Broadway Tunnel Ribbon Cutting Ceremony!

The Broadway Tunnel announced by MDT in 2008 is now complete!  The project compliments the accessible bike pedestrian bridge already build by the agency at the Capitol Interchange and furthers a complete trail network throughout the Helena area!

From the Helena Independent Record

Construction Began Late Summer - KXLH 

Construction - Beartooth NBC

Broadway Tunnel Now Open! Ribbon Cutting Ceremony this Thursday!

The City of Helena Employee Newsletter, On The Gulch November 2013!

Recycling Update: Supporting Documents for Expanded Recycling Opportunities in Helena

Friends,

The following materials provide additional details about recycling in Helena following my recent post:

• The first document, images one and two, outlines challenges and opportunities for efficiencies and increased recycling.

• The third image shows a regional facility that collects electronics and household chemicals for reuse, recycling, and proper disposal. 

• The final slides provide an outline of the community partnership that has provided plastics recycling to Helena for seven years and paved the way for permanent collection. 

Please let me know if you have any comments or questions. 

Sincerely,

Matt E

Matthew Elsaesser, Commissioner

City of Helena, Montana, USA

406.431.0815

[Recycling in Helena -  F.A.Q. & Tidbits - Page 1]

[Recycling in Helena -  F.A.Q. & Tidbits - Page 2]

[Examples collection from The City of Sioux Falls' Recycling & Waste Page]]

[History of Community Plastics Drives in Helena]

Helena and America's Mayor Jim Smith featured on C-SPAN 2 & 3 this Saturday and Sunday!

"C-SPAN’s Helena Weekend is here! Highlighted below is the Helena programming that will air throughout this weekend. Mayor Smith’s segment will kickoff Helena Weekend this Friday, Nov. 1—airing on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal between 5am MT/7am ET-8am MT/10am ET.

In addition to having the below pieces sprinkled in throughout the weekend on the respective networks, both AHTV and BOOK TV will have a block of programming where ALL of the respective Helena pieces for their networks will air. C-SPAN2’s Book TV – SATURDAY, November 2 at 10am MT/12pm ET and C-SPAN3’s American History TV (AHTV) – SUNDAY, November 3 at 3pm MT/5pm ET.

We have created a special “Helena” city web page at www.c-span.org/LocalContent/Helena You can also visit www.c-span.org/LocalContent. The website will be LIVE late Friday afternoon, giving you an opportunity to view the segments before they air! We have posted your web links there as well. If there are web links you would like for us to post on that site, please let me know and we will make sure they are highlighted. In addition, all video segments will be available indefinitely on our C-SPAN Video Library site at www.c-span.org/videolibrary after they air this weekend."

CSPAN has been promoting on-air “Helena Weekend” programming across all three networks for the last two weeks. We have sent out the “tune-in” release to the media and special email alerts to our viewers. In addition, we will be utilizing all of our social media outlets – Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. We will be using the Twitter handles @cspan, @BookTV, @cspanhistory and @cspancities. Also, the Helena Weekend “Tune-In” ad will appear in the Independent Record, Friday,

November 1.

HELENA WEEKEND

Featured on C-SPAN2’s Book TV and C-SPAN3’s American History TV

November 2-3, 2013

Hosted by our Charter cable partners, our Local Content Vehicles staff visited numerous locations to explore the history and literary culture of Montana’s capital city.

In addition to having the below pieces sprinkled in throughout the weekend on the respective networks, both AHTV and BOOK TV will have a block of programming where ALL of the respective Helena pieces for their networks will air.

BOOK TV HELENA BLOCK: SATURDAY, November 2 at 12pm ET (Charter channel 17)

AHTV HELENA BLOCK: SUNDAY, November 3 at 5pm ET (Charter channel 113)

AHTV FEATURES

Tour

·         The Montana State Capitol building to hear about how Helena was selected to be the capital of the state.  Historic Interpreter Julia Porter guides a tour through the building which was completed in 1902, and was the first state capitol building in the country to be built with steam-radiator heat, electricity and indoor plumbing.  Hear the story of Senator Mike Mansfield, who is the country’s longest-serving Senate Majority Leader, and see the piece of art by Montana’s famous Western artist Charles Russell commissioned to hang over the state’s House Chamber.

·          Montana’s Old Prison, Montana Territory’s first federal facility, with local author and historian Ellen Baumler.  Established in 1870, this penitentiary was built mostly by prison laborers under the direction of its long serving warden Frank Conley.  This prison experienced a violent history including the infamous riot in 1959.

Visit

·         Montana’s Original Governor’s Mansion. Built in 1888 as a private residence for William Chessman, a Helena speculator and developer, the three story Queen Anne style mansion became the state’s Governor’s Mansion in 1913.  Hear the stories of nine Governors’ and the families who lived there as well as what happened during the economic collapse of 1893.

Hear

·         Governor Steve Bullock (D) talk about Montana state politics and the economy.

See

·         The Charles M. Russell exhibit at the Montana State Historical Society featuring the iconic artwork that tells the story of the Old American West.  Kirby Lambert, Program Manager for Outreach and Interpretation, highlights the exhibit which includes one of Russell’s earliest depictions of ranching in Montana, as well as his work titled, ”When the Land Belonged to God,” considered to be a Russell masterpiece.

·         The Congressional papers of the first woman ever elected to the U.S. Congress, Jeannette Rankin. She was a lifelong pacifist elected in Montana in 1916 and then again in 1940.  See some of the constituent letters from supporters, as well as the newspapers that criticized her after her vote against participation in World War I.  During her second term, Rankin stood alone in voting against America’s entry into the World War II.

·         The rare films and archival photos of Montana’s Democratic Senator Lee Metcalf, the longest-serving Senate Majority Leader. The Montana Historical Society is currently processing hundreds of photos and video of Metcalf before and during his time in office.  Learn about the lawyer, judge and politician, who is considered to be a pioneer in the conservation movement

Hear about

·         The Discovery of Gold in Helena from Ellen Baumler, Interpretive Historian at the Montana Historical Society. Visit the site where gold was discovered, and see the oldest surviving home in the state, a log cabin used during the city’s gold rush. 

Book TV FEATURES

Tour

·         The Montana Territory’s first federal facility with local author and historian Ellen Baumler “Dark Spaces: Montana’s Historic Penitentiary at Deer Lodge.  Established in 1870, the penitentiary was built mostly by prison laborers under the direction of its long serving warden Frank Conley.  This prison experienced a violent history including the infamous riot in 1959.

Hear

·         U.S. Army Veteran David Abrams recall his experience in Iraq as a military journalist.  In 2005, Abrams—author of “Fobbit”— was deployed to Baghdad for 10 months at the Forward Operating Base writing articles and answering calls from the media. 

·         Author Jim Robbins talk about “The Man Who Planted Trees: Lost Groves, Champion Trees, and an Urgent Plan to Save the Planet”. Listen to the story of David Milarch, a man who – for the past 20 years – has made a mission of trying to clone the oldest trees on the planet.

Learn about

·         The evolution of farming from Richard Manning, author of “Against the Grain: How Agriculture Has Hijacked Civilization”.  In it, Manning explains the beginning stages of agriculture and the effects it has had on society,

·         Lewis and Clark’s journey through Montana and some of the misconceptions about their travels from author Stephenie Ambrose Tubbs “The Lewis and Clark Companion”

·         The history of the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana and their struggle to become a federally recognized tribe from historian Nicholas Vrooman  author of “The Whole Country Was…One Robe: The Little Shell Tribes of America”

For more information on the C-SPAN Cities Tour of U.S. cities, go to www.c-span.org/localcontent"

 Content Courtesy of:

Melissa Shannon | Area Director | Government Affairs

314 N Last Chance Gulch, Suite 104-A

Helena, MT 59601

Continued Recycling Update: Email to fellow Commissioners in Preparation for Discussion at Today's Administration Meeting (Sent Friday)

Update: At last Wednesday's administrative meeting, The Commission unanimously supported a hold on major capital improvements at the Transfer Station pending the results of the study and additional plans for improved recycling!


Mayor, Commissioners,

This past Wednesday, I attended a meeting of the Scratch Gravel Solid Waste District.

In partnership with the City of Helena, the district are commissioning a $50,000 to $60,000 study looking for efficiencies at the Landfill, Transfer Station, Collections, Recycling, and Integration of Operations.  The study would begin as soon as early November and be completed in as little as sixty days, early in the new year.

This coming Wednesday, I will ask that we request capital projects at the Transfer Station be on hold until the study is complete, we have a plan for additional recycling at the facility, and the City Commission formally decides to resume the projects.

We have a great opportunity for improvements to waste collection and recycling at this public facility. It would be a shame to expend over a million public dollars, only to find that efficiencies could have been gained that will better serve our community.

Thank you for considering this in preparation for our important discussion Wednesday. Feel free to contact me with any questions and your thoughts on this matter.

Have a great weekend!

Sincerely,

Matt E

Matt Elsaesser, Commissioner
City of Helena, Montana, USA
406.431.0815


[Click here for a more detailed statement on Recycling in Helena for Commissioner Elsaesser!]

Helena designated as one of 17 IMBA Ride Centers Internationally!

The International Mountain Bicycling Association has designated Helena as a Bronze-Level IMBA Ride Center:

"For the third time in recent weeks, Helena is garnering national recognition.......The International Mountain Bicycling Association on Thursday awarded Helena a bronze-level designation as a ride center."

- Helena Independent Record, October 26, 2013

Helena is the only ride center in Montana and of only 17 locations designated internationally. The following screen shot accessed October 29, 2013 lists the other sixteen areas, Sun Valley and Park City being the closest:

This should help efforts to realize a Rails to Trails project from Helena to Great Falls (presentation here, pdf summary here), as well as other recreation opportunities such as trails along Prickly Pear Creek with clean up of the Asarco properties in East Helena!


Press Release from Helena Tourism Alliance/Bike Helena:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****

HELENA, MONTANA****

OCTOBER 25th 2013****

HELENA, MONTANA RECIEVES IMBA RIDE CENTER DESIGNATION****

** **

The International Mountain Bicycling Association (IMBA) has given the
mountain bike trails in Helena, Montana and the surrounding area their
highest trail rating by designating Helena a Ride Center.  Helena now joins
16 other communities around the world that share the same designation.****

** **

The IMBA Ride CenterŽ designation represents IMBA's Model Trail
recognition of large-scale mountain bike destinations that offer a wide
range of great trails for every riding style.  Ride Centers not only invite
you to plan a multi-day trip with your full quiver of mountain bikes and
the whole family, they take care of you both on and off the trail by being
places where mountain bikers are welcomed.  From backcountry adventures to
shuttle-served gravity trails, and from expert-only to family-friendly,
you’ll encounter the best the sport has to offer.  IMBA staff selects
candidates for Ride Center recognition on an invitation-only basis.****

** **

This designation for Helena came as the result of cooperative work within
the biking community and is supported by many organizations and businesses
in Helena, including: The City of Helena, Lewis and Clark County, Prickly
Pear Land Trust, the Helena Tourism Alliance, the Montana Mountain Bike
Alliance, Downtown Helena, Inc., Helena Non-Motorized Travel Advisory
Council, Bike Walk Montana, Helena CVB, The Helena Citizens Council,
Montana State Parks, and local bike shops, bike clubs, downtown business
owners and all 19 Helena-area hotels.****

** **

Official IMBA Press Release:
http://www.imba.com/news/imba-announces-2013-model-trails ****

** **

Contact: Pat Doyle, Community Outreach Director, Helena Tourism
Alliance/Bike Helena pdoyle (at) helenamt.com 406-449-2107****

Website: http://www.bikehelena.com/ ****

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BikeHelena     

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/BikeHelena ****