Thankful for Helena's Railroad Quiet Zone, the new Benton Crossing, and the fiscally responsible governance that afforded this investment in safety.

Next Tuesday, December 19th, Helena's Railroad Quiet Zone will take effect thanks to safety improvements at rail crossings throughout Helena. Engineers will continue to sound train horns anytime as needed for safety, but the requirement to sound horns at every crossing will be eliminated. This investment is fiscally responsible, supports quality of life throughout Helena, and includes a major safety improvement with an accessible pedestrian crossing at Benton Avenue along Centennial Trail and near city parks, the Bill Roberts Golf Course, and the Sunhaven Neighborhood. (The medians at other crossing prevent persons from intentionally driving around the crossing arms.) 

The new crossing at Benton Avenue included a flashing beacon activated by users. 

The reduction in noise for residents near the railroad tracks is dramatic, as shown in the following images from a 2011 feasibility study by Kadrmas, Lee & Jackson linked here.

Current situation not including the substation portions of town impacted by train horns Doppler Effect. Image from this report.  

Noise from train horns in Helena after a quiet zone is implemented. Image from this report.

While I personally have rarely lost sleep due to train horns, I heard from who do Helenans across town and across the political spectrum while I served on the City Commission. Whether or not one falls into this category or not, there is another reason to be proud of your City Commission for advancing this investment. Most of the funds for the safety improvements came from a tax settlement that would have otherwise been directed to fund a new parks building and offices at the Bill Roberts Golf Course to the tune of 3 million dollars according to Helena's Comprehensive Capital Improvement Fund (CCIP). The funds, outlined here, instead went to the purchase of a large existing warehouse that meets the parks department's needs for office and warehouse space at much less cost, is in a better location, and provides additional space for several other departments. These funds also provided the cash to match a federal grant to purchase two new fire trucks and started a new program to fund solars panels for Helena residents. 

Going forward, there is more to do to improve the quiet zone. A wayside horn should be installed at National alongside additional safety improvements for pedestrian, both items the Railroad Tax Increment Finance District can explore. The City of Helena and our public works should approach the railroad about finding a more creative solution at the Roberts Crossing where a spur line prevents a more affordable median to prevent folks from driving around the crossing arms. A removable median for the spur and/or relocating the entrance to the yard might be a lower cost option than a direction horn. 

Thanks to the actions by a majority of your city commissioners, many Helena residents will soon sleep better and families can now safely cross Benton Avenue near the tracks.  $1.89 million dollars that could have gone to just one new building instead was leveraged for safety improvements near rail crossings, new firetrucks, and smart use of an existing warehouse costing 40% less than a new building and serving many city departments.  

Thank you to all the commissioners who have supported this endeavor, city staff that implemented the project, and the engineers and contractors who did such a nice job, especially with the new crossing at Benton! 

Sincerely,

Matt E

Matthew Elsaesser

406.431.0815

59624-321 

"Centennial Trail Celebration Ride" Tonight in Helena! Family friendly shuttle from Montana Wild at 5:30pm, bike ride starts at 6pm!

Centennail West Now Open!

Friends of Centennial Trail

Pictures from Centennial Trail West Kick-Off October 16, 2015, more details here.

A project of Prickly Pear Land Trust

Helena, Montana



Centennial Trail Celebration Ride

For Immediate Release:

Join other Helena-area bicyclists on September 20, and celebrate the paving of several

segments of Helena’s Centennial Trail by cycling from its current beginning, immediately

northwest of Walmart, to its present western terminus at Montana Wild. A ribbon-cutting, a

delicious Big Dipper ice cream cone, and a free public showing of the film, Inspired to Ride,

follows. Everyone is welcome.

Here are the details:

The Centennial Trail Celebration Ride date is Sept 20, beginning at 6 pm. Anyone able

to cycle five miles at a moderate-to- relaxed pace (5-10 mph) is welcome to join the ride. The

ride should take about an hour. The trail travels along car-free paths and city streets. In places

the path is graveled; most road-, town-, or mountain-bike riders should be able to comfortably

negotiate the (few) uncompleted rougher sections of the trail.


Cyclists begin the ride at 6 pm at the corner of Billings and Blaine (NW of Walmart). For


those who wish to leave a car at Montana Wild, the ride’s finish, the Trail Rider Shuttle, Bike

Helena's bus and bike-trailer, will leave Montana Wild at 5:30 pm for the ride’s start-point near

Walmart. There’s room for about 30 riders on the shuttle.


After the ride, and after ice cream, cyclists are encouraged to stay and enjoy the

exciting, inspirational movie, Inspired to Ride. This family-friendly, 1 hour 28 minute long feature

film was released in 2015. It follows 45 cyclists competing in the first Trans Am Bike Race, a

self-supported sprint beginning in Astoria (OR) and ending in Yorktown (PA). This free showing

is in conjunction with the Helena Bicycle Club’s September meeting.

(more)

The Friends of Centennial Trail is a project of Prickly Pear Land Trust. FOCT supports

the design, construction, completion, and ongoing maintenance of Helena’s backbone non-

motorized trail, an east ̶ west pathway for walkers, runners, and bicyclists of all ages and

abilities.

###

[Press Release from Friends of Centennial Trail; images from earlier post on this blog or taken by author]

Running to Serve Lewis & Clark County!

Friends,

I am pleased to announce that I am seeking the opportunity to serve our greater community as a Lewis and Clark County Commissioner. I will be filing as a Democrat and formally launching my campaign in the coming weeks.

Most of all, I look forward to visiting with residents from all of Lewis and Clark County to hear your ideas and concerns during the campaign. Some critical issues for our County include ensuring continued Payment(s) in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) for public lands, maintaining infrastructure, and responsibly addressing the challenges and opportunities of growth. I look forward to supporting continued improvements to mental health and pretrial services to help address safety and overcrowding at the jail.

Please fill out this form or visit the campaign site at MattE4LCC.com to receive further updates or to share your questions and comments. 

Thank you very much!

Sincerely,

Matt E

Matthew Elsaesser

406.431.0815

Helena, MT

59624-321

Upcoming Meetings: Transportation Coordination Committee and Admin Wednesday, City/County Thursday, & Upcoming Monday Meetings

Friends, 

Here are some of the upcoming meeting for the City of Helena Commission. I will add more details later this week. Please contact the City Clerks Office at 447-8410 for details. Also, please consider serving on some of the advisory boards listed below, applications due Thursday!

Thanks!

- Matt E

City Commission Advisory Board Positions Open!

Deadline: 4:00 pm, Thursday, December 3, 2015

The City of Helena has openings on the Americans with Disabilities (ADA) Compliance Committee (3 openings), City-County Planning Board (2 openings), Lewis & Clark/City Library Board (1 opening), Helena Public Art Committee (3 openings), and Zoning Commission (1 opening). 

Details here: http://www.helenamt.gov/home/news-item/article/city-commission-advisory-board-positions-open.html

TCC, City Admin, and Audit Committee Meetings Wednesday:

City and County Meeting Thursday:

Upcoming Agenda's for Monday Meetings (Dec 7th & Dec 14) posted here at the following link once available:
 

http://www.helenamt.gov/commission.html

Thanks to Commission Candidates! Update from Monday's City Commission Meeting, Upcoming Meetings

Friends,

I'd like to thank and congratulate all of the candidates who ran for the Helena City Commission in this years election! Each brought forth new ideas. All demonstrated that they were ready and would being willing to serve our community!  

• Results are available here. 

The Helena City Commission had a very productive meeting this Monday. This included advancing a railroad quiet zone, approving a curbside recycling agreement, a bid award for a major "Westside" sewer project, allowing capital projects is the streets utility, and the first of two votes to eliminate the transfer station policy charging permit holders for use of their public facility. Details follow below. 

The Helena City Commission will join East Helena and the Lewis & Clark County Commission in meeting with the School Board and School District One this Thursday at 1pm at the Montana School Board Offices at 863 Great Northern Boulevard. I hope to see the City work with the School District on an ongoing basis to reduce infrastructure costs and implement Helena's Growth Policy as was outlined here in the Helena Independent Record. One important area is transportation.  For example, exploring expansion of the Livingston and Montana Intersection at the Helena High parking lot could better address safety, congestion and local access decades ahead of restructuring "Malfunction Junction" at a much lower cost (and without closing Helena Avenue!). Such projects are very complicated and should not be conditioned on potential school bond elections year to year.   

The Transportation Coordination Committee has a very important meeting next Tuesday (November 10th) at 3pm at the City-County Building to prioritize secondary highway funds in the Helena area. This body should formally allocate the current reserve of these funds and budget through at least fiscal year 2017 to get important safety projects moving. This post has more details and will be updated later this week. 

• City of Helena priorities for this fund include safety and traffic improvements to Benton and Henderson between Custer and Euclid as well as re-construction of section of 6th and 11th.
• The City explored using urban funds for the South Helena Gateway project, but will instead use available general funds due to the low cost of the project, community concerns raised over safety in the area, and staff capacity to advance the project in house.  

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

Thank you very much, it is an honor to serve!

Sincerely,

Matt E

Matthew Elsaesser, Commissioner

City of Helena, Montana, USA

406.431.0815 / 59624-321

MatthewElsaesser.com

Full agenda and materials for Monday's meeting linked here,  highlights include the following:

• Railroad Quiet Zone: The advancement of an engineering design and construction management contract to establish Helena's railroad quiet zone. A quiet zone will improve safety at crossing and thereby eliminate the requirement that railroad engineers sound their horns at every crossing. Note:  Engineers will still be allowed to sounds train horns as needed for safety. Most improvements will be as simple as installing medians. The directional horns at National will be louder at the crossing, but not travel across town as they do now due to the Doppler Effect and approach. The City and MRL should work together to install a removable median at Roberts.  [A previous Helena quiet zone study is linked here] 
• The contract agreement passed 4-1. Four residents spoke in favor of the measure as important to their ability to sleep and quality of life. One resident opposed.
  
• Curbside Recycling Agreement: A curbside recycling agreement between the City of Helena and Helena Recycling which I write about here. Note: Monday's agreement, which may be renewed through 2022, needs to be amended to ensure once a month collection is allowed within one year. This provision was advanced during the negotiation process over the last few months, but is not yet included or referenced in Monday's materials. I discuss the importance of this option here, mainly that one a month collection will be more affordable and green for some residents.
• Three amendments were passed to allow and encourage the establishment of a once a month recycling collection option and cost savings after 1000 customers. No specific price or timeline was set for the once a month option, but provisions were added to require affirmative commission approval if such an option is not established within two years.
  
• Transfer Station Trip Policy: The first of two votes to rescind the misguided Transfer Station policy to charge permit holding residents for using the transfer station on a per trip basis. More details regarding this policy here.Note: The policy initially proposed to the city commission included ZERO free trips for tax paying residents. The commissions alternative proposal ensured 30 free visits, allows for diversion of heavy construction material that otherwise can damage equipment, creates an annual House Hazardous Waste collection event, and covers the cost of tire and electronics recycling for permit holders. 
• First passage was approved 5-0 as part of the consent agenda.
• Note: This policy casts further doubts on the validity of the "Solid Waste System Efficiency Study," which also recommended suspending compost operations at the transfer station and landfill. When the commission instead amended the budget to recognize tipping fee revenue for the program, it was discovered that this program actually saves money for tax payers and our public solid waste and recycling system.
  
• Modification of the City's Street Utility Assessment to allow for the reconstruction of roads and other capital projects. Note:  This is a very important provision for the maintenance and improved safety of Helena's streets. It includes provisions for transparency in city capital projects. 
• Final passage of the modification to this ordinance passed 5-0.  This decision enables to use of reserve funds for trail maintenance, pedestrian safety, reconstruction of local roadways, and at least $150,000 set aside for safety features around rail intersections that also help establish a railroad quiet zone.
  
• ALSO:
• Westside Infrastructure & Annexations: 
• A $300,000+ bid was awarded to install sewer lines that will connect seven properties with failing septic systems on Cannon Street in Helena's "Westside." The project will include running sewer pipes to the property lines of twenty-three properties total. A reimbursement arrangement for properties connecting to the sewer main will be established at an upcoming meeting. 
• Note: Projects of this scale and a timeline that allows residents to connect as needed or by their choice is a more appropriate approach for infrastructure in the Westside. Most residents in this area already pay for City fire protection, are close to existing schools, and are not driving establish addition water and sewer systems that compete with Helena for public funds. The City should be more focused to the North and other areas with in the Urban Services Area Boundary outlined by the Growth Policy to prevent a future situations similar to the Westside. [New Zoning designations are also needed and would help the City meet its' growth policy goals.]

Upcoming Helena Commission Meetings: Infrastructure Project, Railroad Quiet Zone, Westside Annexation, Transfer Station Policy, Curbside Recycling and more

Download meeting packet here:
http://www.helenamt.gov/fileadmin/user_upload/City_Commission/Admin_Meeting_Packets/Admin_Packet-_10.28.15.pdf

View full agenda and all material here:
http://helena.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/MeetingView.aspx?MeetingID=153&MinutesMeetingID=-1&doctype=Agenda

F.A.Q. Residential Curbside Recycling for City of Helena Residents

Frequently Asked Questions:

[Note: The proposal before the commission does not include the once a month recycling option, nor is any intent to establish this option within a year referenced.

Where can I recycle now:  

• Their are several drop-off locations in Helena for Paper (includes office paper, newsprint and magazine), corrugated cardboard, tin cans, and aluminum cans. 
• These include Safeway (611 N Montana), The Fairgrounds (98 W Custer), NE Corner of the Capital Hill Mall (1600 11th Ave), Downtown on Cruse Ave (between Park Ave and intersection with State/Cutler), and the City of Helena Transfer Station (details follow)

• The City of Helena Transfer Station is one of these locations.  This tax payer funded public facility also provides collection for type 1 and type 2 plastics, container glass (jars and bottles for food items), electronic items, and automotive items (motor oil, batteries, antifreeze). 
• The City Commission has also established a provision for an annual Household Hazardous Waste Collection event (a 2 day Fri/Sat event) and discounted tipping fees for sorted constructions and demolition material, though it is not clear when or if these provisions will be implemented at this time.
  
• Persons who rent a house or apartment in a duplex, three-plex, and four-plex are eligible for a free Recycling Renters Permit. 
  
• Most details for recycling at the Transfer Station are available here or by calling 447-8082. Helena Recycling, linked here and at 457-2437, provides commercial and residential recycling services. Montana D.E.Q. has free recycling bin loan program for events linked here. ]

Who is eligible for this recycling partnership?

Any household or apartment that receives “residential” trash service paid for by an annual tax assessment from the City of Helena is eligible for this program. This generally includes all single family, duplex, three unit, and four unit apartments within city limits. Larger apartment complexes are served by Tri-County Sanitation or City of Helena Commercial trash services. These apartments, as well as any residents outside of the city, would not be part of this partnership, but could similarly arrange for commercial recycling collection with Helena Recycling.

What items will be collected and how?

Collection will include the items pictures below with three bins under which corrugated and non-corrugated cardboard can be collected:

Click to Expand

• Bin A: Aluminum and Tin Cans
• Bin B: Type 1 and Type 2 Plastics
  
• Bin C: Newsprint, Magazine & Office Paper
• Flatted Corrugated and Non-Corrugated Cardboard to be stacked underneath bins

Click to Expand

                                              

What happens to customers of the City of Helena Blue Bag Program?

Part of this arrangement includes, at least informally, the City of Helena suspending its blue bag collection program. The blue bag program, unfortunately, has been touted as an indicator of the public's support for recycling. This legacy program, which was to be the free full curbside program provided by the city as discussed here had limited appeal due to major operational inefficiencies, lack of collection for cardboard and plastic, and lack of institutional support. Fortunately, this new arrangement will eventually allow for once a month collection of more items which can be covered in full by allowing residents to choose to reduce their level of trash service at the curb and at the transfer station. Commissioner Haque-Hausrath deserves extra thanks for attending several meetings and successfully advocating for this and other important options.

Why is glass not included? How could glass recycling be expanded or made easier?

Helena Recycling, the private partner, does not currently collect glass. Glass can be difficult to collect in curbside programs because it is handled differently than other recyclables. Rather than being compacted or baled for recycling, glass is processed more like gravel for reuse and is difficult to sort after it has been crushed.

The city should allow private recyclers to take glass to the transfer station if it is generated by residential customers who’ve elected for such a collection service. A model might be Salt Lake City, where Momentum Recycling provides a collection service just for glass. The city should also provide collection for glass at some of the outlying collection sites, at least on a seasonal basis.

• Glass Recycling Tips:
• Glass collected for recycling in Helena should be limited to “containers glass,” the single use glass bottles and jars containing products one would find at a grocery or convenience store. It does not include cooking ware, windshield glass, window glass, or any other glass that is not a bottle or jar.
• The City of Helena program for glass collection provides raw materials for the nearby cement plant. The color of the glass does not matter for this outlet.
• Metal lids and rings can be recycled with like metals. Metal rings do not need to be removed, all lids do. 
• Materials should be clean to preserve the sanitation glass collection and improve quality control.  

What is the cost of this program?

• Bi-monthly/collection every other week for $6.95 billed to their water utility bill
• This rate may lower to $5.95 if a thousand residents sign up for the service.
• The residential collection utility is paying $4 per customer, for a total charge or $10.95 or $9.95 per customer
• This option will be available January 2016
• Once a month collection will be $2.95 per month once established and free in coming year per agreement and commission direction last Wednesday.
• The rate may lower to $1.95 per month if a thousand residents sign up for the service.
• This option should be FREE for residents who utilize community bins (those bins serving multiply residents) and elect to reduce the tonnage on their permit at the transfer station.
• This option should be FREE for residents who elect to choose to have trash collection every other week and elect to reduce the tonnage on their permit at the transfer station. Residents should be allowed two free collections per year before they are billed for any extra pickups.
• Note: This option is important to allow for actual savings and efficiencies in our solid waste system. Simply running the solid waste system as a tonnage trash business does not allow for recognizing cost and environmental savings by generating less waste by recycling, diversion, and reduction.

The bid previously discussed at the city for recycling was single stream, why does this program have separate bins?

This cost of the “single stream program,” which would have collect all of the same items in one bin was more expensive for the one bidder, who has since worked with staff for this program. While the city competes to provide commercial trash service, staff did not support preparing a bid during the bid process. Lower cost collection options were mentioned by staff during subsequent discussion, but formal details, including detailed capital and operating costs outside of collection were not clearly defined.

Why only Type 1 and Type 2 plastics?

The contractor has cited market conditions for limiting plastics collection from Type 1-7 as part of this program. It is a very rough time for recycling right now due to market factors. While plastics has taken less of a hit than other materials, the current slump in recycling markets is likely for at least a year or two. Some of the market factors, including a strong US Dollar and other industry changes may lead to more domestic processing of plastics that could allow for collection of other types of plastics in coming years. 

Summary:

In this commissioners opinion, this will be a great option Helena residents once the monthly recycling collection option is established and the city allows for residents to provide savings to the solid waste system through limited collection needs in terms of lifts at the curb and tonnage at the transfer station. Helena’s solid waste system was sold to the public as an “Integrated Solid Waste Management System” that would put recycling and diversion on par with directing material to the landfill as I write here.  This vision was not fully realized, in large part due to the collection utility, transfer station, and landfill being viewed has business operations based on trash more so than a tax funded service that should include diversion and recycling.

While this new partnership is not perfect, it gets our community a lot closer to improved services to residents--especially once addition collection options allow residents to base trash and recycling collection on the needs of their household.  

I will continue to improve and expand this F.A.Q. Please contact me with any additional questions or comments.