We've Got The County Covered
We've Got The County Covered
The National Guard Armory, east of Chinook, is being considered for purchase by Blaine County.
Last Thursday the Blaine County Commissioners hosted a public tour of the National Guard Armory in Chinook. In the spring of 2015, the Montana Department of Military Affairs announced plans to more efficiently use the available facilities around the state and reduce operating costs. Military Affairs planned to close at least one of its seven regional repair shops, noting the Chinook shop built in 1987, was the oldest of the new shops. A decision whether to close the Chinook shop, then operating with four employees, was set to happen by November, 2015. The older existing armory building adjacent to the shop, built in 1960, had not housed an active unit for about 10 years and was currently only used for storage.
In the spring the Military Affairs group said local governments would have first opportunity to buy the facility if it was declared surplus. If no government units had an interest, the facility would be sold at auction. It was later announced the Chinook facility would be closed. Blaine County expressed interest and a public meeting was held on October 22 to explain a proposed course of action and take public comments on the proposal.
The meeting was led by Commissioner Frank DePriest with Commissioner Dolores Plumage and several county department heads in attendance. The meeting was open to the public. DePriest described the facility as a 5.1 acre plot with 2.5 acres of buildings and paved area. A 140 page appraisal done in September by a firm in Great Falls concluded the value at $385,000. That would be the selling price from the Montana Department of Military Affairs. DePriest said, "We asked county departments how they could possibly use the space and four departments responded." The meeting was to share a proposed plan and receive public input.
After reviewing the departmental plans, the commissioners proposed that the newer shop be used by the road department and the older armory building be used by a combination of the Bridge Department and Weed Control Department. One climate-controlled room in the older building would be used by the Clerk and Recorder to store county records on microfilm. DePriest then opened the meeting for questions from attendees. Concerns and questions followed.
The existing Quonset, on the west edge of Chinook along Dike Road and used by the road and bridge department, built in the early 1940's, is hard to heat and keep clean. A move of the road and bridge department to the new facility would provide a more efficient work space and more easily meet current OSHA regulations for health and safety.
The Weed Control Department is currently housed in a sheep barn at the fairgrounds and has a number of limitations including heated work space and inadequate means to store and handle chemicals. Since that property is a part of the fairground it is not prudent to make permanent improvements
As to financing the purchase, both DePriest and Commissioner Plumage said they did not want to see the county go into debt. DePriest explained that the county could designate $350,000 from PILT funds (federal funds that replace property taxes for lands owned by the U.S. government) and a lower than anticipated bid received for roof repairs to the courthouse would make up the additional $35,000 needed to purchase the armory property. He estimated another $15,000 would be needed to install phone and computer capabilities.
Another means of financing the purchase would be to borrow the money through Montana's INTERCAP funds-low cost loans available to local governments. "Or,"
DePriest said, "We could use a combination of available county funds and some financing through INTERCAP." Responding to a question about the effects on property taxes, he said, "There should be no effect from this purchase."
There were questions about utility and maintenance costs. DePriest said, "I've looked at utility bills and, especially in the newer shop, we could see some savings there. The armory building had a new roof a few years ago but I don't have numbers on when that happened."
Questions were raised about the facility being in a flood plain. DePriest said, "We recently installed a new culvert in the area that is rated for a 100 year flood. That should reduce the potential for flooding." He added one of his concerns was whether additional fill could be added around the perimeter of the facility for equipment parking. A study is being done to see if the fill can be added.
ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance was also raised. Both buildings have men and women's bathrooms but might require some changes to be in compliance. DePriest said, "Some of those issue we won't know until we are settled in but I can't see that there would be major changes required."
At the end of the meeting a question was raised about having a public tour of the buildings. DePriest said he would look in to that. He wanted to be sure both county employees and locals would have a chance to see the buildings. The tour was set for the afternoon of November 12.
About 30+ people toured the facilities during a two hour block in the afternoon. A representative of the National Guard was on hand to open the building and answer questions.
At the conclusion of the tour DePriest said he thought the tour was helpful so everyone interested could see the facility, its strengths and shortcomings and get a better idea of how and if it could be used. Now the commissioners have to consider the input from the county departments and public. The decision whether to proceed with the purchase of the National Guard facility is ultimately in the hands of the county commissioners.
