Wibaux, MT

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You can do a tour around Wibaux and look at all the statues, most done by Mr. Burman made out of welded pipe and recycled items. Those are the most recent additions to Wibaux. Pierre Wibaux is the oldest statue in town overlooking the town. A popular statue is the angel in Angel Park across from the nursing home. Angel Park has really improved as trees have grown and half of the bowtie sidewalk loop is complete. The nursing home residents appreciate the beautiful view out their front windows. What does this have to do with poverty? 1. It’s recycling materials that others would call junk. 2. It’s a positive investment in our community that makes people proud. 3. Wibaux has a statue trail for people to follow - that’s tourism for this town proud of its heritage. 4. It’s structural change that will continue.

From a waitress wondering where she can find a lot to move in a trailer to a minister trying to find housing for his family, housing is so tight in Wibaux, it squeaks!

The abandoned Milton used to house several bachelors as well as the owner’s family but has been vacant 5 years as the owner is in the Vet’s Home and standards for housing has changed.

Things are happening as of late June- a rental has been renovated down to the studs to add insulation and rewiring to make a home available for rent. Two new homes will be added to Wibaux Co.; one bringing in a lady from Astoria, OR who can no longer afford the taxes as land prices have risen there. The Lost in Time Ranch is adding a dorm for the teachers of this non-profit organization working with inner city kids to expose them to astronomy, paleontology, geology and wildlife during the summer months.

Wibaux 7th and 8th graders helped the WibauxCAN (Community Action Now) committee design a logo. Ty Tousignant submitted the winning design, combining a W for Wibaux, with the school’s widely known longhorn mascot, as well as the CAN letters.

by Ginny Archdale

One of the highest priorities identified in the Horizons program survey was creating jobs and economic development in Wibaux. This also came up in study circles and leadership training segments. People were very positive about the idea of developing wind energy.

Wibaux County, the Eastern Plains RC & D, the Wibaux County Conservation District, and landowner Kory Scammon have partnered up to monitor wind data on a site southwest of Wibaux. This is the first step in determining whether a site is suitable for wind energy. Mike Carlson of the RC & D made arrangements for the county to borrow an 85-foot tower from a landowner in Jordan. The county paid for modifications to the tower and the county road crew helped Carlson put it up on a site that Scammon provided. Carlson also loaned the county an anemometer and data logger to put on the tower. Carlson has since retired, so the conservation district is now pulling the computer chip from the data logger periodically and sending it in to a state agency that then provides a report.

Data from the first three months was so positive that a wind development company put up its own 200 foot monitoring tower a half mile south of the first one.

Since August of 2007, the average wind speed at the site has been just over 17 miles per hour, and efficiency (how often wind would be adequate to produce energy) is above the 40 percent companies want to see. Overall, Carlson has described the site as rating about 6 ½ on a scale of 1 to 7, with 7 being the best.

However, most companies want to see at least a year, and maybe two years, worth of data before developing a site.

by Ginny Archdale

The bathrooms in Wibaux’s city park are so icky little kids run across the street to the neighbor’s houses to use the potty rather than use the city ones.

City Council asked R & R Construction to draw up plans and submit a quote to build two new handicapped bathrooms in unused space within the existing park building. Last week, the council agreed to accept those plans and R & R’s quote. The Wibaux County Commissioners also have agreed to share part of the cost of the project.

R & R plans to begin work on the new bathrooms later this summer.

by Ginny Archdale

Horizons funds are providing the stimulus for development of a Wibaux housing plan.
The Wibaux Horizons steering committee offered the Town of Wibaux $3500 from its coaching funds to hire outside expertise to conduct a structural inventory of Wibaux housing and analyze market conditions. These are the major components of a housing plan, which is the first step in seeking grants to fix up existing housing, remove blight, or build new low-income units.

With that offer on the table, the Town of Wibaux advertised for Requests for Proposals from community development consultants. At its May 14 meeting, the Town Council opened one proposal, from Single Tree Consulting of Bridger, Montana. Julie Jones of Single Tree proposes to develop a Wibaux housing plan at a cost of $5000. If the plan then leads to CDBG and HOME grant applications, additional funds will be needed to write and manage the grants.

The Town Council took Single Tree’s proposal under advisement, in order to check it over carefully, but it looks like the town will be moving forward with a housing plan. The Wibaux City-County Planning Board has agreed to contribute $1000 toward the plan, and the Town of Wibaux would contribute $500.

by Ginny Archdale

Sometimes it’s easy to be discouraged about the run-down buildings and yards that aren’t being mowed around town. You know – the glass is half empty attitude.

But then I look around and am amazed at all the hard work and pride that goes into the majority of properties in town. We have some very pretty yards. Right now, most lawns are green and freshly mowed. Wild plum trees, chokecherry trees, apple trees, current bushes, tulips and lilacs are starting to bloom. It’s really pretty out.

The black-headed grosbeaks that nest in my yard each summer just returned. Those pretty red-headed house finches are singing away from the tree tops, and robins follow me around the garden looking for worms. We have terrific bird habitat in Wibaux.
The glass really is more than half full.

It was an empowering and humbling experience. Several people from the WibauxCAN Committee (Community Action Now), met to review the subcommitee’s grant award suggestions. Over $16,000 of requests for just $2000 worth of grant money. The committee had obviously hit upon a need.

The grants were for property beautification: clean-up and fix-up. Making Wibaux an attractive place to live, one that speaks of the pride that residents have in their town was one of of the most important goals expressed by the people involved in the Study Circles.

WibauxCAN, in reaction to the Study Circle’s #1 subject, community beautification, conducted the grant funding cycle.

The single round of grants were for a total of $2000. But because of the overwhelming number of applications for money, the committee elected to nearly double the money available.

Empowering: we could help; help the individuals and help the community. Humbling. there wasn’t enough money–even with doubling the available funds. Choices would have to be made.

Winners? The community. Those funded. And those not funded. Their needs were defined, the cost estimated. They were ready for what WibauxCAN hopes will be round two.

By Renae Rasmussen -Today I got my blood drawn at the Wibaux Clinic. No, not the Wibaux Clinic that’s been in operation on main street for years, the old, run down, Wibaux Clinic with the floor that had borken boards, but the new Wibaux Clinic. This clinic is just east of the nursing home.

It has three exam rooms with sinks, running water, exam tables, an office for the doctor(s), a nurses station where they can take blood, perhaps even do some labwork. (That’s where I got my blood drawn).

Know what’s great? In the not too distant future, it will be open five days a week! Five!

Kudoos must go to the community who has wanted better medical service, the Horizon’s Study Circles who kept the idea in the forefront, but most of all to the county comissioners who took the leap and decided that if Wibaux was to have better health care, Wibaux needed to have control of the health care.

I’m not letting my husband go out of town to get blood drawn again.

The annually held clean up day in Wibaux, May 3 produced some amazing results this year.

One yard on main street has a very manicured look thanks to the hard work of several senior citizens who take pride in the overall appearance of our community. They were willing to give of their time and resources to trim branches, rake leaves and haul away several loads of debris. Their work is appreciated and the results are fantastic.

Jean Zinda