Home > Mineral County

Mineral County Airport

16 May
Monday, 16 May 2011 21:05 Written by Richard 0 Comments

I heard of something possibly starting up at the airport but had no details whatsoever. Last week the project came out in the paper. The details as I know of them is that it’s a revenue generating project for the airport in the shape of a 3 bay hanger. These hanger bays would be rented out to people that are wanting to fly-in but may want their aircraft out of site and/or out of the weather. I believe the turn around on this project is to be complete prior to August as that is when there is talk of having a fly-in to the airport.

It’s nice to see that the county commissioners are starting to look at the airport as a revenue generating property. While I was the chairman of the planning board we approved, with many stipulations and regulations, a Class A motorcoach subdivision. This is not something that you see a lot in the Northwest, but we felt that due to it’s proximity to the airport that it could possibly work. I see this as just the beginning of what the airport can and should be.

St Regis Clinic

26 April
Tuesday, 26 April 2011 19:30 Written by Richard 0 Comments

I know very little about this project other than they have been working on it. From what I know – this would be an extension of the Mineral Community Hospital and would provide general practice care. If anybody has more information please send it to me or comment on this post.

SHS School Expansion

25 April
Monday, 25 April 2011 17:06 Written by Richard 0 Comments

Make sure to attend the Tech Night on April 27th at the Superior High School between 6pm and 7:30pm. Not only are they showing off what the students have been doing this year, but they will also be introducing a new expansion to the school. There will also be a follow-up meeting on May 3rd to review the plans in detail.

The new expansion is more than an expansion of the school – this is an expansion of the community. In fact, it’s being dubbed the Community Center. The plan is to incorporate a swimming pool, indoor track, weight room, aerobics, wrestling room, a racquetball court, a full sized basketball / volleyball court, day care, a community room, and 3 junior high classrooms.

As we’ve probably all heard, the Superior Swimming Pool is essentially non-functional. The swimming pool included in the expansion would be open year round, giving access to users during hours that the school would not be using it. The pool will incorporate a veranda that would be opened up during warmer months to give access to a great southern exposure.

Many of the services would be open to the public during summer months and off-hours during the winter months. The hospital may be using some of the facilities for physical therapy. There has been talk of the fairgrounds using the community room and basketball court as an expansion of their current facilities and to take the place of their proposed community center. This would be incorporated with the hospital bio-mass plant as well.

I think the success of this project will come from the involvement of all these different organizations and people. Again – it’s more than a school expansion. Be sure to attend the meetings mentioned above where the school will talk about funding and the plans. Rumor has it that there will be a 3 dimensional walk that will be viewable. I will be attempting to upload this movie for everybody as soon as it is available.

You can also watch the school website for updates - http://superior.k12.mt.us/

Video:

Updated images 5/5/2011:

[postgallery_image width="400" id="0" height="300" shadow="shadow-small" slidesetid="shsexp" imageeffect="shadow" align="alignleft" animation="fade" tween="linear" timeout="6" /]

 

4-H Building

24 April
Sunday, 24 April 2011 17:54 Written by Richard 0 Comments

The existing 4-H Building at the Mineral County Fairgrounds has seen better days. The existing building is a quonset type structure and is starting to have issues with leaks in the roof and just plain not big enough. The Fair Board has gone to see the commissioners about trying to get a new building that would be capable of holding 250 assembly type seats. To meet code this would mean at least a 5000 sf building which would include a small kitchen, assembly area, a few offices, and a place for the shooting sports.

I think the main issue with getting this done is funding. The commissioners can promise all they want, but when it comes down to dollars, the county just doesn’t have the money. I would venture a guess that the structure would have a cost of around $600,000-700,000. The other issue would be where to put the new structure.

There has been talk of possibly incorporating something into the school, as they sit adjacent to one another. The school already provides several display areas during fair time.

This is another project that there really isn’t a question of need. I ask you to go take a look at the building – it’s old and completely inadequate for most activities. I remember having dances in there 25+ years ago and worried about if it was going to stand up.

Superior Fire Hall

24 April
Sunday, 24 April 2011 17:04 Written by Richard 0 Comments

The Fire Hall project is something that has been needed for sometime now. The existing facility should honestly be condemned, but they have made it work as well as they can. The current Fire Chief has done a great job in getting a new fire truck and turn out gear, and he is continuing this effort in getting the new facility underway. The new building will also be capable of being expanded in the future to include town offices. The facility will also have a training center and a locker room for the fire fighters to clean up after being called out to a fire.

The funding for this project has gone in a couple of directions. The original was a Community Development Block Grant which was used to get the preliminary architectural reports and the initial design completed. I believe (don’t quote me) that this money may also be used to purchase the lot behind the old school. I also heard that they were looking at a USDA grant, but unsure where that is at. There was an article in the paper recently that stated they may go out to the taxpayers for a portion of the project.

There is no doubt that the community needs a new fire hall – not a question. Although there has been some grumbling as to if we need to purchase an expensive lot to build it on or if we need a $1 million dollar facility for a volunteer fire department? Those are all questions that the Superior taxpayers will need to ask themselves in the near future.

« Older Entries