Enthusiasm and optimism – those were the hallmarks of the September 7 meeting of the Boulder Transition Advisory Committee. Great things are happening at the high school, where enrollment has reached 272, there are seven dual credit courses that provide college credit to JHS students, and an ACT college entrance exam preparatory period has been added to the day, Superintendent Tim Norbeck told the group.
A private foundation that establishes veteran services is interested in using buildings at the Montana Developmental Center, a dog food manufacturer is looking at the area, and efforts are underway to attract the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Center, Jefferson County Commissioner Leonard Wortman told BTAC. In response to a question, Wortman said the proposals would be listed as agenda items for the commission to allow public input when the time is right.
Wortman also reported that a marketing expert from San Diego visited the county recently to look at an overall marketing program. The visitor “had some excellent ideas,” Wortman said. He emphasized the number of Canadian snowbirds who pass through Boulder as a source that could be better tapped. “If I had a dollar for every Canadian that went by my house, I would never work again,” said Wortman.
Tom Harrington, Jefferson Local Development Corporation, reported that efforts continue to revitalize the old MDC south campus. He also said county representatives have been in contact with Senator Jon Tester about getting a charging station for electric cars in the county. Electric cars can travel for about two hours on a charge, said Harrington, and efforts are underway to create an overall strategic plan to support that need.
Ellen Rae Thiel reported that the Heritage Center had a record number of visitors this summer. At least 40 of the visitors came to Boulder specifically to do ancestry research, she said. The longest discussion of the day focused on plans to create more affordable housing in Boulder.
Barbara Miller, of the National Affordable Housing Network, said efforts will be underway shortly to erect four “self-help” houses in which owners contribute sweat equity into construction of their new homes. Those homes will go on an existing block where the NAHN worked with community members in the past. One difference with the newer homes is that the lots will be wider than on the former NAHN houses, she said. That block once contained 18 old mobile homes and now there are none, she noted. Instead, there are single-family homes. Saying there is a “juggernaut of development in southwest Montana,” Miller said NAHN plans to identify some of the worst lots in town and turn them into “good, affordable, stick-built housing.”
The plans call for marketing the affordable homes to a four-county area, she said. Housing prices in Helena are “ridiculous,” said Miller, and with the right marketing, Boulder can attract middle-income families. Since Jefferson County as a whole has a high average household income, the houses can be marketed to people with incomes as high as $48,000 to $50,000, she said. Miller also said Boulder has lots to offer newcomers that will aid with marketing. The school system is “remarkable” and the town has some great leadership going through the BTAC and other efforts, she said. “You’ve done a great job of keeping the heartbeat of the town alive,” Miller told the BTAC.
