Commissioners Review New Growth Plan
The Roosevelt County Commissioners held their final review for the county’s growth policy on Tuesday, May 18. The plan conducted by Interstate Engineering received a good amount of public input through a survey.
“I was really impressed with how many people completed the survey,” Matt Lower of Interstate Engineering said during the meeting.
Residents can still complete the survey on Roosevelt County’s website, http://rooseveltcounty.org.
“It’s a living document,” Lower noted.
He said he received positive assistance from John Bach of Interstate Engineering, Great Northern Development Corp. and tribal leaders in compiling information.
Lower noted the growth policy is a menu of options for the county. A good growth policy helps to create better predictability for rural areas.
The growth plan will be on the agenda for approval at the commissioners’ June 1 meeting. “I feel like it’s a lot better document than 10 years ago,” Commissioner Gordon Oelkers said.
The growth plan is done every 10 years with an update conducted every five years.
According to the survey, residents say the top three goals for the future include better maintenance of roads, attracting more job-creating businesses and increasing collaboration between the county and city governments.
The top three economic development policies supported by the public are encouraging communities to protect and promote their assets through town planning, increasing housing choice and quality, and stimulating economic growth by finding ways to make the investment environment more predictable.
Development initiatives perceived by the public to be beneficial include encouraging investment in the existing downtown areas and neighborhoods of the county’s small towns, double down on farming and ranching as a dominant economic driver and serving the region by expediting new industrial development.
Ranked as the top three opportunities to improve are adding living wage jobs, increasing the daily services available in the county and lowering the cost of living.
Listed as key findings were: Residents appreciate and want to maintain the rural character of the county while at the same time embrace common sense economic development initiatives and infrastructure improvements; Roosevelt County is a dynamic, multi-cultural place that plays an important role regional economy of the MonDak region and across from the state of Montana; Roosevelt County has many tools available to improve quality-of-life while protecting rural and smalltown lifestyles; and the Roosevelt County government is in a unique position to lead partnerships that foster new investment and development.
Segments of the plan included land use and transportation, community economic development, streamlined service delivery and natural and cultural resources.
Under geography, the information includes that the county is approximately 2,484 square miles to make it the 29th largest county in Montana. The county is larger in size than Rhode Island and Delaware.
According to the publication, 42 percent of the county’s publication is under the age of 25 and only 11 percent of the county is older than 65 years of age. Approximately 57 percent of the county identifies as American Indian or Alaska Native.
Median household income, based on 2018 information, is $42,904. Other area counties’ median income include Sheridan at $54,321, Daniel at $54,750, Valley at $55,882, Richland at $67,272 and McCone at $75,500.
Roosevelt County’s largest non-government employers include Northeast Montana Health Services, Albertson’s, Roosevelt Medical Center, Sherman Inn, Farmers Union Oil, Buckhorn Bar, Fort Peck Tribes, McDonalds, Town Pump and Cenex Harvest States.
