Stewart Park Homes

Gazette opinion: What are you willing to pay to play in better parks?

Demands for service far outstrips the Billings Parks, Recreation and Public Lands Department resources.

For example, city parks are home to 32 tennis courts. However, the courts in Castle Rock Park have been closed for three years because deep cracks in the surface have made them unusable and there’s no money for repairs.

Likewise, the decrepit gazebo and wading pool in South Park have been closed, but the department lacks the wherewithal to replace them.

Altogether, the Parks Department has $9 million in deferred maintenance.

The bulk of the Parks Department annual budget (61 percent) comes from the city’s general fund, which also funds police and fire protection. Over the years, in tight financial times, parks have been shorted to sustain public safety. The rest of the parks budget is 24 percent fees and donations and 15 percent park maintenance district assessments on property surrounding certain neighborhood parks.

After studying park maintenance needs citywide and meeting with park user groups, the Park Board, comprised of citizen volunteers appointed by the City Council, has recommended forming a citywide park maintenance district to raise an additional $2 million annually for parks that don’t already have maintenance districts, including the city’s largest parks.

The Park Board and department staff propose that part of the revenue be used annually for specific larger projects and part for overall maintenance improvements in parks. Topping the big projects list are:

Those projects and more could be completed in the first three years of a citywide park maintenance district that raised $2 million a year. Such a district would cost the owner of a home valued at $200,000 about $30 a year.

What are you willing to pay to play in better parks?

That’s one question the City Council asked at Community Conversations held last week. If you weren’t among the several dozen who attended, your council representatives still need to hear from you.

Park Slope Psychopaths Poison Pigeons | The Measure

I and a few other residents have taken it upon ourselves to try and control the pigeon population by sprinkling rat poison in the park where the bird feeders usually spread their bread banquet. We hope to use the very bird feeders to dispense our poison. We understand the dangers of this tactic but we are willing to accept the collateral damage to the surrounding innocent wildlife. It is after all for the greater good. My neighbor Mike has also implemented a way to get rid of the pigeons from the trees by our building. He basically has constructed a few bird feeders that would hang from the trees that would dispense water laced with anti freeze. The results have been quite remarkable. What is wrong with me? Nothing! A better question is what is wrong with the people feeding these rats with wings. Do you think anyone wants to live in close proximity of these nasty creatures. I have been sprinkling poison among the bread crumbs for years and no one has ever said anything about it. My intentions is to rid the park of these winged rats in a humane manner. Even the poison I use is basically designed to kill the birds slowly so they actually die elsewhere. The poison is called "Tres Pasitos" and as my nanny told me it is designed to kill the rats where they sleep.

Environmental health and housing

Long ball, the legend and lore of the home run

The Death of Ben Linder, The Story of a North American in Sandinista Nicaragua

The Encyclopædia Britannica, a dictionary of arts, sciences, literature and general information

The Big Book of Baseball Brainteasers