Boulders came crashing down on a home just below the Rims in September, and the city has been gone through extensive research to safely remove other boulders that could threaten other homes.
On Friday, the city hired Apex Rock Breaking solution and made a major push in the right direction to ensure the safety of that neighborhood just below the Rims.
"We wanted to make sure we found folks who do this, who are professionals, who know what they are doing. We put the work out to bid, had contractors come and review it. You don't get two chances to do this right. We want it to go as well as this first part did," Billings City Administrator Chris Kukulski said.
He said safety is the driver, both for the home owners and the workers who will haul those rocks away.
"Any time we have people working in the right of way, whether they are city employees or contractors, safety has to be our top priority. That has really been the focus of the work that is being done," Kukulski said.
Once the rock scaling work is done, another crew will haul the rest of the rocks away, and it will be business as usual.
"The neighbors have been really good to work with. They have been very understanding. We have been trying to be communicative with them as to where we are at in the process. People were out here. They have been really good to work with," Kukulski said. "They have been patient as we worked our way through it and I think they have genuinely appreciated the steps to be communicating with them as to where we are in the process.
