Whether Jefferson County should toss its Stetson into the ring to be the next home to the Montana Cowboy Hall of Fame will be a topic of a future public meeting, the county commissioners said February 6.
Commissioner Leonard Wortman recently attended the Cowboy HOF induction ceremony along with membership and trustee meetings, he told his fellow commissioners. At that gathering they decided to solicit proposals from communities wishing to be the next home for the facility.
Previously slated for Big Timber, the facility found itself without a home after the deal to purchase a 24-acre location fell through.
Fourteen communities have expressed interest in housing the facility, said Wortman.
When originally selecting Big Timber from a field of a half dozen or so communities, backers cited access to the interstate highway and proximity to a route between Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks as a factor. In commenting on his hopes to attract the facility last fall, Wortman noted that Boulder has both of those advantages and more.
The commissioners said last week they would probably want to get an economic impact study done that would include a projection of the time to recover the investment and to solicit public input before committing to spend public money on the project.
Wortman said no date was announced at the meeting for a proposal deadline but that he expects it to be soon.
In other business conducted February 6, the commission:
• reported on a meeting with representatives of the Basin Community Hall regarding concerns about an adjacent building and its impact on the hall. The commission will discuss and decide on how to proceed on February 20.
• signed an agreement designating county representatives authorized to purchase state surplus items.
• and discussed paying off about $80,000 in outstanding loans on which they are paying about 2 1/2 percent interest while earning about one-half a percent on invested funds.
