Community Briefs

December Swan Valley Council Meeting Cancelled

Swan Valley – The Swan Valley Community Council meeting scheduled for Dec. 19 has been cancelled. The next council meeting will be Jan. 18 at 7 p.m. at the Swan Valley Community Hall.

Additional Seeley Lake Snowmobile Trail Closures for Log Haul Traffic

SEELEY LAKE – For public safety while log hauling is ongoing for a Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC) timber sale, the Seeley Lake Ranger District has closed snowmobile Trail Number SNO-63.31 to snowmobile use. This trail is also known as the Spring Creek Road (#46942). The log hauling is associated with the DNRC Clear East Timber Sale in the Horseshoe West area.

The closure is in place from Mile Post 0 (junction with Highway 83) to Mile Post 3.1 from the hours of 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday. The snowmobile trail is open and available for use outside of the hours listed above, on the weekends and holidays (Dec. 25 & Jan. 1). The closure will remain in place until the work is completed.

As a reminder current closures on snowmobile trails SNO-63.01 (Cottonwood Lakes) and SNO-63.13 (Kozy Korner) will OPEN Saturday, Dec. 16.

Forest Service log hauling operations will move over to the Monture/Dunham area. The main Monture Road will be plowed to Dunham Creek. Mixed-use traffic (snowmobile and log hauling) will also continue to this location. All other wheeled vehicle traffic will be restricted as signed. Log hauling will be restricted to the hours of 4 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday. No log hauling will occur on weekends or holidays (Dec. 25, Jan. 1, Jan. 15 and Feb. 19).

For details on all snowmobile trail closures and alternative snowmobile trail access, please contact the Seeley Lake Ranger District at 406-677-2233.

Missoula County Commissioners Seeking Election Advisory Committee Applicants

The Missoula County Election Advisory Committee (EAC) will have two terms expiring on Wednesday, Jan. 31, 2018. During this time, current members eligible for reappointment must reapply and interview with the Board of Missoula County Commissioners should they wish to continue serving. New applicants are also encouraged to apply. Applications are available online or in the Commissioners’ Office, located at 199 West Pine Street in Missoula. Submissions may be filed electronically or emailed to sbell@missoulacounty.us. Deadline for applications is Jan. 5, 2018.

Objectives of the EAC are to listen to stakeholders; conduct sound research and learn best practices; and to offer thoughtful advice and recommendations with the goal of increasing public participation in the electoral process.

The Missoula County EAC is comprised of seven members. The Board of County Commissioners appoints three citizen members, one Missoula County employee and one member representing people with disabilities. In addition, the Democrat Central Committee selects one member and the Republican Central Committee selects one. A County Commissioner serves as an ex-officio member. The EAC meets to study the efficiency of the elections process, advocating for fair, robust and trustworthy elections. Meetings are held quarterly, but may meet more frequently during federal election years.

 For further information, please contact the Elections Office at (406) 258-4751. All board vacancies are listed on the county website https://www.missoulacounty.us/ under the Community tab.

Missoula County Community Health Assessment Report Available for Review

MISSOULA - The 2017 Missoula County Community Health Assessment (CHA) report is ready for public review and comment. Missoula City-County Health Department and many partner agencies met several times over the year to collect and discuss this data on health and well-being for county residents. There is a lot of information in this report. It presents plenty of hard data and it also includes information from surveys and conversations with residents from all over the county.

The 2017 CHA is expanded and improved based community feedback about the 2014 CHA:

• Data for specific locations. New data sources allowed us to look at more data for the county, city, and even neighborhood level.

• Full section on rural communities. The new data sources also allowed us to collect some health data specific to the county’s rural communities for the first time. An intern from the University of Montana also surveyed rural residents to get a deeper look at strengths and needs. (See pages 60-72.)

• Maps. Our new data sources also allowed us to create maps. Those maps, along with others from our very own MCCHD Community Health Map, told the data story in a different way throughout the report, but particularly in the section devoted to mapping vulnerable populations on pages 23-25.

• Surveys and interviews. This report includes key informant interview (pages 76-80) surveys of lower income residents (pages 81-85), and summaries of relevant findings from other community surveys and focus groups (86-91).

The CHA working group had many wide and deep conversations about what the data means for Missoula County. In a nutshell, here is the group summary:

The draft report is available immediately for review on the Missoula City-County Health Department website, https://www.missoulacounty.us/departments/health/data-reports, along with a survey link for feedback. Copies are also available at the reference desk of the Missoula Public Library and the Mansfield Library. The CHA Work Group would appreciate any public input.