City of Townsend

City Council Meeting Draft Minutes of 1.2.2024

Call to Order:  Mayor Rauser called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Council members present were Angie Wintrow, Nate Brown, JB Howick, Valerie Baraza, and Vivian Boaz.  Also present were Peter Simon, Eric Crusch, Kari Williams, Nancy Marks, Steve McCullough, and Doug Sitton. 

The pledge of Allegiance was recited by all in attendance. 

Minutes from 12.19.2023:  (Add that Steve McCullough was invited to meeting.)  JB moved to accept the minutes as corrected.  Angie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried.   

Land Lease:  Steve McCullough talked about the land lease with the city.  He began spraying weeds on the city’s property to keep noxious weeds from spreading onto his own property.  He found out that he could not spray weeds on someone else’s property, so he asked if he could lease the property.  It’s the lagoon portion south of his property.   It used to baron and sterile, and since he’s been spraying the noxious weed (8-10 years), it’s grown good grass.  He’s brought horses and cattle to graze it off.  They have always kept it locked; however, the city has a key to McCullough’s lock, and Mr. McCullough has the code to the city’s lock.  JB asked if there is a reason to keep a lock on the property?   Steve McCullough explained it’s due to the deer.  He typically reserves hunting privileges inside the locked area for youth to hunt deer there.  The deer go into the protected area to have their babies.  Valerie asked if the public could gain access to the property?  Mr. McCullough stated that the public can contact the city to gain access, and there is also access on the north end of the lagoon that is city property.   JB stated that before now we have not had an official procedure for leasing public lands, but he expects that over the time of the lease that a policy might be in place that requires the land to go to bid.   JB asked if Steve was willing to enter the lease knowing this may be the case.  Steve said that he is and is not concerned about it, as he doesn’t know why anyone else would want to bid on it.  Peter Simon stated that he is going to adjust the language that identifies the “purpose” of the lease agreement, so that it’s clearer about spraying the weeds.  Angie made a motion to grant Steve McCullough the lease with additional explanatory language, “stated purpose”.   Valerie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried.  

Growth Policy:  JB stated that he read through the proposal and doesn’t see any issues with it, and that it meets the criteria for what they’re trying to achieve.  Vivian made a motion to grant the contract of the Growth Policy to WWC Engineering, Angie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Garbage Truck:  Eric Crusch updated everyone on the garbage trucks.  He stated that the new truck broke down, (2 sensors failed and the exhaust system was plugged) and unfortunately, he had to bring Tri-County down to come and help us out with garbage pick-up for one day.  The truck was fixed fairly quickly, and we currently have one operational garbage truck at this time.  Unfortunately, with the holidays, he stated that he was not able to get a quote on labor for fixing the old truck with the $10,500 part that is the brain box being put in the old truck.  Eric also spoke about the amount of garbage that people from all over the town/county continue to put in the larger garbage cans that are already used by the school, businesses, and hospital.  Vickie stated that “trash talk” is going to be a main point of discussion until we can find a solution. 

Vacant  Council Seat:  Ward II has a vacant council seat.  She stated that we will keep advertising for it until it’s filled.  Doug Sitton was at the meeting and passed out a letter of intent for the council seat.  Doug is a Townsend native; his aunt (Mary Alice Upton) was the mayor of Townsend for a number of years, and his brother Dave Sitton was on the council as well.  He stated that he wants to be a part of the community and would like to be a part of the city council.  Angie made a motion to accept Doug Sitton’s letter of intent for the Ward II city council seat, Nate seconded the motion.  Peter reminded him that he’d have to abstain from voting on anything that presented a conflict of interest such as his involvement with rotary, fall fest, chamber, and any other groups else he’s involved in.  No further discussion.  All in favor, motion carried.  He’ll be sworn in tonight, January 2, 2024.

Council President:  Valerie made a motion to appoint Angie as Council President; Nate seconded the motion.  Angie accepted the nomination and appointment.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Bank Accounts:  Vickie stated that we need a motion to take care of some signature changes to the city’s accounts at the bank.Valerie made a motion to remove Mayor Mike Evans from the bank accounts and change Vickie Rauser’s title to mayor on the accounts, and add the council president, Angie Wintrow as an authorized signer to the accounts.  Vivian seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried.   

Committee appointments and selections:  Vicke stated that she’d like to hold off on this until Doug has a week to think about where he’d like to be involved.  The insurance committee has not met for six years, so she’s not sure if we need that committee.  The Building Inspection Committee is also not needed, nor is the Parking Committee.  Vickie stated that she would like to have a representative from the city to be on the board for MBAC.  The discussion of MBAC Board and Committee Selections will be tabled until the next meeting. 

Animal/Compliance Officer:  Several people have stopped by and picked up applications for this position.  The position closes January 12, and we hope to have someone hired by the end of this month. 

Round Table: 

Railway:  Burlington Northern has taken over Montana Rail Link effective January 1^st, 2024.  Also, Big Sky Passenger Rail Authority has received the initial $500,000 for developing the scope of work for a service development plan for the North Coast Hiawatha.  (Southern Line).   The County is now looking at whether we ought to start promoting Townsend as a stop on this route.  The city needs to think about this as well.  The County Commissioners will be taking the lead on further discussions on this. 

Painting Bids:  We’ve received two bids to paint the inside of City Hall, and if we don’t receive another one in the next two weeks, Vickie proposed that move forward and vote between the two.   

Dog Waste Stations:  Vickie asked Valerie if she was still working on gathering information on more dog waste stations for the other parks in town.  She said that with the holidays, she has not done anything but will look into it soon.  Also, McCarthy Park has received a dog waste station from Ken and Margie Urich, however the park is NOT an  official “dog park”.  Leashes are still required!  JB offered to put an article in the paper regarding this. 

Peter asked to visit about the White’s Annexation.  This property has been sold to Steve Erban and his business, Out of Box Design, LLC.  Mr. Erban would like to proceed with the annexation.  Peter stated that we need a new resolution of intent with Mr. Erban, so we’ll talk to Jeremy at WWC Engineering regarding this.  Peter will draft a letter to the new owner and state what needs to be done. 

Angie stated that there is a course for new council members to attend online. 

JB had the privilege of attending a White Sulphur Springs housing committee meeting.  They are taking advantage of grant programs through the recently passed HB819.  A grant may be obtained by performing planning processes with an inventory of available properties in the area.  The deadline is January 28, 2024.  The Department of Commerce is hosting a Zoom meeting this Thursday at 11:00 a.m. regarding this information. 

Council Emails:  A city email account has been set up for the mayor and call council members in order to keep personal and city council emails separate. 

Kari:  Reported that the Annual Financial Report was completed; she will provide bank reconciliations and updated balances in accounts at the next meeting. 

Eric:  Offered to show council members around the lagoon, pumps, or to look at the garbage trucks. 

Claims:  Vivian made a motion to pay the claims.  JB seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried.   

Oath of Office:  Doug Sitton was sworn in as a new council member for Ward II.  Congratulations Doug!

Adjournment:  Nate made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Valerie seconded the motion.  All in favor, motion carried. 

Next meeting:  Tuesday, January 16th  at 6:30 p.m.