Commission sets public hearing on parkland swap

The City Commission voted Tuesday to set a public hearing for Oct. 6 to consider swapping a piece of Clara Park with NorthWestern Energy for a new substation.

The park is at 4110 Ella Drive.

The utility company needs to build a new substation while keeping the current one operational to increase capacity because of growth on the east end of Great Falls.

City Planning Director Craig Raymond said the proposed plan would let NorthWestern build on the southern corner, then dismantle the existing substation and clean up the site to give that property back to the city to be incorporated into the park.

If the parcel NorthWestern returns to the city is smaller than the parcel they plan to build on, then the company will give the city cash for the difference.

The company will also pay to relocate city utilities, Raymond said.

“It’s a pretty significant investment on their end to make it happen,” he said.

The Park and Rec board and the Neighborhood Council 4 have already approved the swap.

The commission also voted to approved Keith Nelson to fill a vacancy on the planning board. The board members had a tie vote on which candidate to appoint and also asked to readvertise for a second vacancy that opened while taking applications for the first.

The commission supported that decision and the city will be seeking more applications for the second vacancy but will keep the previous applicants in the pool.

Nelson was an opponent of the Thaniel and West Ridge additions that were approved in July and August and applied for the planning board after the commission approved Thaniel.