03/11/2024
Helena residents who receive federal housing assistance are having a difficult time finding rentals in the area due to the gap between what the government will pay and the current rental market, according to Helena Housing Authority officials.
Michael O’Neil, the executive director of the Helena Housing Authority, told city and county officials at a meeting on Tuesday, March 5, that the “Fair Market Rent” rates allowed for Section 8 housing for low-income families, the elderly and the disabled have been consistently below what the current county market rent is in Helena.
Helena Housing Authority’s concern, O’Neil said, is that if this gap is not addressed, local community members, programs and landlords will miss out on the federal funds meant to support low-income housing.
The Helena Housing Authority is asking the county and the city to help fund a study that would re-evaluate the “fair market rent” by incorporating new statistics from the Helena area.
The survey would cost the housing authority about $100,000, O’Neil said. The city commission agreed to allocate $25,000 towards the survey during an administrative meeting on Wednesday, March 6. The city manager is expected to give an update on a letter of support during the city commission meeting on Monday, March 11.
Public Notice
School levy language to be finalized, finally:
Helena’s Public School District Board of Trustees will meet for a work session on Tuesday, March 19, at Warren Elementary to determine the official language to put before voters considering the six levies the board approved to add to the May ballot.
The school district is faced with a budget shortfall of about $3 million, and the levies will fund safety, technology, operations and other improvements. If the levies pass, it will alleviate some of the district’s need to cut funding and staffpositions and potentially close schools.
Although the final language isn’t set, district officials said that if the levies pass owners of homes valued at $100,000 would pay about $111 a year in additional taxes. Homes valued at $300,000 would have an increase of about $332 a year, and the owner of a $600,000 home would pay an additional $664 a year.
Downtown parking woes, suggestions and call for a new committee:
The Downtown Business Improvement District director met with city officials on Thursday, March 7, to discuss what changes could be made to address downtown parking concerns.
Downtown business owners and residents raised issues about the downtown parking fees and parking availability during an initial business improvement district meeting last month.
During the recent meeting, John Dendy, the downtown district’s director, introduced suggestions from the downtown community such as reserving the top level of a parking garage for downtown employees and changing street parking from permit-only to two-hour parking.
The city and parking officials said they would consider the suggestions and plan to create educational materials to share with the downtown community on available options for discounted permits.
City Manager Tim Burton said that establishing a parking board or committee could help with communication and education between the city, BID and community members when parking questions and comments arise.
The next BID meeting will be Tuesday, March 12, at 3:30 p.m., at 330 N. Jackson St.
5 Things to Know in Helena
New shelter and transitional housing are coming to town: United Way of Lewis and Clark Area and Family Promise of Greater Helena recently announced efforts to provide additional options for families and community members who face housing insecurity.
United Way executive director Emily McVey announced during the Hometown Helena meeting on Thursday, March 7, that the nonprofit is purchasing the Helena Inn, which would act as transitional housing for low-income residents.
Family Promise also announced its plans to build a new homeless shelter at 2814 N. Cook. St., according to the Helena Independent Record. The nonprofit will be able to house up to 18 families at the same time, and the shelter will cost about $1.25 million to construct.
City to beautify tunnel, artist submission update: The city is planning to paint the Lyndale Tunnel that connects the Great Northern Town Center to Centennial Park. Last winter the city called for artists’ submissions and budgeted $15,000 to pay for the work. During the city commission administrative meeting on Wednesday, March 6, the Helena Public Art Committee presented to the commission the top seven submissions for it to consider at a later date and shared the committee’s recommended choice for the art project.
Can I afford a Helena House? A look at the housing market: As of this February, there are a total of 133 homes for sale in the Helena area, according to data from the Helena Association of Realtors. The current median sale price for property in Helena is about $450,000, which sits a little higher than the county’s $435,000 median price. Last March, the median price in Helena was slightly lower at just under $445,000.
Mountainfilm tour stop: A Colorado-based film festival, Mountainfilm, is touring Montana’s Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex and will visit five cities, including Helena. The tour will feature short films from across the globe that showcase the exploration of outdoor spaces. The screening will be at the Myrna Loy on Thursday, March 14, with doors opening at 6 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance and $25 at the door and can be purchased on the Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation website.
Live at Lewis and Clark: Also on Thursday, March 14, the alternative country rock band Eli Howard and the Greater Good will perform at the Lewis and Clark Tap Room at 1535 Dodge Ave., at 8 p.m. with a $5 cover charge.
3 Questions For
Jeff Wadekamper is the Helena Airport director and on March 5 invited both the city and county commissioners to consider joining the Helena Air Service Alliance. Wadekamper, along with the Helena Chamber of Commerce president Callie Aschim, shared a presentation with the commissions that detailed how growing air services would benefit the community.
Montana Free Press spoke with Wadekamper about the importance of improving the airport’s competitiveness and discussed how this affects the local economy. His comments have been edited for length and clarity.
MTFP: Can you explain what the Helena Air Service Alliance is and what you presented during the meeting?
Wadekamper: [The alliance] is a community-based partnership of a number of different entities and groups and organizations that are working together to retain commercial airline service in Helena and also make improvements to that. We just wanted to give the city and the county an update on that effort and kind of what’s involved in that, give them a little industry outlook on what’s the current trends that are occurring in the airline industry, and then also invite the city and the county to join the effort and be some core group members in this collaborative effort that we’re doing to improve air service in Helena.
MTFP: Why is it important for the airport to be competitive?
Wadekamper: We’re competing with every airport in the nation. So we’re competing not only with other airports in Montana, we’re competing with other airports across the entire nation because there’s limited resources, there’s limited numbers of aircraft, there’s limited numbers of pilots. A lot of it today is about profitability, what the airlines can make, so they have to make tough decisions on where they focus their aircraft and their services and they do that based on places where they think they can generate the most profit. So that’s the challenge that we’re charged with.
We are talking to every single airline out there. And some specific ones that we’re really targeting a little bit stronger than some of the others is American Airlines. We’re making a pretty good effort with them to try and get them to start service out of Helena. If that happens, that would initially be through their Dallas hub, which is their largest hub, and they would introduce another network airline into Helena. Anytime you add seats and you add competition, that generally drives airfares down. The airport doesn’t control the cost of tickets.
MTFP: How does the growth of air services impact the community?
Wadekamper: The airport’s impact on the Helena area is huge.
A study that’s a little dated now, it was done back in 2016, showed that the annual economic impact of the airport on the Helena community at that point in time was about $260 million a year. So it’s significantly more than that now, but that just kind of gives you a benchmark on an annual basis of what the impacts are.
Two thousand people work on the airport campus every day, and any successful community really needs to have air service and have the ability for people to come and go, so that’s really what’s important about getting more flights to Helena and keeping up with the growth and just making sure that Helena has access to air service and to connections to go anywhere in the world that you might need to go, whether it’s for business or pleasure or general traveling.
Might Be Fun
On Thursday, March 14, and Friday, March 15, the Premier Dance Company will present “Boots and Ballet,” a ballet that features a combination of contemporary, western county and classical music. Both shows at the Civic Center begin at 7 p.m., and ticket prices are between $15 and $35 and can be purchased on the center’s website.
Helena History
Here is a look at the state capitol building around 1902 as a group of men with their horses worked on the building’s landscaping.
“Helena This Week” is reported and written By JoVonne Wagner. Send your Helena news and tips to [email protected].
