Task force to look at developing 45 acres around Libby fish pond

A task force is convening to determine how to develop for recreational use about 45 acres around the Libby fish pond that the Lincoln County Port Authority says is unsuitable for commercial or industrial use.

The effort kicked off Wednesday, Dec. 6, when Port Authority officials presented the idea to the Libby Park and Recreation Board, which agreed to lend its support to the project.

“It’s a real aspirational project for the community,” said Tina Oliphant, Port Authority executive director, after the meeting.

She said she and Operations Manager Brett McCully wanted to put the project into the hands of people whose focus is recreational, not economic, development.

“For (the Port Authority) it’s a distraction,” she explained.

Approaching the board, Oliphant said her goal was “to get people interested in this project and to commit to the right group of participants on a task force” to determine how to develop the site.

She got her wish on both counts. Board president Jim Germany thought it was a “golden opportunity,” and board member Bob DeBorde said “it’s a great idea.”

One reason the Port Authority realized “this acreage may be more valuable as community recreation asset,” Oliphant wrote to the board, is that “it is connected to the J. Neils Trail system.”

Part of what needs to be determined is how to transfer ownership of the property and how it might be accessed. Oliphant and McCully shared a couple ideas for access from Highway 2, and indicated they had been discussing their options with an attorney.

Oliphant gave the task force a deadline of March 15, 2018 — a date of no significance other than “so that it gets done,” she said — to produce a proposal for what to do with the acreage.

McCully said via email Monday that he, Jim Germany, Gary Armstrong, Marc McCully, Gary Huntsberger, Charles McFarland and Tom Gilmore had committed to participating on the task force. He planned to ask Libby Mayor Brent Teske to join.

“Hopefully, I will have a confirmed meeting time this week for a meeting before Christmas,” he wrote.