VIC supporters await state response
<p>Supporters of the St. Regis Visitor Information Center are still waiting for an answer regarding the lack of funding for the center.</p>
Traditionally the St. Regis Visitor Information Center opens in May however after being passed up from state funding Glenn Koepke of the St. Regis Community Council told county commissioners he has “no clue” how the center will open.
Koepke and the county commissioners discussed the lack of response from anyone in the state government regarding a letter sent a month ago from both the community council and commissioner urging the state to provide funds to the center, which is located in a critical region and is passed by anyone traveling to places like Glacier National Park from the west.
“It would be a shame if we don’t have one (a VIC) because we are going to have thousands of people coming through in the next couple of months,” Koepke said.
The county commissioners agreed with Koepke and it was decided a call would be made to state officials in the next week to try to discuss the lack of response to the letter as well as possible solutions to the funding issue.
Koepke mentioned upcoming events such as the upcoming town yard sale and trail run to the commissioners – events he said should bring a large number of visitors to the St. Regis area. Visitors that would traditionally utilize the St. Regis VIC.
The St. Regis VIC was informed late last year that they would need to apply for required training in order to receive up to $5,000 in funds. While the $5,000 is significantly less than the VIC received in past years, representatives of the center still applied for the training only to be informed via email that St. Regis will not receive funding.
“Instead, many of the populated centers near the center of Montana were selected and some other gateway communities like St. Regis were shunned,” Koepke said in a previous discussion with county commissioners. “The state never acknowledged our application nor offered any regrets for not having selected us.”
County Commissioner Roman Zylawy initially read a draft of the letter that was later edited and sent to various members of the state governent, which opens by saying the commissioners, as “leaders” of the community, are “responsible to find solutions to many problems and we find this one very challenging.”
“The historic funding of approximately $20,000 per year from the state had been used to pay for wages to operate the VIC during the summer months,” Commissioner Zylawy read. “We have been informed the VIC will be receiving no funding from the state. We believe this action will be detrimental to what has been accomplished by the VIC and the St. Regis Community Council in promoting tourism throughout Montana.”
The letter goes on to state the commissioners are “very proud” of the work the VIC has put in to promote statewide tourism and mentions the importance of St. Regis as being a gateway community to Montana for tourists heading into the state from the west.
After the reading Commissioner Zylawy said it was “critical” to remind the state of the fact that they initially approached St. Regis for help with tourism. Koepke responded that the letter that would be attached to the commissioners goes into the history of the VIC.
“That to me is the whole crux of it – when they needed somebody you guys stepped up and found the volunteers,” Commissioner Zylawy said. “Now that they are back in the driver’s seat they want to forget about what you did and jerk you under the rug.”