The Great Falls Public Schools board voted during their Oct. 13 meeting to approve a 15-foot easement for NorthWestern Energy to run electricity to a new air quality monitoring station.
The Montana Department of Environmental Quality is installing the new station on a piece of property at the Seibel soccer complex, just east of 52nd Street North and Silverwood Court.
The power supply easement will pass through GFPS owned property to the new station, which will replace the current station at the corner of 10th Avenue South and 2nd Street South.
GFPS “relies on these monitoring stations to make daily decisions regarding air quality based on the current environmental conditions. Having a station in this location will allow the district to make informed decisions regarding daily outdoor activities for our students across the district,” according to Luke Diekhans, business operations manager.
The current station is near a high traffic area, giving less than accurate air quality readings, Diekhans said.
The new station will be in a “complex area” with a mix of properties owned by the city, county and GFPS.
The new station will be completely enclosed by a fence and the location will “give us a better understanding of what the air quality actually is.”
There’s no cost to GFPS, Diekhans said.
