An update on Pottsville progress
Members of the Pottsville Seven on the site visit to Pottsville.
Photo by MOLLY ROBERTS
MULLAN — The monthly meeting between the Shoshone Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) and the Pottsville Seven (the group looking to beautify the East Shoshone Park) took place this month at the Shoshone County Courthouse.
Tunnel City, Pottsville, and East Shoshone Park are the names the land has been called, located about four miles outside Mullan.
The park is currently under the ownership of the United States Forest Service (USFS) and is not owned by county land.
Recreation Program Manager Jason Smith with the U.S. Forest could not attend this month’s meeting but went over some updates in an email to the group.
“Work getting done so far is looking great, and people have been pretty excited to see everything getting updated and repaired. I’m looking forward to seeing the site continue to improve and know that it will provide great recreation opportunities for our communities and their families.”
Jim See, a member of the Seven, previously explained at a meeting in March, “The basic idea is to get things usable as soon as possible to be able to use the park.”
Since March, the park has become more usable, as volunteers under the Pottsville 7 volunteer agreement and USFS employees have been working on clean-up, mowing, removing debris, cleaning, and painting or staining the picnic tables.
Shoshone County Public Works Director Jim Cason attended this month’s meeting explaining to the group that no road funds can be obligated toward parks; however, manpower can be.
“We are partnering with the sportsman association with the fish hatchery to maintain and plow that road, but it is not a county road. If the materials were paid for, we can maintain the roads.”
Pottsville Seven recently became associated with the Mullan Community Foundation, a group whose goal is to enhance and enrich the lives of the citizens of Mullan.
Bud Koski, a member of the seven, challenged community members to donate $100. Last month, the group received $5,770. One month later, that amount has been raised to about $11,500, with more pledged donations coming in.
The group will meet again next month, with Shoshone News-Press following the story.
Anyone who would like to donate to the project can do so at Mullan Community Foundation, P.O. Box 472 Mullan, ID 83846, with the notation Pottsville Park.