News 09-09-09

Wild Things

at Montana's Biggest Weekend

Wild times

Above, Robert Blake, Chad Feragon, and Kyle Tash try to slip by the competition at the Wild Horse Race. J.P. Plutt photo

Feds look at Scenic Byway problems

By Barbara Bauerle

Dillon Tribune staff

The Beaverhead County Commission met with representatives of the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration on Wednesday to discuss problems with the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway.

The major items are two areas where dirt has shifted or sloughed. In a letter to one of the engineers, James Rathke, Chairman Tom Rice said the first slough will require 2,300 cubic meters of class 5 riprap. The repair of the second slough will require 100 to 200 cubic meters of riprap.

The cost estimate for the two projects is from $295,000 to $310,000, according to Rice.

This estimate does not include the addition of a culvert and pavement replacement at the Grasshopper Overlook, another project needed to fix problems with the Byway construction.

At the meeting, Rice told Rathke and Todd Butikofer, the other highway administration representative, that the county could help with the culvert installation but that the other projects are "way too big for Beaverhead County."

The three projects will be proposed to the Montana Forest Highway Tri-Agency for funding consideration.

After the meeting, Butikofer, Rathke and County Engineer Jim Carpita left to tour the Byway to look at the areas of concern.

Carpita will also look at the proposed federal designs to fix the problems and report back to the commissioners.

According to Rathke, it took the federal highway administration one and a half months to get out here to look at the road.

"We're glad you're here," Rice told the federal highway representatives. "We've been curious about this for quite some time."

The commissioners delayed taking over control of the project for the county after the federal government finished paving the roadway in 2008 due to their concerns over items that were not completed to their satisfaction.

The commissioner sent a letter on Sept. 11, 2008, outlining ten items they wanted addressed before the county would take over control of the road.

Discussion also centered on how the county could forward any future concerns to the Tri-Agency for a more timely conclusion.

The projects on the Byway are not part of federal stimulus funding, just ongoing maintenance.

Checking the plans

Beaverhead County Engineer Jim Carpita, Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Larry Laknar, and County Commissioner Mike McGinley look over plans for the Blacktail Deer Creek Pre-disaster Mitigation Project. The culvert style Reeder Street Bridge, shown in the background, will be replaced. J.P. Plutt photo

County bridge project will disrupt traffic

By J.P. Plutt

Dillon Tribune staff

Beaverhead County Disaster and Emergency Services Coordinator Larry Lakner announced that the Blacktail Deer Creek Pre-disaster Mitigation Project will begin next week and will disrupt normal traffic flow with the replacement of both the Reeder Street Bridge and the Railroad Street Bridge. The schedule includes a pre-construction meeting with contractors this week and once the project begins, a completion date within 120 days.

“There is going to be a road closure on Railroad Avenue for quite a while, Reeder Street for a shorter period of time,” said Laknar. “We want people to know that it is going to be a problem for a while with the street closures. Reeder will probably be closed for a month or more. When we get it all done it will be a nice project and the threat of flooding will go away.”

The project has been in development for five years with the intent of eliminating the flood potential created by the poorly engineered bridges. The waterway creates problems on an almost annual basis, with major flooding in 1986 highlighting the worse case scenario. That year high water levels at Clark Canyon Reservoir created an overflow at the spillway. High water on the Beaverhead River spilled into Blacktail Deer Creek at Poindexter and when the high water reached the Reeder Street Bridge it created a flood situation and what was named “Reeder River.” The overflow water was directed down Reeder Street to Pigtail Creek with the use of straw bale barriers.

“Those old structures that were put in in the 1970s are culverts and they only pack about 70 cfs (cubic feet per seconds) of water and the stream will actually handle 400 cfs,” explained Laknar of the bottleneck effect the two bridges have on the creek. “It was a bad design when they put those old culverts in and it is showing up on the flood plain maps. Those structures can’t handle the water.”

A second problem the project will address is the phenomenon called frazzle ice. According to Laknar the condition occurs when water quickly drops in elevation and cools when the air temperature is 20 degrees below or lower. The ice will form from the bottom of the stream bed up and that will also contribute to flood potential.

“This area is one of the few in the world where that happens,” explained Laknar. “What they’re going to do is go through that stretch of the stream and make the gradient more consistent so we don’t have those (elevation) drops.”

Another focus of the project will be removal of silt from the Reeder Street Bridge upstream for several hundred feet. The culvert bridge created the buildup of the silt which has raised the stream bed elevation in that stretch of the creek. Laknar says the silt removal is a component of evening the gradient.

Additionally, the project calls for enhancing the fishery and improving the esthetic value of the creek. “They’re going to make the stream channel meander a little bit and they’re going to fix the sides so it’s not going to look like a culvert or a ditch,” said Laknar. “The banks will be sloped and some of them will be bricked in critical areas (to prevent erosion).”

Beaverhead County will pay for a majority of the estimated $2 million cost of the project. Initially, the county landed a FEMA grant that will pay about $500,000. Other grants will come from the DNRC, Fish, Wildlife & Parks and the Union Pacific Railroad. Multiple agencies have also been involved in the planning and will be involved during the construction phase. A telephone line will be moved as will a power line and a natural gas line. The City of Dillon will move a sewer line as part of their in-kind contribution to match the FEMA grant.

Sheriff warns of S&R telephone scam

Sheriff Jay Hansen has received word from Michael McCloskey, Commander of the Cascade County Search & Rescue squad, that an organization is making phone solicitation in Central Montana on behalf of SAR Charities. They say they are soliciting on behalf of the “local” SAR unit, but that is false. The Cascade County Sheriff’s office contacted the organization and was given the run around. McCloskey said his group has contacted the Montana Attorney General’s office and this organization is properly licensed to “solicit,” but there is little to regulate them. "We have learned that this family solicits under 10 different supposed charity names, from which none of the money seems to stay in the state," McCloskey said. "This family pulled close to $30,000 from Cascade County alone last year."

Sheriff Hansen wants to let people in Beaverhead County know that this group is not soliciting for the Beaverhead County Search & Rescue, so these calls are not coming from or benefitting our SAR unit in any way.

News 09-02-09

“Montana’s Biggest Weekend” ready to roll

By J.P. Plutt

Dillon Tribune staff

The hay is stacked, the kids have started school, footballs are in the air and fall is on the door step. For the folks in Beaverhead County and for friends and relatives from far and near that means Dillon's Labor Day celebration is on tap.

Montana's Biggest Weekend provides a traditional fair and rodeo weekend to signal the end of summer and a transition from shorts and t-shirts into long pants and jackets. Before that shift occurs, time stops for the three-day weekend, and citizens enjoy the western-style festival.

Beaverhead County Fair

Entries begin rolling in Wednesday, all with hopes of grand championship results. The fair gates open officially Thursday morning at 8 a.m. and close Sunday afternoon. Throughout the four-day run, visitors can take a step back in time. A walk through the various fair buildings will duplicate similar strolls of 50 years ago. Prize flowers and baked goods, fruits and leather projects and all other such entries will meet the critical stare of a judge's eye.

At the livestock pens hogs, steers, and sheep, along with rabbits, roosters and farm animals of all sorts, will be shown by young 4-H kids in the traditional white shirt, and dark pants and tie.

The financial future of these young producers will change Saturday afternoon at the sale barn when supporters bid up the prices on the hogs, sheep and steers. Traditionally, that payoff from a year's work is deposited in the 4-H member's college fund.

Craft Fair

The Beaverhead Chamber of Commerce hosts the Blue Ribbon Craft Fair on the Old Depot Lawn Sept. 5-7. The event features local, regional and national vendors runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday.

Carnival

The Mighty Thomas Brothers enter their fourth year as Dillon’s carnival, and the professionally run show brings a clean, upbeat atmosphere that has garnered a host of fans in the Dillon area.

The carnival, which will be open Sept. 3-6, is a big company traveling from a show in Miles City to another show at Salt Lake. Dillon fits into the travel plans to make it a win-win. Dillon can handle only a portion of the show, so this year the carnival will rotate rides into Dillon that weren't at the show last year.

Rodeo

The Dillon Jaycees will stage the 53rd edition of their PRCA rodeo. The highlight of Montana's Biggest Weekend, the show matches top stock from Wade Sankey against some of the best cowboys in the world. Each performance opens with a nontraditional PRCA event, the Reg Kesler Memorial Wild Horse Race. Action is nonstop through the bull riding finale.

Saturday's rodeo begins at 7:30 p.m., while the wild horses buck out of the chutes at 1:30 p.m. to kickoff the Sunday performance. From Wednesday on, tickets will be available at the Jaycee Building (683-5771) at the fairgrounds.

Concert

The Dillon Jaycee concert features country western talent, with The Lost Trailers opening for Josh Gracin. The two-act performance is staged at the rodeo arena and begins Sunday evening at 8 p.m. For ticket information, call 683-5771.

Fire Department Labor Day Breakfast

The Dillon Volunteer Fire Department will hold their annual breakfast Monday morning at the Fire Hall from 7 a.m. to noon. Whether you’re just heading home or just heading to the parade, stop by and support this worthwhile organization. The menu includes pancakes, eggs, sausage, milk, juice and coffee at $5 a person. Kids eight and under eat for free.

Parade

The weekend slows down Monday with the deliberate pace of the Jaycee Labor Day parade. The parade harkens back to days of old, with floats and horseback riders, novelty acts and candy for the kids. The theme is “Into the Future.” For more parade information, contact Wendy Horner (925-1089).

Night life

For the young and young at heart, Dillon's night life reaches a peak during Labor Day Weekend. Music, dancing and meeting old and new friends highlight the social activity in uptown Dillon.

Tragic accident in Dillon 30 years ago

By J.P. Plutt

Dillon Tribune staff

The Labor Day Parade tragedy in 1979 cost the life of Montana Air National Guard pilot Joel Rude. Fifteen other spectators were injured including Faye Patacini, 40, of Whitehall. Patacini, four months pregnant, was admitted to the burn center in Great Falls with burns over 40 percent of her body. Leo Barnette, a highway patrolman, was struck by debris and listed in stable condition at Barrett Hospital as were Sandra Rebich, 20, and Louise White, 60, both of Dillon.

The F-106 fighter plane piloted by Rude and another by Alfred Schultz, both of the 120th Fighter Interceptor Squadron out of Great Falls, were engaged in a fly over of the Dillon parade when the left wing of Rude’s plane clipped a grain elevator near the intersection of Montana Street and Helena Street. Rude died upon ejection. Businesses and homes within three blocks of the site were damaged.

The tragedy could have been much worse. The jets made two passes over Dillon. The first, going south and the second fatal pass going north. Had the plane been traveling south at the time of the accident, the plane would have landed amidst thousands of parade watchers. Secondly, the parade started 11 minutes late. Had the parade started on time, the area of the crash site would have been covered with parade participants but was instead empty.

Dillon Jaycees name four retired firemen as parade marshals

By J.P. Plutt

Dillon Tribune staff

The Dillon Jaycees have named Bill Walker, Parke Scott, Scott Marsh, and Kirk Bergeson as Grand Marshals of the 2009 Dillon Jaycee Labor Day Parade. The Jaycees chose to honor the four after their recent retirements from the Dillon Volunteer Fire Department. The four combined for 94 years service to the fire department.

“It’s a huge honor,” said Marsh on behalf of the group. “As somebody that has grown up in Dillon, I’ve always felt that those were the outstanding, top-of-the-line people. I’ve known a lot of them and they’ve all been wonderful, civic-minded people. So to be asked may be one of the biggest honors that Dillon can bestow upon somebody. We were just a small part of the fire department and everybody who went before us, we’re riding on their coattails. Our predecessors are the ones who built the fire department up to where it is today. We feel that we’re representing the current and all of the past fire department members.”

Making the honor even more special for Marsh is his respect for the work the Dillon Jaycees do for the community of Dillon. Marsh says the jobs he took as a young man prevented him from joining the service organization but that he has always been “proud to come from a community that has an organization such as the Jaycees.”

Bergeson agrees with Marsh’s assessment of the Jaycees, calling them a “marvelous organization,” noting that every project the group takes on they do a great job, despite their dwindling membership numbers.

On the anniversary of the jet crash tragedy in which fire departments from Dillon, Twin Bridges, Sheridan, Melrose and Wisdom, as well as the Forest Service’s fire retardant drops by helicopter, controlled the ensuing blaze within hours, both men were asked about the event. Neither Marsh nor Bergeson had yet joined the DVFD.

“I was standing at the Jaycee Park with my family,” recalled Bergeson. “We watched the jets go over to the south and then we watched them go over to the north. It was quite strange because there wasn’t a noise but there was this mushroom cloud that rose up into the air. The lady beside me said, ‘My goodness, they dropped a bomb.’”

Bergeson rushed to the grain elevator and asked if he could help in any way. Later he went to the family business, which was on Montana Street near the crash site and watched the responders through the window.

Marsh recalls the 1979 was the first he had ever missed up to that time. His wife had accepted a teaching position at Polaris and they were making their new home in the Grasshopper Valley. “So we didn’t come to Dillon that Labor Day and I’ll never forget, I turned on the evening news that night and I’m sure it was Roger Mudd and he said there was a plane crash in Dillon, Montana during the Labor Day Parade. All I could think was, ‘Oh my gosh, everybody is dead.’”

The next day he drove down Montana Street to see the damage and has a clear visual image of the jet engine sitting in the middle of the street, just down from Bergeson’s shop.

Bill Walker has been in the back country of Alaska packing moose hunters and could not be reached for comment. Scott could not be reached for comment. Marsh regrets he will be out of town on a vacation planned before he learned of the honor. Bergeson says he will have Parke’s wife Pam twist his arm to get him to ride the parade route with him. Bergeson intends to at least have pictures of the three other honorees with him as he enjoys the tour of Dillon as Grand Marshal of the Labor Day Parade.

News 08-26-09

Stepping up to the table

The five candidates for City of Dillon Mayor fielded questions and offered rebuttal statements during the KDBM-KBEV and Dillon Tribune Candidates’ Forum Thursday evening. The event, staged at the Camp Fortunate Interpretive Center, aired over both AM and FM by the radio station. Sitting, left to right, are Paul Pilgrim, Michael Lee Klakken, Lynn B. Giles, Thomas W. Straugh, and Martin R. Malesich. For more on the city election, please turn to page A-5. J.P. Plutt photo

Hannah considers health care reform effects on new hospital

By J.P. Plutt

Dillon Tribune staff

Health care reform is the hot topic of the month as politicians in some states are holding town hall meetings on the issue with their constituents and the conflict between sides has been the fodder of nightly news programs. The potential ramifications of any action worries all sides while there is agreement with one basic idea – something has to be done about the burgeoning costs of health care.

In Dillon, the conversation is not heated but meted out in carefully constructed thoughts. Barrett Hospital & HealthCare CEO Steve Hannah has a healthy respect for the issue and with every development in the story line, must consider the potential impact to the new hospital project.

“For critical access hospitals, it looks so far like we’ll be to the side of the direct impacts that are being considered, primarily on the health care delivery side of the reform,” said Hannah. “In other words, when we talk about readmission rates there are some things that could impact us indirectly with our tertiary referral partners, but we aren’t directly impacted, at least so far to my understanding, by these initiatives.”

Barrett Hospital enjoys a swing bed program with hospitals in Butte, Bozeman and Missoula, the tertiary hospitals. Hannah thinks that if a patient is referred to one of these tertiary hospitals and then comes back to Dillon for something like rehabilitation, there is the potential with some of the language in the debate that Barrett could see a financial impact. “But otherwise, we haven’t seen any direct initiatives that will impact a critical access-type hospital.”

Hannah is realistic that there could be possible future stumbling blocks as health care reform is implemented. “Our future is not 100 percent guaranteed to be the same as it is today, that’s for sure,” he explained. “I guess where we draw some comfort is that we’ve survived the last four years. When our old hospital was built, that was pre-DRG (a type of reimbursement payment system). That was a huge shift in how health care organizations were compensated and paid. So we’re confident that we can survive whatever changes may come in the next four years, but it is going to be the result of a lot of work. We don’t sit here and think nothing will change over the next four decades, certainly it will.”

One change Hannah is aware of that will impact Barrett Hospital down the road is an aging demographic. The numbers indicate that the population in the Dillon area aged over 55 is going to grow by 55 percent over the course of the next decade, indicating to Hannah that there will be a growing demand for health care services.

Hannah pointed out that the tort reform issue isn’t as big in Montana as in other parts of the country thanks in part to a state legislature that has imposed limits on the litigation side.

The CEO has been engaged on the health care reform issue on the political side at least since April when he and other rural hospital representatives traveled to Washington, D.C. “We met with (Montana Sen. Max) Baucus and his staff as well as (Rep. Denny) Rehberg and (Sen. Jon) Tester,” said Hannah. “We believe that there should be a bi-partisan approach but it is starting to lose support at the congressional level.”

In terms of direction, Hannah feels reform should focus on fixing the programs already in existence – Medicare, Medicaid, the V.A. and Indian Health Services – before another system is created.

“There are pros for creating that additional public plan, but I think there is a lot that can be done to improve the ones we already have,” Hannah stated. “Clearly there are some significant inefficiencies in the system. From the hospital’s perspective we have this very complex billing process that we have to go through and every program is different. We’d like to see more focus on reducing the administrative complexity for the different governmental programs and private insurance.”

Hannah thinks the complexity of billing procedures create problems for patients and institutions. At Barrett Hospital, the staff needs from an operational standpoint of deciphering the billing and collection process could be streamlined and a savings realized in a more simplified system.

Hannah feels one area neglected in the current discussions is that of access to care givers. “It doesn’t seem to have much feet in the broader area but we’re running out of primary care docs in this country,” explained Hannah. “There just aren’t enough of them. If we add folks to the pool of insured by creating these coverage-for-all solutions, we don’t have enough docs nation-wide to accept those patients.”

Hannah doesn’t see the problem as one Dillon needs to address, but in the overall scheme of a giant shift in health care coverage, the lack of primary care physicians seems to be a component that is not factored into the discussion.

Hannah feels insurance should cover pre-existing conditions, be portable and not tied to employment and on the other side feels there should be an emphasis on personal accountability in terms of lifestyle habits, diet and exercise.

“Here in Dillon we are so fortunate to have a solid, stable health care delivery system,” concluded the CEO. “We’re going to do our best to make sure that stays in place. Yes, we are nervous about health care reform and what impact it may have on our ability to reinvest in our infrastructure but our board ad management are confident that this is the right thing to do and if we wait there isn’t going to be a better time later.”

District #10 scrambles

to make ends meet

By J.P. Plutt

Dillon Tribune staff

School District #10, Dillon's elementary system, faced a tough financial outlook last spring when a Building Reserve Levy request of $2 million failed by a slim 15 votes. Building maintenance needs looked to create havoc with the budget for this school year. Some deft moves over the summer kept the district afloat but a Facilities Assessment Report by the independent firm CTA Architects Engineers gives a gloomy outlook.

"Bottom line, the facilities analysis says we can't continue down the same road we're going down because our buildings are falling further and further behind in maintenance and the price continues to escalate as that happens," said Superintendent Glen Johnson.

Coming out of the school election last spring, the district needed to address an order from the State Fire Marshal to either install a sprinkler system in the Mary Innes School or close the doors. The Mary Innes houses administration and kindergarten classes as well as rental space to Head Start.

The cost to the district to have Fire Central Sprinklers of Billings install the system to bring the building up to code came in at $82,000. The district received $78,000 in deferred maintenance monies from the AAR Fund – economic stimulus funds. The balance came out of the general fund.

The boiler at the Dillon Middle School needed to be replaced and once into the project, an asbestos problem was discovered. The project came in at $90,000. The district applied for and received a Quick Start Energy Grant of just over $72,000 through the Department of Commerce. Thus, rather than a $90,000 blow to the budget, the project cost the district $18,000.

A floor repair project at the Dillon Middle School gym that occurred when water pipes under the floor broke and then thawed was covered by an insurance payment.

As the district breathed a sigh of relief after making it through the summer covering projects that absolutely had to be acted upon before this school year began, the Facility Assessment Report came in. According to the report both the roof at Parkview Elementary and the Dillon Middle School need to replaced and insulation added at an estimated cost of $548,000 each, the Parkview heating plant is on its last legs, and the east wing of Parkview Elementary is suffering structural damage as a result of a settling problem because of unstable ground under that part of the building.

"Fortunately the grant went through, fortunately we got money from the state for deferred maintenance that we didn't know we'd get when we put the bond up, but these are one-time-only monies," said Johnson. "We were able to get these little projects done that had to be done, but we still have no money to fix the windows, fix the doors, bring the buildings up to ADA compliance, bring them up to code safety-wise.

"Because of the grants and things, things aren't as bleak as they seemed to be when the levy failed. I"d just like to reiterate that we made it through by the skin of our teeth, but still our buildings continue to need help and we need money to do that."

Credit to Johnson and the Board of Trustees, no programs were eliminated this year though some were scaled back for minimal savings.