c/o Sharon Wolske, 520 Wicks Lane #7a, Billings MT 59105
Famous Rabbit of the Back Yard.... Snowbell. The rabbit that thinks it's a dog! Our back yard is on Senator's Blvd., and many people stop and check out the big white rabbit! Snowbell died peacefully under a tree in our yard in Sept. 2012...
KEEP GOING DOWN THE PAGE TO SEE SOME OF THE PROJECTS THAT DENIS HAS BEEN WORKING ON WHILE ON THE BILLINGS CITY COUNCIL!!!
Thanks to Councilman Denis Pitman, for helping arrange the parking spot, to help Brookstone Monument, access to park their truck near the Montana Purple Heart memorial, in order to inscribe new names, Tomy Parker, Corey Sherwood, and many others, thanks to Marlene and Dennis of Brookstone.
to find the best in others; to give of one’s self;
to leave the world a bit better,
whether by a healthy child,
a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition,
to have played and laughed with enthusiasm
and sung with exultation;
to know that even one life has breathed easier
because you have lived -
this is to have succeeded.”
-Ralph Waldo Emerson
SUPPORTING HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS WITH DISC GOLF PROJECT!
LIGHT AT ST. ANDREWS AND WICKS LANE
FINISHING TRAILS UNDER MAIN STREET, ARONSON AND ALKALI CREEK!
The students in Skyview High’s advanced-placement government class are trying to practice what they’ve been preached.
The students are meeting with the Billings City Council later this month to propose building a disc golf course at High Sierra Park in the Heights.
“In the spring, second semester, I tell my students, the community has done a lot for you, now it’s time for you to do something for the community,” Jerry Jette, Billings Skyview High School government instructor, said. “The reason I do this is so they understand” how city government works.
Jette’s class got together earlier this year and came up with a plan to put a disc golf course in the Heights. It was an idea fraught with potential setbacks.
Last fall, after complaints from residents, the City Council voted to remove disc golf from the Pioneer Park Master Plan. The move caused an uproar in the community, and the council put disc golf back in weeks later.
Jette reminded his students of the controversy and told them he didn’t think proposing a disc golf course was the greatest idea. But his students persisted.
And he’s glad they did.
“We haven’t had anyone say this is a bad idea,” Jette said.
In fact, when the students made their presentation to Mark Jarvis, the city’s park planner, he was pleasantly surprised.
When the Pioneer Park Master Plan was revised by the council, members asked the parks department to look at other places in the city where a disc golf course could be built to alleviate some of the pressure on Pioneer Park.
“Turns out High Sierra Park is No. 2 on the priority list,” Jarvis said.
The students met with the Heights Task Force last week and then held a community meeting at Skyview High on Tuesday night. The response was positive at each gathering, Jette said.
Denis Pitman, one of the council’s two Heights representatives, was at both meetings and praised the students’ efforts.
“It’s a great civic lesson for the students,” he said.
Like Jarvis, Pitman believes High Sierra Park is just the place for disc golf.
“This is a park where there aren’t a lot of neighbors,” he said. “It’s an easy fit.”
Students will meet with the parks board next week and then the City Council at its May 24 planning session. Pitman believes they’ll get a positive reception from council members.
Jette is just pleased his students are learning how local government operates. They’ll live in towns and cities their whole lives, and it’s important they know how government functions, he said.
Jarvis agreed.
“I think that it’s great civic acumen,” he said.
Contact Rob Rogers at rrogers@billingsgazette.com or 657-1231.
BILLINGS- If you were new to Billings and were driving around Metra Park, any evidence of the Father's Day Tornado of 2010 could easily be confused with maintenance work or road construction.
Heights City Council representative Angela Cimmino said a little more than a year ago, the current appearance of Main Street post-tornado would be considered fantasy.
But the fantasy came to life today, as it has several times in the recent past, as two stalwart Billings businesses broke ground on a new location Thursday at Main Street and Hansen Lane.
The Brewer Dental Center plans to open their new dental office in March of 2012, and Dr. Kevin Brewer, D.D.S., hopes his new building's tenant, City Brew, can open its doors before spring.
For Brewer, the move to the heights seemed like a smart business decision.
"Well, it's the fifth largest city in Montana is what I'm told," said Brewer. "And we've got Lockwood not far away, which is they say, is the seventh largest community in Montana. So, it's just a huge population base. If you look at dentist ratios, how many thousand people there are per dentist in a location, this location is pretty good."
According to Rick Leuthold of the Big Sky Economic Development board and Sanderson/Stewart, that's really the story of the heights.
"There are several locations, even right along Main Street, where this was an old dilapidated corner, it had a car lot on it, and could be used in a better fashion," said Leuthold.
But even with the prime real estate, Brewer noted the difficulty of establishing a brand-new cliental base, calling the move "risky" while also describing it as "exciting".
Leuthold says some of that risk is due to the Billings heights historically being behind the curve when it comes to development-but recent and anticipated growth in the area is catching the massive neighborhood to speed--mostly due to the regional pull of Billings enjoyed by the community at-large.
"We benefit a lot from the natural resource industries in and around the area," said Leuthold. "Of course, we have a strong medical community, a strong agricultural community and services sector."
And it's the services sector heights city councilman Denis Pitman hopes the continuing development of amenities helps to expand.
"I think we're looking at hoping to, at some point, attract the movie theaters, some more restaurants, family restaurants that'll accommodate larger groups, things like that," said Pitman.
But both Pitman and Cimmino say a big part of that development will depend on the ability of a roadway like the inner belt loop or the Aronson Bridge project to take the pressure off of Main Street.
"They're looking for alternative routes to make sure that their customers have easy access in and out of the heights," said Pitman
Denis Pitman, Billings City Councilman
2007 Elected
8 years in review
“If you are not at the table,
you are on the menu!”
Father’s Day Tornado 2010
Aronson Road Opened
Bench Road, bypass in front of Metra Park, Entire Project – Silly, but colored concrete was because I was driving by and realized how ugly it was going to look, remembered what we did on Aronson….
Oasis Facility
First Phase of IBL Skyway Drive
Stop light at St. Andrews and Wicks
Dorothy Lane Paved
Reconstruction of Alkali Creek Road
Dehler Park
Billings Library
Shilo Road
Empire Garage
Airport Road Reconstruction
Castle Rock Park, Spray Park, Tennis Courts
Lake Elmo Drive
National League of Cities and Towns Energy, Environment and Natural Resources
Montana League of Cities and Towns, Billings Representative
Dog Park
Swords Park Trail system,
Medical MJ, Chair
Back yard Chickens
NDO
Shilo Conservation Area
Countless ribbon Cutting and ground breakings
Billings Bypass, SAVED MARY
Helped get infrastructure projects in the BURD, gateway
Educator for a day
Yellowstone Veterans Cemetery Board, Friends of the Cemetery, Yellowstone National Cemetery
Independence Hall, VOA
QRV’s in fire department
Landfill methane gas into revenue for city.
Shawnee approach to Main Street
Answered thousand of emails and hundreds of calls from people in the heights
Deputy Mayor ProTem
Updated web site, council email, electronic devices, attempt to move council paperless.
Learned a lot about Montana open meeting laws…. Education by Gazette Reporter Matt Hagengruber…
Babcock Theater project
In 8 years had 3 different Ward 2 members to work with Stevens, Brewster, and Cimmino, 2 mayors, and one city administrator
Appointed a City Judge to replace Knisley. Judge Kolar
Jani McCall the only person remaining on the council since I began…..
PCC alternative Representative
Priority Based budgeting
Balanced City Budget for 8 years. Leaving with 13 million in unbudgeted reserves
Reduced lawsuits for directing staff to aggressively defend city…
Toured every department in the city
Elected officials disaster training
City, County, School District meetings, didn’t happen before getting on council
City now on facebook
Hiring of additional police and 911
Community Conversations
Miles of connected bike trails
Re-Opening of Northern Hotel
Billings Hosting MLCT
Strategic Plan for Billings
Quiet Zone downtown
Lockwood Waste Water agreement
Larger Holding ponds at Airport
New MET Bus Wash
New Radio system for police and fire
Educator for a day
Storm Drain system in West Heights, Hilltop and Nutter – still go out after every storm and clear intake drains.
New Fire Station on west end
Rock removal from rims
Chairs at Cemetery
Sale of some unused public land
New and larger water reservoirs
VISTA Volunteer Program
Restroom at Cemetery, Swords Park
Redrew council boundaries,
Still in process:
IBL 2nd phase
Barrett Road Spring of 2016
Billings By-pass Outer Connection
Airport remodel
911 Center
Disappointments:
PMD1. Not because of what it has done but how it was put in place. Protest process..
Water Bills and City billing depts..
Air Force One never landed in Billings in 8 years
Cell Phone Ordinance
Park and Ride at Castle Rock Park never took off
Because of being on the council, I have:
Walked in the disaster of the Metra tornado
Stood on the Dome of the capital in Washington DC
Children have grown up with me in public life, support what I do youngest was a year old when I started now 9
Walked in parades for Toys for Tots
Got to work with many great public servants, elected officials, staff
Represented an amazing and growing community
Helped with Independence Hall, National Cemetery, Veteran Issues
Been a voice for the people of the Heights
Brought the heights from Red headed step child to full influence on council
Not done alone, but working together for the betterment of Billings….