BILLINGS - A Billings city council member is raising questions about the possibility of a new state mental hospital in the city.
A Montana lawmaker said it's early in the process and the state simply wants people to know about the potential project in eastern Montana.
The discussion follows lawmakers earmarking $26.5 million in the latest legislative session for a new facility.
City council member Jennifer Owen said the proposal raises numerous questions.
"We had really planned, at least in our 2020 study for the inner belt loop now (Skyway) Drive, we had planned those as residential areas," said Owen, who is also a candidate for mayor. "So understanding what this facility looks like and how it might fit into the neighborhoods is a real concern. I am unclear why there's such an impetus to put this in a residential neighborhood."
Owen said she expects the city council to have a discussion about the potential state hospital at an upcoming work session.
She said she first heard about the proposal when the council was invited on a tour of the possible sites three weeks ago.
One of those sites is on Skyway Drive near High Sierra Park.
"I'm very concerned that the specific sites that they're looking at really are not consistent with the community's plan for development in and along the (Skyway) Drive," Owen said.
Other council members, including Mayor Bill Cole, have said they just recently learned of the proposal to locate a new state hospital in Billings.
Officials with the state Department of Public Health and Human Services have not responded to requests for information about the status of the proposal to build a new hospital.
Gov. Greg Gianforte, who was in Billings on Wednesday, told a Q2 reporter that no decision has been made on the location of the new state hospital and he had no new information.
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