Public Opposes Purchase Of FMDH Purchasing Hoyt Park

The Glasgow City Council held their regular meeting on April 15, and the biggest topic of conversation was the public hearing held regarding whether or not the City of Glasgow should move forward regarding the proposal made by Frances Mahon Deaconess Hospital (FMDH) to purchase a section of Hoyt Park for parking expansion purposes. Though on March 18 the Council had voted to accept the recommendation for FMDH to purchase, moving forward was contingent on what the public had to say on the proposal. The Council has indicated in the past if the sale is approved, the money earned from the sale could go towards the cost of building a bathhouse for the new swimming pool.

“I think that’s very clustered for hosting a swim meet, playing t-ball, rec department games, rec department summer programs. I have a lot of concerns about what that looks like for my kids on the South Side, riding their bikes to get to a park that if everything goes into that, that’s a very limited green space,” stated Ashley Markle during the public comment period of the City Council meeting. “If all this space goes into the park, I see it being really a hinderance to hosting swim meets…If you have driven past during the summer time, there’s three or four baseball teams, t-ball teams, practicing down there.”

Also during the public comment, Jeanie Markle mentioned Hoyt is the only park located on the south side for kids to go to. “The South Side has a large number of underprivileged children that live here. The green space on the south side is for some kids the only space they have to recreate unless they’re in school. So to take away a large chunk of green space for underprivileged children I believe is discriminatory. They don’ t have someone that’s going to take them to another park,” she stated.

The public hearing then started off with FMDH CEO Nick Dirkes explaining the proposal, which was made to the City Council in October. He explained the hospital is proposing a price of $550,000 for the piece of land and would transition into a parking lot to allow future expansion of the FMDH facilities. Though the parking lot would be utilized by FMDH, he stressed an agreement would be made between the City and the facility for the public to utilize the additional parking spots as well when the new pool is used by the community. He also stressed the park would be accessible to the public until construction begins, which isn’t expected for another three to five years, and is dependent on legislation. Though current drawings have been drafted they are only conceptual designs and the actual design phase has not started, however no matter what the final design will look like, the Melissa Greenhagen memorial will stay where it currently is on the park property. “We don’t want to cover any more grass, cut down any more tress, than we absolutely have to,” explained Dirkes.

He also expressed the desire to expand the FMDH facility down the road and in order to do that, the facility will have to expand outward due to the Levee behind the facility. “I just want to say that this is something that we think would be good for the community, for the hospital, but that is our opinion,” closed Dirkes. “If the answer ends up being no, if the City Council reviews this and decides that it’s actually not in Glasgow’s best interest to accept the offer, that’s going to be okay.”

After explaining to those in attendance the proposal, there was continued opposition from the city residents who didn’t feel the city should move forward in taking away part of the park for parking lot purposes. Though there were people in attendance who saw the pros and cons of the taking a portion of the park for a parking lot, the majority expressed concern regarding the green space that would be taken away as a result of the addition.

“I do think that if we lose green space, it doesn’t mean that the city in the future can’t plan for other green spaces to happen in the city as hopefully our community will grow. You have to weigh the good and the bad. I know we lose green space but at the same time the hospital is such an intricate part of the community, as far as the economic development, tax base, these are good paying jobs that bring in tax base to the city of Glasgow and Valley County. In that larger scope, I think this is a win-win for a continuation of a service that’s critical to have…,” stated Maggan Walstad.

Rene Clampitt stated the city is required by Montana Code Annotated to have a park space ine ach subdivision and constructing a parking lot all the way to the swimming pool is a little much since this is the only park located on the south side of town. Drew Markle asked if there was an option to purchase any property on the other side of the Levee to construct a parking lot. Though Dirkes admits this hadn’t been talked about yet, he was willing to bring it up to the hospital board to see if it would be an option. Another idea was to build a multi-level parking garage so there wasn’t so much of the park being purchased.

The council did not take any immediate action on the proposal sale in order to provide time to think and review the comments that were received. A decision is expected to be voted on at their next meeting, May 6, 5 p.m., in the Council Chambers located inside of the Glasgow Civic Center.