Marshall Mountain

Calling it a legacy project that only comes along once in a generation, the Missoula City Council and Missoula County commissioners on Wednesday approved tapping into the Open Space Bond to purchase 480 acres on Marshall Mountain.

Richard Meisinger writes, "Need to spend $4 million on a park rather than build another fire station and hire the people to staff it. Cost for this endeavor could be the life of one of your citizens."

Citing everything from economic opportunity to childhood education, a number of people spoke in favor Wednesday of the proposed public acquisition of Marshall Mountain – a move that will require around $2 million in funding from the open space bond and an estimated $400,000 in annual maintenance costs.

The breakdown of costs related to the acquisition and long-term operation of Marshall Mountain became clearer on Tuesday when Missoula County set a joint hearing with the city regarding the allocation of funding from the Open Space Bond.

In the coming weeks, the city and county of Missoula will take a detailed look at their option to purchase 480 acres on Marshall Mountain, possibly converting the one-time ski hill into a hub of outdoor recreation. But some costs remain unknown.

An effort to purchase 480 acres on Marshall Mountain took another step forward on Tuesday when Missoula County approved an option agreement with Five Valleys Land Trust.

While Missoula County officials remain mum for now, they hinted Tuesday that a grant application through the U.S. Forest Service may have been successful and would, if true, provide a large piece of funding for the Marshall Mountain acquisition.

The option agreement approved on Tuesday sets the purchase price for the 160-acre Izzy Dog parcel at $1.8 million.

Missoula County this week took the initial steps in a months-long process to determine if Marshall Mountain will become public property and if the county is the right entity to manage and operate the facility.

With the acquisition of Marshall Mountain now a stated goal, the city and county will take the necessary steps in determining whether to spend funding from the Open Space bond, and they'll crunch the numbers to detail any long-term maintenance and staffing costs.