Lee’s Pool final plat approved

The Madison County Board of Commissioners moved to unanimously approve the final plat for the Lee’s Pool Subdivision and Planned Unit Development (PUD).

The final plat is consistent with the preliminary plat, approved in October 2020. The plat consists of five condominium lots—lots one and two include 81 hotel rooms and 13 detached cabins—a spa, restaurant and ski lodge. Lots three through five include thirty-eight residential condominium units and will be interspersed among the lots.

Overall, the project contains 63 buildings and is approximately 350,000 square feet. Kevin Germain, with Moonlight Basin and Lone Mountain Land Company (LMLC) is the project applicant.

Road improvements, site preparation and water and sewer improvements are parts of the subdivision improvement agreement.

A proposed road, anticipated to be named Roosevelt Road, will be the primary access to Lee’s Pool and comes off of upper Jack Creek Road (JCR). Roosevelt Road will loop around the area and attach to Big Stick Road.

To meet part of the subdivision improvement agreement, approximately two miles of upper Jack Creek road will be paved, from Roosevelt Road, close to the Big Sky gate, and over to the intersection with Moonlight Trail. This portion of the road will be open to the public.

Overall, the Lee’s Pool Subdivision and PUD horizontal improvements (water, sewer and roads) are expected to cost $7.2 million. A security bond placed with Madison County covers 25% of the work yet completed, allowing for $9 million. Once work is completed, the bond amount is reduced.

“We plan on accomplishing a lot of work on the bond this summer,” Germain said. Doing so brings the risk factors for Madison County down—as work is completed, the bond amount is reduced.

Components of Lee’s Pool will be primarily wood frame construction, and local Montana companies have been hired for the project.

“It’s been a long road getting to this point, but I’m pretty excited for the project,” Germain said.

The goal is to have everything open and operational in Lee’s Pool by Dec. 2023.

Jack Creek Road Improvement Project

In a project unrelated to Lee’s Pool, Jeremiah Theys with Great West Engineering (GWE) provided an update at the commissioners’ meeting on the Jack Creek Road Improvement Project.

The Jack Creek Road Improvement Project is focused on the county’s easement portion on Jack Creek Road from the Moonlight Gate to the mouth of the canyon. Select locations along the road have been identified as sites for improvement.

A feasibility study was conducted for Madison County in 2007 regarding the project which looked at safety improvements along the road. Safety issues on Jack Creek Road have been brought up for years and with increased traffic on the road, “It’s just become a real priority for the county to try and improve going up the canyon,” Theys, natural resource business unit manager for GWE, said.

“The big push is just trying to minimize any impact to that fiber because it is all over the place,” Theys said. The goal is to eliminate any impact to utilities when construction begins.

In the design plans, new culverts are considered to improve drainage—keeping it off the road and away from Jack Creek. Again, priority is adding culverts in areas that will not impact utilities.

The start date for the JCR project is dependent on next steps. If after advertising for bids, offers are received by the end of May, public meetings would be held in June. Theys said he would love to see the project done this fall.

The cost for the JCR project is expected to reach $1.1 million, which will be paid for by the county. The county has applied for an Intercap Loan through the Montana Board of Investments to help with costs. Theys inflated the cost by 20% to account for high construction costs and volatile materials. Mainly, just corrugated metal piping (CMP) and fencing will be needed for this project. More specifics regarding cost will be known after bids are received.