New Montana Town Seeks to Forge an Identity

From general store owner Terry Taylor’s standpoint, life in this small town had almost all a person could require, just like the cramped store from which he dispenses everything from hunting supplies to embroidery floss.

But Taylor felt something was missing. Call it a sense of place. An identity. Taylor calls it “a sense of belonging somewhere.”

For Taylor and many other residents, this community, set on the eastern plains of Montana far off the well-traveled interstate, seemed to have an identity problem. From the day the first miners moved in, it has been a company town.

It is known for coal, scarring strip mines, looming, dark smokestacks and the Montana Power Co. The company and its predecessors for years provided almost everything, from jobs to recreation.

Two years ago residents felt compelled to seek a change and, through incorporation, hoped to refine the town’s image.

Incorporation, overwhelmingly approved by voters, was seen not only as an effort to separate community and company, but as residents’ response to a stifled southeast Montana economy and an uncertainty about the future of the mine and power plants.

“All the consultants, everybody, told us, ‘Look beyond the power plants and look to yourselves,’ ” said John Williams, Colstrip’s first mayor. “And I think that’s the direction we’re headed on this journey.”

But practical matters--duties as simple as parking regulations and as complex as levying city taxes--have made the journey for identity a difficult one.

“It’s a much larger task than any of us probably expected,” Williams said. “It’s taken a lot of effort.”

Colstrip was founded in 1924 by Northern Pacific Railway for workers mining coal to fuel steam locomotives. Montana Power purchased the coal leases in 1959, and with them acquired the small town site. A subsidiary, Western Energy Co., started mining coal in the late 1960s.

On the outside, the community of 2,200 looked and felt like any other in Montana. Tree-lined streets wind through mobile home parks and neighborhoods of rustic houses and newer homes. Schools and lush parks are fronted by paved streets with crosswalks and stop signs.

Although the company had for years been in charge of maintaining the community’s infrastructure, it was not its first priority. Production was, and that meant repairs and updates sometimes suffered.

“I don’t mean this in a bad way, but their focus wasn’t on operating the town. It was on production. And they needed to pay attention to that. That’s their business,” said Williams, 59, a former Montana Power employee.

To make changes, residents knew they needed a voice. In 1998, they sought an emancipation and the right to incorporate as a legitimate city with its own government, an ability to write is own rules and form its own identity.

The work has been tedious and challenging, focusing on large renovation projects one day and relatively minute but still imperative details the next.

Streets and water and sewer lines in the original town site, probably neglected since construction, still need extensive repairs, Williams said. City leaders hope to begin work next year.

The water and sewer rate structure favored commercial and industrial users, and Williams said it needs to be more fair to residents. The city must establish building and zoning ordinances and even parking regulations.

Law enforcement is still provided by Rosebud County, though the city is looking at whether it would be less expensive to hire its own police. A volunteer fire department protects Colstrip. The department was already established under its own district before Colstrip incorporated. Oversight since has been transferred to the city.

The city has a handful of employees. Williams’ job is a full-time one. There is also a four-member elected City Council.

“Being able to have a say in what happens here is nice,” said Taylor, 51, a resident for about 20 years, whose home has a view of the smokestacks. “I think it helps with stability.”

Stability is something Colstrip often has lacked, and with which it still struggles. The population fell by about 1,000 several years ago when Montana Power cut operations, Williams said. It reminded the community of its vulnerability.

City establishment also coincided with Montana Power’s sale of most of its interest in the Colstrip generation operations to PPL Montana. Rae Olsen, director of corporate relations for PPL, said the company has pledged to make no staff reductions.

Although the city strives to learn how to meet residents’ needs, it’s still the power plants that pay most of the bills. About 95% of the cost associated with operating the city is paid by the plants through the taxes they pay, Williams said.

The city has earmarked about $30,000 for economic development --key, Williams said, for a town determined to stand on its own. A push to attract new businesses has not yet started because of the focus on establishing government and regulations.

“Eastern Montana in particular has been pretty [economically] flat, or maybe losing people, because of the farming and ranching community,” Taylor said.

Shopping options in Colstrip are limited to little more than a lumberyard, Taylor’s store and a grocery. Residents routinely travel more than an hour to Billings or Miles City for better shopping. The former theater is closed, and the mall has been vacant for about five years.

“We’ve got a lot of irons in the fire,” Williams said. “And they all have to fit together for this city to become attractive to light industry or whatever would like to come here and set up shop.”

*

https://www.colstrip.com/info.htm