Trail projects targeted for Columbia Falls

The First Best Place Task Force has adopted some pretty ambitious goals as part of its overall mission to promote Columbia Falls and improve the quality of life for the community.

The Task Force is a grassroots volunteer organization that formed approximately 18 months ago, born out of coffee shop conversations between a few enthusiastic community members. From those casual origins, it has quickly grown into a formal entity, incorporated as a non-profit corporation, and awaiting final approval as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) organization. Enthusiasm in the community has not been hard to come by. According to Barry Conger, the Task Force’s executive director, more than 70 people have signed up to their volunteer list to help out on the various projects that the group has identified.

From the beginning, the Task Force had targeted four categories of projects on which to concentrate their efforts, from creating a community center/visitor resource in the Uptown Core, to trail building and recreational connections to the river, to uptown revitalization. Recently they laid out a more detailed list of strategic goals for the upcoming months.

The most immediate project that should see some action this summer will be on the trails front. The group has identified four separate trails projects that it hopes to adopt over the next 12-18 months. The first, which will likely be started as soon as the weather allows, is a walking trail from the Old Red Bridge up to the base of Nucleus (at U.S. Highway 2). This is planned to be a low-impact, non-paved path just above the high-water mark, across an easement generously granted by long-time Columbia Falls resident Dr. Loren Kreck. The group plans a big announcement of this project very soon.

Other upcoming projects identified by this Gateway to the Wild trails subcommittee of the Task Force include a project to build a trail from Highway 2 to Tamarack Lane, along Meadow Lake Boulevard, connecting the new River’s Edge Park and the uptown business district, and an effort to restore the Red Bridge as a pedestrian crossing, as part of a complete River Loop trail system on both sides of the Flathead River.

AT THE SAME TIME the Historic Uptown Neighborhood subcommittee of the Task Force has been working for several months on developing design guidelines for new construction projects in the Uptown Core, to ensure some continuity of design and to promote development. In addition, they seek to propose the expansion of the Central Business District zone along most of Nucleus, to increase the visibility of the main street district from Highway 2, and to create a more traditional sense of downtown along the street.

Longer term goals for this subcommittee include helping to develop a comprehensive downtown plan for Columbia Falls, and to explore the creation of a Tax Increment Financing district along Nucleus to create a potential funding source for revitalization efforts.

The largest project that the Task Force has been working on involves the Columbia Falls Town Square: an effort to recapture the original town square and create a community resource and visitor attraction there as an anchor point for the uptown. This monumental project is ongoing and the group hopes to have some news to announce soon.

All of this work is centered around the idea of building on the resources and amenities of Columbia Falls, and follows in the footsteps of many other civic groups from the past.

“We are standing on the shoulders of many others before us,” Conger said. “The work that the Task Force has taken on is a continuation of efforts undertaken by dedicated citizens going back 20 or more years — the Coming Alive in 85 group, Which Way Columbia Falls, the Columbia Falls Economic Development Committee — among many others. And several of the folks who gave so much to those efforts have joined in this one, too.”

The one word that comes up the most often in discussions by members of the Task Force is “synergy.” The underlying goal of the group has always been to bring together various groups and individuals who might already be working on pieces of the bigger puzzle, or have a passion for a particular community amenity. To this end, the Task Force is working with the Columbia Falls Chamber of Commerce and the Columbia Falls Community Foundation to forge a long-term partnership to improve Columbia Falls. In addition, they seek to reach out to all of the various civic groups in town to work together to make projects happen.

“We are all focused on the same goals. Together we can be much more effective than we would be separately,” said Lyle Mitchell, president of the Columbia Falls Area Chamber of Commerce, and a member of the Task Force. “The First Best Place group, the Chamber, the Community Foundation, and the City Council are all points of the same diamond, all working to preserve what is special about this area and this community.”

THE STATED MISSION OF the First Best Place Task Force is to raise the money necessary to fund the types of projects identified by the group.

“Essentially, we are a fundraising machine,” said Eileen McDowell, who is the group’s treasurer. “We know that the Columbia Falls community is incredibly supportive, and we believe we can raise a level of funds that previously was unheard of for our little town.”

In addition to significant private donations, the group seeks to capitalize on sources of grant and foundation funding to help pay for projects.

As part of the collaborative mission of this effort, the Task Force has been in conversations with the C Falls Community Foundation to help them establish a long-term endowment to fund ongoing projects for various groups in the community.

“The goal would be to have a perpetual fund set aside to aide different small groups seeking to fund specific projects they are working on,” Sarah Dakin, of the Community Foundation said. “Working together, we think we can create a legacy that will live on for generations.”

Right now, the Task Force is raising funds for the uptown community center, and beginning the project to fund the river trail. Anyone interested in donating to the Task Force’s efforts can find out more information at their Web site www.firstbestplace.org, or by contacting Conger at 250-6100 or e-mail barryconger@firstbestplace.org.

And the name? Columbia Falls is the longest living community in the Flathead Valley, established before any other now-existing town.

“Nearly 120 years later, the things that made this location so incredible then, still endure,” Conger said. “It remains the First Best Place.”

Editor’s note: You will read regular updates on First Best Place Task Force activities in the Hungry Horse News.