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02/06/2026
“Missoula This Week” is reported and written By Katie Fairbanks. Send your Missoula news and tips to [email protected].
Fire chief hopes to break ground in a year
Plans for a sixth fire station in the western part of the city advanced Wednesday after the Missoula City Council approved funding for the initial design of the project.
Fire Chief Lonnie Rash told the council he hopes to break ground on the station in a year, following the design work and land purchase. The station will be paid for by the 34-mill levy voters approved in June 2024, which also funds 20 new firefighters and the mobile support team.
“Ultimately, it’s community safety,” Rash said. “We basically are going to fulfill the promise we made to the citizens to provide an additional fire station, reduce response times and locate our mobile support team in a location with the fire department.”
The council Wednesday approved a $125,000 contract with 45 Architecture to complete a needs assessment and conceptual design for the new station. The Bozeman-based architect will work with Rice Fergus Miller, a firm with experience building fire stations, on the project, Rash said. The assessment will help determine the space, equipment and operational needs for the new station, which will also house the mobile support team, he said. The team, which responds to behavioral health calls, currently rents space off Russell Street. The preliminary design will include conceptual drawings and a cost estimate, Rash said.
As the design moves forward, fire department officials and staff, city officials, mobile support team members and residents will weigh in on the project, Rash said.
At the same time, the fire department will work to acquire land in the area identified by the station location study — around South Third Street between Reserve and Russell streets, Rash said. The study found that a station in that area will help reduce the response time for thousands of addresses, he said.
Council Member Stacie Anderson said she appreciates the department’s consideration of density changes throughout the city and that the new station location makes sense given the growth in the Franklin to the Fort neighborhood.
“The fact that it is an overall system-wide relief is, I think, really important for us who don’t live in the core of the city but want to make sure that we, when needed, have quick response times,” she said.
After breaking ground in the next year or so, station construction could take 12 to 18 months, Rash said.
3 Questions For
The University of Montana recently named Libby Metcalf as the dean of the W.A. Franke College of Forestry and Conservation, the first woman to lead the college in its 112-year history.
Metcalf joined the university in 2010 and was previously the college’s interim dean, the senior associate dean and the Joel Meier Distinguished Professor of Wildland Management. As the dean and director of the Montana Forest and Conservation Experiment Station, Metcalf will oversee six academic departments and educational and research initiatives.
Montana Free Press caught up with Metcalf about the appointment and the department’s future. Her comments have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
MTFP: What do you see as the future of forestry and conservation, and what does that mean for this department going forward?
Metcalf: In Montana, the natural environment is inextricably linked to our way of life, from all the beautiful, wild places that bring us joy and support our economy, to the wildfires and extreme weather we must navigate as a society. In the college, we seek to understand all aspects of the natural environment so we can help inform complex issues with science, train and educate our future workforce, and be a resource for Montanans all across the state. For 112 years, this mission has guided our work and shaped generations of students who are deeply connected to place, grounded in science, and prepared to meet real-world challenges. This evergreen commitment has ensured our stability and relevance through the good times and the challenging.
MTFP: Is there anything you would like to see the department do differently or focus on or accomplish under your leadership?
Metcalf: We have incredible momentum in the college, having recently welcomed Geoscience and Environmental Studies. In the coming years, our focus will be on unifying the college around a shared vision, ensuring we offer the programs our students need to succeed, and meeting the research needs of the state and beyond. With the right investments, we are well-positioned to become one of the nation’s leading colleges addressing environmental and natural resource challenges.
MTFP: There’s been recent federal changes to the Forest Service, other agencies and funding opportunities. Have you heard concerns from students and what do you say to them about future professions in the field?
Metcalf: Priorities and resources have always evolved over time – what remains constant is the strength of our relationships with federal agencies, Montana’s congressional delegation, state agencies and the many other partners we work with. These connections offer our students meaningful opportunities in research, training and career pathways. At the same time, we are continually adapting our courses and career services to ensure students graduate with the skills, experiences and networks needed to meet current and emerging workforce demands.
Public Notice
The Missoula County commissioners Thursday are set to consider a request from Grant Creek Crossing Missoula LLC for a $7.9 million tax increment financing reimbursement for road and utility infrastructure to support a proposed 200-unit apartment building and future development at its property off North Reserve Street.
In 2024, the commissioners created a targeted economic development district covering the 84-acre site, a reclaimed gravel pit, south of I-90 and west of Reserve Street. The site has not attracted private development since the area was reclaimed nearly 20 years ago due to a lack of infrastructure, according to the county. The district allows the collection of tax increment revenue to help pay for infrastructure. As improvements are made in the district and property taxes rise, the resulting increase in tax revenue is collected into a fund for further investment in the district.
The Grant Creek Crossing owns most of the land in the district apart from the eight-acre Grant Creek Self Storage property at 2405 Michael Road, according to the county’s property information system. John Giuliani and Daniel Ermatinger, who have been involved in other Missoula developments, are registered members of the LLC, according to the most recent filing with the Montana Secretary of State’s office.
Grant Creek Crossing is requesting that the county commit TIF funds to reimburse the developer for the upfront infrastructure costs. That includes traffic signal and roadway improvements to the intersection of Reserve Street and Schramm Street, extending city sewer and water lines, extending electric and natural gas distribution lines and constructing a road through the site to county standards. The infrastructure would support the first phase of development on 39 acres, including the proposed apartment building classified as workforce housing and potential future housing, mixed-use, commercial or industrial development.
The developer plans to construct the infrastructure this summer. The county would not reimburse the developer until the district receives enough tax increment revenue to cover costs.
The commissioners will consider the proposal during their meeting at 2 p.m. in the Sophie Moiese Room of the Missoula County Courthouse. Those interested can also join the meeting virtually on Microsoft Teams.
On Campus
Grizzly football head coach Bobby Hauck announced his retirement Wednesday, effective immediately. Hauck, who has been the head coach since 2017, also led the team from 2003 to 2009. Wide receivers coach Bobby Kennedy will take over as head coach.
Hauck said during a press conference Wednesday that there’s never a convenient time in the college football calendar, but he was comfortable with leaving the team in good shape for next year.
“We’ve had a lot of success here, but I wasn’t going to have them spread my ashes on the practice field because I dropped dead out there,” he said. “There comes a juncture where it comes time to do something else.”
Hauck said head coaching has become less enjoyable in recent years due to changes in college football, most notably the transfer portal that allows players to move teams more easily and the ability for athletic programs to pay them.
“The dealing with agents and the transient nature of this and the lack of forward thinking by young people, which has never been a strong suit for centuries for young people, but now when they’ve got adults pushing them and pulling them in different directions, I kinda got tired of all that,” Hauck said.
5 Things to Know in Missoula
The Missoula City Council Wednesday approved a resolution to rename the Northside pedestrian bridge for Bob Oaks, who championed the creation of the bridge in the 1980s. Oaks, who died in 2025, was the founder and longtime director of Front Step Community Land Trust and led numerous projects to improve the Northside and Westside neighborhoods. Several Northside neighbors expressed interest in renaming the bridge after Oaks after his death, and Front Step CLT helped organize the effort, according to the staff report. The city’s Parks and Recreation Board in December recommended approval of the name change, which would take effect in July 2027.
“It’s really great to hear from so many neighbors following his passing about how integral Bob was to improving connectivity from the Northside to downtown and to fighting for working-class people in and around the Northside and beyond,” Front Step’s Jana Richter told the council.
On Jan. 29, local homeless shelters and volunteers conducted a survey of people living unhoused in Missoula as part of the annual Point in Time Count. The voluntary survey included people staying at the Poverello Center and the YWCA’s Meadowlark shelter, as well as those living unsheltered in Missoula. The HUD-required count is used to track trends and inform policy and is widely understood to undercount people, said Jill Bonny, the Poverello Center’s executive director. While the count has always been limited, this year the Poverello is more concerned about undercounting due to the closure of the Johnson Street emergency shelter in September and the city’s camping ordinance dispersing people and making them harder to find, Bonny said. For these reasons, the count should be considered one tool among many to measure homelessness in the community, she said. The 2025 survey counted 567 unhoused people, up from the 449 the previous year. In January 2025, 807 households were enrolled in Missoula’s local coordinated entry database, according to the Missoula Organization of Realtors’ data dashboard.
The Missoula City Council Wednesday approved a $224,800 contract with Morrison Maierle to design improvements to the sewer pipeline that crosses the Clark Fork River. The pipeline moves sewage from the area of Missoula south of the river to the city’s wastewater treatment plant off Mullan Road, said Andy Schultz, the city’s utilities engineer. In 2023, the city found “significant risks” to that pipe because it is exposed to the river and could be damaged or collapse, he said. The contract will be paid for by a state grant, he said. The city plans to apply for grants for final design and construction, as the total project cost is estimated at $4 million to $5 million, Schultz said.
On Thursday, the Missoula County commissioners approved $90,000 in Community Park and Recreation Grants for six projects. The awards include $26,985 to improve the Seeley Lake nordic ski trail system; $25,000 for the new Bonner playground and park; $17,000 for a new park pavilion at Clinton Community Park; $11,352 for a picnic shelter at the Potomac School District playground; $6,218 for benches, dog waste stations and trash bins along the National Conservation Legacy Center trail system; and $3,445 for a storage shed at the Ninemile Community Center.
The Missoula City Council Monday approved the new unified development code, which includes an updated zoning code and map that encourages a wider variety of housing throughout the city. The code reform follows the adoption of the Our Missoula 2045 Land Use Plan, which emphasized the need for housing development to accommodate projected population growth. The unified development code encompasses zoning, subdivision and other development regulations previously separated in different documents. Council members considered dozens of amendments to the proposed code and map in recent weeks and approved changes that remove parking minimums for new development and require larger buffers between marijuana dispensaries, among other tweaks. Read more about the new code here.
Might be Fun
The Missoula Family YMCA is holding a Sweetheart Dance Saturday, Feb. 7, for children and their adults. The semi-formal event takes place at the Y’s main campus at 3000 S. Russell St., and includes music, professional portraits, snacks, corsages for every child and raffles. Tickets are available online and cost $32 per couple in advance and $45 per couple at the door.
Tickets and passes are on sale for the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, which runs Friday, Feb. 13, through Sunday, Feb. 22. The 23rd annual festival includes nearly 140 nonfiction films.
In-person screenings will be held at the Wilma, the Missoula Children’s Theater, the Roxy and the Zootown Arts Community Center showroom. The schedule of screenings and events is available online. A selection of films will be available to stream online as part of the virtual festival from Feb. 16 through Feb. 26. The festival’s website has more information about tickets and passes.
The opening night film, “The Bend in the River,” will be shown at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 13, at The Wilma for free. A live Q&A with director Robb Moss and the film team will follow the screening.