BILLINGS — Lem Robinson, who lost his 22-year-old-daughter Savanah in a motorcycle crash on May 26, has spent months building a memorial to honor her memory, but is now being asked to take it down because it is on city and state-owned land. The memorial is located on Highway 3 west of the Billings airport.
Robinson has been working on the memorial since early June. “I'm just thinking about her,” Robinson said in a recent interview.
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Robinson visits the memorial almost every morning on his way to work, spending hours maintaining and working on the tribute to his daughter.
“Just every morning on the way to work, I just stop here and work a couple hours,” Robinson said.
It’s a place that he and friends visit often: “A couple of weekends ago, a whole bunch of us got here and had a little, you know, talk about her,” Robinson said.
On September 12, the Billings Airport and the Montana Department of Transportation sent Robinson a letter requesting that he remove the memorial by October 17.
“It's very frustrating. I don't I don't understand why this one's such a big deal,” Robinson said. “I just don't know what it's hurting.”
Paul Khera, the assistant aviation director of the airport, said he understands Robinson’s frustrations but explained the memorial’s location creates complications.
Khera said in a letter to Robinson that the memorial is on property that is owned by the City of Billings and the Montana Department of Transportation.
The letter, signed by Khera and an administrator for the Montana Department of Transportation, says that while they "truly appreciate your desire to create a meaningful tribute, we must inform you that such installations are not permitted under Montana Code Annotated Title 60, Chapter 6, unless a formal encroachment permit has been issued."
The letter goes on to say that they have been made aware of concerns that the memorial may "pose a distraction or safety hazard to passing motorists."
The letter states that they want to support Robinson's efforts that is both meaningful and legal, and said that the Montana Department of Transportation is willing to approve a Highway Fatality Marker at the site, as long as it is coordinated through the American Legion of Montana.
“It was a tragic situation,” Khera said. “I felt very bad about his daughter and about having to write the letter.”
