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Local bike-polo players ask commissioners to help find space after being barred from parking-garage roof
Summary
Participants in Butte's bike-polo group told the Council of Commissioners they were told by police to stop playing on the top level of a downtown parking garage and asked the commission for guidance on finding a safe place to play.
BUTTE, Mont. — During public comment at the July 9 Butte-Silver Bow committee meeting, local bike-polo players asked the council for help after being directed by police to stop playing on the top of a downtown parking garage.
"We were playing on the top of the parking garage, I think we had the best polo court in the world," said Dave Hutchins, 529 South Colorado Street. Hutchins described the group as a community recreational team and said their presence "kept it safe, kept it active." He told commissioners, "There came a point when the police came and told us we couldn't play up there anymore, and they told us that they were acting on the commissioner's behalf."
Hutchins said the group always left the site clean and did not block parking; he asked the commission to "help me navigate how we might find an area" where the group can play without displacing other users or inviting unsafe activity.
No commissioner response or formal action was recorded in the meeting minutes; Hutchins raised the matter during the public-comment portion that takes public issues not on the night's agenda. The request will need staff or a commissioner to follow up if the group seeks a formal permit or an alternate site.
