Broadwater County hears draft parks plan for Camp Lane and Centerville; safety, utilities and data reliability flagged

Townsend — The Broadwater County Parks and Recreation Board on May 19 received a detailed presentation on a draft parks and recreation master plan focused on two county-owned properties — a Camp Lane parcel near Townsend and a Centerville site — and on associated constraints that could affect development, funding and access.

Kevin Anglin, a consultant with Great Lehi Engineering, summarized the draft and walked board members through an executive summary, facilities analysis, topographic mapping, utility checks and outreach findings. Anglin noted concerns about the reliability and timeliness of demographic data used for planning and said, “I can try to update this because now it's been a little bit longer and I know Headwaters Economics is trying to go out to 2023,” adding that the consultants recommend keeping the demographics at a high level to avoid getting “into the weeds.”

The presentation covered multiple technical issues that would affect feasibility. Consultants said they used drone-acquired lidar to produce one-foot contour topographic maps showing there are modest but relevant slopes at both properties; they recommended producing larger 11-by-17 maps for clearer public review. The draft documents identify existing utilities and on-site systems: the rod-and-gun club appears to rely on an on-site septic system, while the Kent Lane ball field has a vault toilet that the presenter described as condemned and unusable; the consultant said they would confirm septic permits with staff and add details to the draft.

The Centerville site is largely undeveloped but contains remnants that affect planning: a wood corral, underground cisterns or privy/septic tanks and pit privies in the west corner, all of which present site constraints and safety considerations if the county pursues development. Consultants also flagged FEMA floodplain coverage over portions of the Centerville parcel and said that floodplain status would affect permitting and design.

Safety and access were recurring concerns. The draft includes bike- and walk-time maps showing travel times from Townsend, and the consultant noted these maps do not incorporate road or facility safety measures — they show travel time only. Board members and the consultant discussed a specific stretch of Mill Road near the Centerville site that the Montana Department of Transportation (MDT) data show as crash-prone: participants cited “25 crashes since 02/2019,” with about eight crashes concentrated at a single corner. The consultant recommended that any further planning for trails or bike connections factor in engineering and coordination with the county road department and MDT.

Outreach results and priorities were summarized from surveys and stakeholder events; the draft retains demographic, health-ranking and poverty data as background for funding and grant applications, but consultants and board members agreed to mark unavailable or unreliable fields (for example, some school-age data) as "not available" rather than presenting misleading zeros.

The consultant also recommended verifying factual details pulled from third-party sources before finalizing text — for example, confirming current status and contact information for the rod-and-gun club (the presenters suggested emailing the club president, referred to as Brad, for verification) and checking a septic permit that Nicole (a staff member referenced during the presentation) sent to the consultant.

Board members asked for follow-up items including confirmation of the rod-and-gun club’s utility connections, clarification of data sources and years used for demographic and income figures, larger printable maps for public hearings, and a clearer outreach timeline. The consultant said they would update the draft to remove or reword tables that had been pulled to keep the document higher-level, add the condemned vault-toilet note at Kent Lane, confirm septic/permitting information, and reconcile 2022/2023 data where possible.

The consultants and board members also noted planned all-abilities playground work: the county has completed a heritage playground and is planning an all-abilities playground at McCarthy Park; the draft recommends considering ADA and universal-access features in future designs and when pursuing grants.

The presentation covered technical findings and identified follow-ups but did not include any formal vote or action on the draft. Staff and consultants will revise the master plan draft and bring an updated version back for further review and public hearing preparation.