Libby, Montana mayor, mechanic looks to repair town image

In the three years since Doug Roll was appointed mayor of Libby, it has been the little things that matter most to him: fixing the roads, improving the appearance of the downtown area and appointing the right people at the right time.

But what is perhaps his proudest accomplishment is an artist rendering of a park that’s hanging on the wall in his small office on Education Way, two miles from Libby City Hall.

Roll said he hopes that a city park, being built with financial help from the Environmental Protection Agency, will have grass growing by next summer and will become a symbol of a new era in Libby. The park, located just north of downtown, will be squeezed between the Kootenai River and the railroad tracks, where W. R. Grace and Co. once loaded rail cars of vermiculite ore and cancer-causing asbestos that killed or sickened hundreds in recent decades. Roll said most of the city land has been cleaned over the last several years, but a tarnished reputation remains.

"We’re trying to get this ‘death town’ stigma behind us," Roll said.

Full Story: http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/libby-mayor-mechanic-looks-to-repair-town-image/article_002edcee-4588-11e1-87a5-001871e3ce6c.html