City resists experimental park maintenance push ahead of final budget
Martin Kidston
(Missoula Current) An effort to cut funding from several programs to fund a consultant to study ways to maintain city parks through organic and natural maintenance failed late Monday night, giving way for adoption of the city's final budget.
Council member Kristen Jordan sought to find $150,000 in the Fiscal Year 27 budget to fund the one-time endeavor, saying it was a vital step in protecting the city's aquifer from the harmful application of pesticides and herbicides.
Jordan looked to cut funding for police overtime and money earmarked for the enforcement of the city's urban camping regulations, along with the cleanup of illicit encampments. She said the savings could be applied to fund a one-time feasibility study on the organic and natural maintenance of city parks.
“I would argue that we have created more harm through our encampment cleanups. I am saying do less encampment cleanups because we are doing harm,” Jordan said. “The city has proven it can move nearly $1.3 million a year across four funds to respond to the symptoms of a housing shortage, it can certainly find $150,000 once to find out what it would cost to maintain our parks differently.”
Eran Pehan, director of planning, development and innovation, said the city's urban camping budget funds a number of efforts, ranging from encampment cleanup to the Vehicle Parking Program, which enables residents to use a vehicle as shelter for up to 90 days.
The program includes trash and connection to support services and serves around 200 people at any given time. The revenue that funds the program and other encampment response efforts lies primarily in the road and park districts.
“Those do go to salaries and wages for enforcement and Vehicle Parking Program staff,” said Pehan. “Without those funds, we'd have to reduce that particular budget for the work they're doing.”
Before the current programs were adopted, the issue of homeless encampments had become a pressing issue facing the city. As a result, it managed around 1,300 citizen complaints a year, according to Pehan.
Now, with the program in place, complaints have dropped to around 300, and the city is able to resolve most of those.
“That urban camping enforcement budget is direct costs being paid,” said Dale Bickell, the city's CAO. “When a cleanup operation happens, the costs are still borne by individual departments. Those are direct costs like machine rental and hazard pay.”
Suggesting Jordan's chosen targets to cut in order to fund her one-time study wouldn't draw broad support, council member Bob Campbell offered an amendment directing the parks department to find savings in its quarterly budget reports during the new fiscal year.
Combined with a potential grant, the amount could be enough to fund the study without taking from other city programs, he said. Jordan was initially open to the concept, but later criticized other council members for not supporting her initial funding plan.
“Even that option isn't an absolute sure thing,” said Campbell. “I think the nexus with urban camping isn't going to be a winning strategy.”
Even without the one-time study, Missoula Mayor Andrea Davis said the city was committed to reducing its use of herbicides and pesticides on city parks. When it does so, Davis said the use is minimal and notice is given to the public both before and after the application.
The city also has a rotating list of herbicide-free parks and is steadily moving to alternative and more native vegetation. Davis also remained open to finding funding for the study later in the fiscal year.
“The city has been moving to hybrid parks for a number of years, where we're bringing in more native plants, flowers and grasses,” Davis said. “But state law does require landowners, and that includes the City of Missoula, to manage noxious weeds. That is why we have this judicious and integrated approach to vegetation management. Once these invasive species lock in, it is very difficult to remove them.”