and the adjacent parking lot, which they determined was an ideal location for a rec center.
Aside from the school and the water and sewer district meeting room where the meeting was held, “there is not a single other location that is publicly available for use—owned by a public entity—in our community that has indoor space,” Wolfe said. “And we have well over six months of winter.”
Wolfe said the area’s many nonprofits would use the facility, and that through sustainable building practices such as LEED, the center would be good way to showcase Big Sky’s environmental ethics, sometimes overshadowed by the area’s growth.
The district board and BSCO agreed to view this transaction as a partnership in the interest of the community. Board President Paul “Packy” Cronin said the final review of the pool facility proposal would be for compliance and capacity, indicating that, if BSCO found the funding and site for the pool facility, the district would award the reserved SFEs. The review and official decision on the permits for both projects will be made at the Nov. 20 district board meeting.
The Outlaw Partners is a creative marketing, media and events company based in Big Sky, Montana.
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Big Sky Medical Center - Community Room (2nd Floor)
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Spanish Classes with World Language InitiativeThese unique, no cost Spanish classes are made possible by the contribution of Yellowstone Club
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Event Details
Spanish Classes with World Language InitiativeThese unique, no cost Spanish classes are made possible by the contribution of Yellowstone Club Community Foundation (YCCF) and Moonlight Community Foundation (MCF). This class will focus on building a lifelong affinity for world languages and cultures through dynamic and immersive Communicative Language teaching models.
Beginner Class – Mondays and Wednesdays from 5:30-6:30 pm
Intermediate Class – Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:45- 7:45 pm
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For more information or to register follow the link below or at info@wlimt.org.
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Big Sky Medical Center - Community Room (2nd Floor)
Big Sky Medical Center - Community Room (2nd Floor)