Allison Corbyn

Please join us at a community near you!

May 14
Missoula: 9 a.m., Russell St. bridge (SE corner of Russell and Broadway)
Havre: 10:30 a.m., Bullhook site (Meet at 520 Fourth St. walk to site)
Wolf Point: 3 p.m., water tanks (6th Ave. North directly across from Faith Lutheran Home. From Hwy 2, go north on 6th Ave. all the way to the top of the hill. The three water tanks are on the left)
Eureka: 4 p.m., Water plant (Turn right at fire department on Hwy 93, follow to the end of Utility Way to filtration plant)

May 15
Fairview: 9 a.m., Hwy 200 (Meet at Super Value parking lot)
Kalispell: 9:30 a.m., Glacier Village Greens subdivision (community center at 195 W. Nicklaus Ave.)
Glendive: 2 p.m., water plant (420 W. Bell St.)
Great Falls: 3 p.m., Great Falls water plant and lab (Overlook Drive to Upper River Road. First right going south on River Road. Eastside access gate.)

May 16
Miles City: 10 a.m., SafetyFestMT (2715 Dickinson St. at Miles City Community College)
Dillon: 11 a.m., Sebree Street (226 South Atlantic St.)
Billings: 1:30 p.m., wastewater project (Meet at gate 801, US Hwy 87 east)
Butte: 2 p.m., Basin Creek water treatment plant (447 Basin Creek Road)

May 17
Livingston: 10 a.m., downtown projects (Meet at city hall, 414 E. Callender St.)
Bozeman: 1 p.m., Cottonwood Road between Babcock and Durston (Park on Babcock Street on the northeast side of the intersection of Cottonwood Road and Babcock St.)
Big Sky: 3 p.m., MT Hwy 64 TIGER grant award ( Big Sky Town Center-Fire Pit Park at Ousel Falls Road)

May 18
Helena: 2 p.m., West Main project (Meet at the parking lot north of Reeder’s Alley)

The Montana Department of Transportation has announced that at least $127 million in highway construction projects will be delayed until May 2017 due to lack of funds. The Governor’s budget not only fails to shore up the budget, but cuts it $200 million more from the FY18 budget.

Big Sky Business

Click to read:  http://billingsgazette.com/news/opinion/editorial/gazette-opinion/gazette-opinion-montana-s-best-route-to-highway-safety/article_3f1f6b20-7aeb-566a-8ef8-bf99224b5317.html

Rep. Frank Garner’s leadership and ability to work with other members of the legislative body is ultimately going to make our Montana roads and bridges safer, and our government more accountable for our precious infrastructure dollars.

A Long-Term Solution to Funding Montana’s Infrastructure

House Bill 473, sponsored by Rep. Frank Garner, R-Kalispell, calls for an 8-cent increase to the state’s gasoline tax and 7.25 cents to diesel tax to raise funds for repairs to roads and bridges and to aid the Montana Highway Patrol……click to read full article.

After nearly six weeks of work amongst Infrastructure Coalition members and a bi-partisan group of legislators, the Bridge and Road Safety and Accountability Act has been formally introduced to the Legislature and has been scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday, February 22^nd.

As a means of updating our “user fees” for Montana highways, the bill, sponsored by Rep. Frank Garner (R-Kalispell), proposes an $0.08 increase in the tax on gasoline, and a $0.0725 increase in the tax on highway diesel.  This increase is estimated to provide roughly $35 million in new revenue for the Montana Department of Transportation, provide approximately $24 million in new revenues to city and county governments, and protect Montana Highway Patrol jobs put at risk by current budget constraints.

“The Infrastructure Coalition is excited to see HB 473 moving forward and we hope for a good, robust hearing on the merits of the bill,” said Darryl James, Executive Director of the Coalition.  “While the current bill draft does not completely mirror our proposal, we do believe that it is a sound vehicle that we can stand behind as a Coalition.  HB 473 allows Montana to fully leverage federal highway dollars and provide a long-overdue increase for local governments to address our most pressing transportation safety and efficiency needs across Montana.”

“A fuel tax is one of the most direct “user fees” we have at our disposal.  We haven’t adjusted that fee since the early 90’s in Montana, and we simply cannot keep up with routine maintenance as the value of our revenue declines relative to inflation,” said James.

Rep. Frank Garner said, “My mission in sponsoring HB 473 is to promote road and bridge safety for our families.  With this bill, we can pay as we go for these improvements and we can get our out-of-state visitors to help us pay for them.  We can turn an investment of $60 million into $290 million with federal and local matching funds and we can save tens of millions more with safer and better roads.”

The Infrastructure Coalition urges legislators to see this bill for what it is – an opportunity to leverage a direct user fee to invest in our failing roads and bridges.  James said, “This bill is about our kids and our commerce in Montana.  Over 200 people die every year on Montana’s highways.  Surely we all share an interest in making sure our kids have safe roads to get to school and sporting events across the state.  Our remote location often makes connections to business and commercial markets difficult, but poorly maintained roads make that challenge even greater.  We owe it to our kids, our business people, and our communities to maintain a safe and reliable transportation system and we urge the Legislature to move this important piece of legislation forward.”

The Montana Infrastructure Coalition is an association of over 100 public and private organizations involved in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of our most critical infrastructure in Montana.  The purpose of this Coalition is to help change public policy and improve the manner in which State and local governments build and maintain these essential community assets.

After nearly six weeks of work amongst Infrastructure Coalition members and a bi-partisan group of legislators, the Bridge and Road Safety and Accountability Act has been formally introduced to the Legislature and has been scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday, February 22^nd.

As a means of updating our “user fees” for Montana highways, the bill, sponsored by Rep. Frank Garner (R-Kalispell), proposes an $0.08 increase in the tax on gasoline, and a $0.0725 increase in the tax on highway diesel.  This increase is estimated to provide roughly $35 million in new revenue for the Montana Department of Transportation, provide approximately $24 million in new revenues to city and county governments, and protect Montana Highway Patrol jobs put at risk by current budget constraints.

“The Infrastructure Coalition is excited to see HB 473 moving forward and we hope for a good, robust hearing on the merits of the bill,” said Darryl James, Executive Director of the Coalition.  “While the current bill draft does not completely mirror our proposal, we do believe that it is a sound vehicle that we can stand behind as a Coalition.  HB 473 allows Montana to fully leverage federal highway dollars and provide a long-overdue increase for local governments to address our most pressing transportation safety and efficiency needs across Montana.”

“A fuel tax is one of the most direct “user fees” we have at our disposal.  We haven’t adjusted that fee since the early 90’s in Montana, and we simply cannot keep up with routine maintenance as the value of our revenue declines relative to inflation,” said James.

Rep. Frank Garner said, “My mission in sponsoring HB 473 is to promote road and bridge safety for our families.  With this bill, we can pay as we go for these improvements and we can get our out-of-state visitors to help us pay for them.  We can turn an investment of $60 million into $290 million with federal and local matching funds and we can save tens of millions more with safer and better roads.”

The Infrastructure Coalition urges legislators to see this bill for what it is – an opportunity to leverage a direct user fee to invest in our failing roads and bridges.  James said, “This bill is about our kids and our commerce in Montana.  Over 200 people die every year on Montana’s highways.  Surely we all share an interest in making sure our kids have safe roads to get to school and sporting events across the state.  Our remote location often makes connections to business and commercial markets difficult, but poorly maintained roads make that challenge even greater.  We owe it to our kids, our business people, and our communities to maintain a safe and reliable transportation system and we urge the Legislature to move this important piece of legislation forward.”

The Montana Infrastructure Coalition is an association of over 100 public and private organizations involved in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of our most critical infrastructure in Montana.  The purpose of this Coalition is to help change public policy and improve the manner in which State and local governments build and maintain these essential community assets.

HB 473 Information Packet– important information about the bill

23% of Montana’s water systems don’t meet Federal standards.

This is unacceptable!

This is a picture of a pipe from Scobey’s water system. Half of the original pipes from 1919 are still used today. The iron level of Scobey’s water is 132x the federal standard.

Informative and insightful column from Sen. Llew Jones on the proposed fuel tax increase, worth the read!