Commissioners OK Libby walking path

By BRENT SHRUM Western News Reporter

A planned walking path connecting J. Neils Memorial County Park to the Heritage Museum got the go-ahead last week from the Lincoln County Commissioners.

The commissioners approved the expenditure of up to $225,000 in federal Community Transportation Enhancement Program funds for the project. The walking path is part of a larger overall proposal for recreational enhancements to the former Stimson mill property, which was granted to the Lincoln County Port Authority and now owned and managed by an industrial district governed by a subset of the port authority's board. Additional proposed improvements include a community fishing pond, bird sanctuary, walking trails and interpretive signs.

"It's really exciting for us," said Commissioner Rita Windom. "It makes a place where tourists can go and enhances the industrial park, and it allows us to have special events that can utilize that."

The walking path will run from the county park across the old haul bridge, down the existing road between the bridge and Fifth Street, across Fifth Street and along the edge of the industrial district property to the Heritage Museum. The project will include at least one walking bridge over Libby Creek, Windom said.

In addition to the CTEP funds, the county plans to use a $10,000 grant from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks to cover the bulk of the cost of paving the surface of the bridge. Initial plans had been to replace the wood deck on the bridge with new wood, but that was determined to be prohibitively expensive, Windom said.

The county currently has around $282,000 in CTEP funds. Around $70,000 to $80,000 is awarded each year, and the fund is allowed to grow until enough money is available for proposed projects. Projects are rotated among the Libby, Troy and Eureka districts. Previous projects funded by CTEP include a walking path between Plummer Elementary and Libby High School, a walking path on the west side of Troy and a path along the Tobacco River in Eureka. Funds were also used in 1997 in Libby to replace sidewalks in a cooperative effort with the city.