Miller Creek leaders ask city to help install information kiosks, raise concerns about special improvement district

Alex Fragario, a member of the Miller Creek leadership team, told the Missoula City Council on May 12 that the neighborhood has completed a survey-based action plan and is asking the city for help placing information kiosks in public parks to improve outreach.

Fragario said the leadership team collected “over a thousand surveys” to identify neighborhood priorities and then focused on low-cost, high-impact steps the volunteer council could take. “If we could make that information readily available to people at these public areas where they tend to congregate…maybe we could help disperse that information,” Fragario said, referring to parks in Miller Creek as possible kiosk sites.

The neighborhood’s survey identified recurring concerns including emergency evacuation routes, rising property taxes and homelessness. Fragario said Miller Creek’s annual budget is about $1,200 and the neighborhood council is run entirely by volunteers. He said kiosks could display evacuation routes, contact information and other neighborhood resources year-round.

Fragario also raised concern about a planned roundabout and sidewalks in the Maloney Ranch area, saying the project is likely to be funded as a Special Improvement District. “I know that part of the SID process is that a postcard has to go out asking all the people that are in that designated area what their thought is… and I think in this current climate… it would almost certainly come back as a majority no,” he said.

Council members offered to help. Councilor Bob Campbell praised the neighborhood’s engagement and suggested a forum with Public Works and school representatives to answer residents’ questions in advance of any SID balloting. Councilor Anderson said she has emailed city staff and copied neighborhood representatives asking for design guidance and an update on the SID project.

Fragario said the neighborhood has had difficulty getting timely answers from the parks department about kiosk locations and design standards and asked the council to facilitate the conversation. He named multiple local staff and neighborhood office contacts as having worked on the neighborhood action plan.

Why it matters: Miller Creek leaders say the kiosks would provide persistent, low-cost outreach at places residents already use, while the SID process — which can require property owners to pay a share of infrastructure costs — could shift expenses to homeowners if developer contributions are insufficient.

The council did not take formal action on the kiosk proposal on May 12, but several councilors committed to follow up with city staff and the neighborhood office to clarify SID procedures and parks department standards. Council members said they would explore holding an informational meeting in the neighborhood before the council’s larger community meeting in late summer.

Fragario closed by asking the council to make fuller use of neighborhood councils, citing Missoula Charter Article 6 as the charter provision that establishes neighborhood councils.