MISSOULA — Funds remaining in the 2006 Open Space Bond could be fully expended if the City of Missoula adopts a resolution updating the funding sources for two conservation projects, which have already been approved.
The City Council's Climate, Conservation and Parks Committee on Wednesday gave the proposed resolution its unanimous support, which will apply funds remaining in the 2006 bond to the Inderland-LaValle Creek Conservation Easement.
The resolution also changes funding for the Hayden Conservation Easement from the 2006 bond to the 2018 bond, since the 2006 bond would be expended in the Inderland project.
“That would essentially close out the 2006 Open Space Bond,” said Zack Covington, the city's planning and lands acquisition manager. “We're just moving the pieces around. No additional dollars are being asked for.”
Covington said bond funds are generally expended in three-year increments. If not spent during that time, there's a risk of losing the tax-exempt status.
“It's challenging to predict,” Covington said. “We don't know for sure over the upcoming two or three years what open space opportunities are going to come to us. We work with landowners on a regular basis to try to predict that, but sometimes opportunities just come along.”
Covington said Missoula County and the city's bond council are pushing the city to close out its share of the 2006 bond “as soon as possible.”
“The county is asking us to do what we need to do to get that 2006 bond fund closed out,” he said.
The city in 2024 agreed to expend open space funding to protect 287 acres in the Grass Valley through a conservation easement. The project protected both critical habitat and agricultural soils in the heart of the Missoula Valley.
The city also expended open space funding to protect the Inderland Ranch, including 1,600 acres identified as Tier 1 wildlife habitat just north of the Missoula Valley.
Swapping the funding sources for the projects didn't draw any opposition.
“This is a straightforward cleanup, and a good idea to close out the 2006 bond,” said council member Amber Sherrill.
